Category: Magnetic loop antenna
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Magnetic Loop – step by step
Well, the replacement stepper controller chips arrived early this morning. Didn’t take too long to replace them and connect everything up for a test. The good news is that after a slight adjustment of VR2 the stepper appeared to be controlled by the rotary encoder. It made the right noises. Try as I may, I…
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Magnetic loop progress
Finally found some time to re-orientate the two transformers. I decided to remove the eight bypass 10nF capacitors to give my soldering iron more wriggle room to remove the transformers. The solder on the transformer pads needed some encouragement – in the form of more molten solder – to loosen up. This allowed me to…
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Magnetic loop fault finding breakthrough
Maybe my mistake has been not to refer more directly to the actual code. Over the last 24 hours I have been steadily working through the last two years of email conversations. Loftur keeps the group informed of each new version of the firmware and the newly added features. Sometimes he jumps the gun, but…
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Magnetic loop controller – home stretch
After a long break I have finally got back to completing the Magnetic Loop Controller designed by Loftur Jonasson that I started almost two years ago now. I am using his original PCB version from June 2014 which indicates how long I have been intending to build this device! I noticed a small SWR board…
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Back in the loop
My main project for at least the last 12 months has been building a solid magnetic loop antenna and its companion automatic loop controller. I’ve been roughly tracking its progress at my magnetic loop antenna project page on this blog. As usual, life has got in the way, but I want to get back on track and…
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Success!
Great moment this afternoon when the Automatic Loop Controller fired up as it should. Happy days. When I first fired it up, after loading up the Arduino program, all I could see was a dull green glow on the screen. It wasn’t until I remembered a comment from another builder about adjusting the potentiometer on…
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Antenna tuning by stealth
One of the most important documents for anyone who wants to know what makes a magnetic loop tick is Leigh Turner VK5KLT’s “An Overview of the Underestimated Magnetic Loop HF Antenna” which can be found on his club website. Midway through building my version of Loftur Jónasson – TF3LJ / VE2LJX‘s Automatic Loop Controller, I came across…