Foiled Again

Behold! Here are pictures of my directional discontinuity ring radiatior (DDRR, for short), AKA the "hula hoop" antenna for the 40 meter ham band. As you can probably tell, it is made from flexible dryer vent hose that has been formed into a 9' diameter loop raised up on cinder blocks. It actually looks rather nice, tucked away into an unused corner of my backyard. There's just one problem: it doesn't work. In fact, it tunes up a lot closer to the 80 meter band than it does 40, don't ask me why. It's not like I didn't give it the old college try, either. I spent several hours putting down chicken wire on the ground as a base, carefully measuring the loop, and then tying the hose to the blocks.

I'd like to say at least it "listens" well, and in a way, that's true. Loop antenna tend to be much quieter and they do help reduce static and noise. But the signals I've heard have also been a lot quieter and thus harder to read. There's no doubt in my mind now (after building a 10 meter version a few months ago) that the DDRR is indeed a "compromise" antenna. You can't expect a loop a foot or so off the ground to perform as well as a full-size dipole up in the air. Oh, well. Back to the drawing board.