George AD5CQ brought his newly homebrew 2m Triangle Loop to the January 12 JSCARC monthly meeting. An impressive looking aluminum triangle UFO, it was built by George based on the January/February 2023 QEX magazine article authored by Richard Quick, W5RQ.
The triangular loop measured about approximately 12″ on each side, with an 8″ half loop at the base leg serving as as a simple feed point to an SO-239 connector. The apex of the loop has a nylon insulating screw which is adjusted for frequency resonance.
George commented that his build have a 1.5:1 SWR at it’s target frequency, but he’s still refining the performance a bit. It is highly sensitive to adjacent objects, so he cautions that the antenna must be mounted in a location free from objects that could affect it’s resonance.
It’s design is simple and cost effective, which makes it a desireable design. He’s further noted that it’s bandwidth is narrow, around 600 KHz, which is inherent in loop designed antennas. Because it’s an omni directional pattern, this type of antenna is great for general coverage. George estimates that this antenna can handle up to 100W without issue.
The QEX article makes reference that two of these triangel loops can be stacked, one above the other with a 5/8 wavelength vertical spacing for omnidirectional gain increase up to 3 dB.