LOOP ANTENNAS

Basically there are 4 different kinds of loop antennas interesting to the amateur radio operator:

• VERTICAL LOOP
• HORIZONTAL LOOP
• SMALL TRANSMITTING LOOP
• SMALL RECEIVING LOOP

VERTICAL LOOPS:

• Vertical Loops are loops mounted in a vertical plane, perpindicular to the earth.
• Vertical loops may be a single stand-alone loop (mono-loop), or they may be one or elements of a directional antenna, such as a Quad.
• There are two types of Vertical Loops:

1. Horizontally polarized loops
2. Vertically polarized loops

• Whether a loop is horizontally or vertically polarized depends on where you attach the feedline to it.
• Vertically polarized loops work better for DX whenever the antenna must be mounted closer to the ground.  In addition to having a lower angle of radiation than the horizontally polarized loop, they also reduce the local QRM (stations within about 500 miles) by a couple of S-Units.
• Horizontally polarized loops are typically quieter (on receive) than vertically polarized loops and if you can mount them high enough, they would be preferable even for DX.
• Horizontally polarized loops typically product a stronger signal out to about 500 miles or so.

HORIZONTAL LOOPS:

• Horizontal Loops are loops mounted in a horizontal plane, parallel to the earth.
• These are typically just one single loop in the horizontal plane.  
• They are generally located close to the ground (about 1/8  to 1/4 wavelength high).  
• Although they are known as "Cloud Burners", meaning they radiate alot of RF straight up, they can also be good dx antennas.