Like the mobile loop, the fixed station loop is capable of automatically tuning across its frequency range in less than a 50th of a second, it is compatible with virtually any HF transceiver including frequency hopping types without the need for a separate control.
SMC have two versions of fixed station loop antennas available, which operate on both NVIS and long-distance sky-wave propagation modes across 3-30MHz:
• A wire element loop with 3m sides
• A solid element loop with 2.5m sides
Both offer similarly high efficiencies. These are ideal for use where space is limited, and rival the performance of much larger wideband HF wire antennas.
In receive mode, for non-scanning/frequency hopping modes the antenna is factory-set to automatically store its tuning settings for the last tuned transmit frequency for greater receive efficiency.
However, if pre-defined by the user upon ordering it may alternatively be factory-set for the loop to operate ‘un-tuned’ in receive mode to allow wide-band reception for scanning modes such as ALE (Automatic Link Establishment) reception.
