The Green Giant

Ferrite Sleeve Loop Antenna

This is a summary description of a rather large
ferrite sleeve loop (FSL) antenna, using a 24-inch
wreath box for the case. The actual coil is just
under 22 inches in diameter. As can be seen at
right, the Green Giant dwarfs the Tecsun PL-380
Ultralight radio, its intended partner in DXing.

In comparative tests with an 11-inch FSL, my

“Backpack FSL” (also at right), the Green Giant
generally had about 4-5 decibels of additional gain,
as measured on a Tecsun PL-380, as theory would
generally predict. This manifested as a quieter
noise floor, increased volume, and a greater ease of
coupling the radio with the antenna, since the larger
FSL's magnetic field “output” is much greater, so finding a suitable placement of the radio in proximity to the
antenna is much easier. Best of all, for weak DX signals at or near the noise floor, especially those lower in
frequency, the Green Giant's additional gain made the difference between hearing a station clearly and not.

Ergonomically, the wreath box's carrying handle, stable bottom base, and accessible cut-out for a control panel
were among the reasons I wanted to put an FSL into this container. In use, one would probably want to put a
table, plastic crate or something else underneath in order to get it up off of the ground, since getting too close to
the ground will cause the FSL to lose sensitivity. The knobs stick out a bit, so while it is surprisingly light and
portable, care must be taken to avoid damaging these controls. The wreath box is essentially water-tight,
depending on how you affix the control panel, making it suitable for being out in the weather.

With this much larger FSL coil, distributed capacitance was a significant issue, to be expected as the size
increases. Winding all 18 turns of Litz wire as a close-spaced coil resulted in over 70 pf of distributed
capacitance. Using the “contra” winding method, and separating the two coils by about 0.5 inches, reduced this
to approximately 45-50 pf, still about double that of the 11-inch Backpack FSL. This significant distributed
capacitance meant that tuning the upper limit of the MW band (1700 khz) was the limiting factor. This in turn
meant that the coil size was limited to 18 turns, giving 120 uH and 480 uH “contra” coils. With this relatively
low amount of inductance, additional capacitance using a high-Q polypropylene capacitor was required to tune
the low end of the LW band, leading to the three-position switching circuit detailed in the attached schematic.
The tuning ranges are 153 to 232 khz in the lowest band (with the extra 1,000 pf capacitor, 2,360 pf total), 200-
1030 khz in the middle band, and 456 to 1730 khz in the upper band.

If this FSL was dedicated to LW-only, a larger coil could have been used, since the required maximum tuning
range would be much lower. However, a smaller coil with additional capacitance generally tunes sharper, owing
to the additional capacitance. Therefore, additional research is needed to determine which approach is better.

Major parts for this project include:

• Sterilite Wreath Box (around $15-20 plus shipping)
• 20x4 inch cake dummy (around $10-15 plus shipping)
• 2 sheets of corrugated plastic (“coroplast”), at least 18x24 inches, typically $2-3 each
• 133 NOS Russian ferrite bars, 62x12x4 mm, about $50 shipped
• 100 feet of 660/44 Litz wire, the most expensive aspect of this project: lesser grades should also work
fine, but the inductance may be higher due to the tighter coil, requiring slight spacing of the turns to
reach the top of the MW band. I ended up with 18 turns of wire total (2 coils of 9 turns each).
• Two 2x340 pf variable capacitors (eBay seller zlowe7), totaling 1,360 pf of total capacitance
• One 3P3T switch (I used a 4P3T and left one section empty)
• Foam wrap for spacers, plastic panel for the control panel, misc tape, solder, etc.
The wreath box comes with a ledge, on which a
wreath is intended to hang, but which is definitely in
the way. Here is the box with the ledge cut out: a
simple utility knife worked wonders in slicing out the
ledge.
Since this hole will be on the other side of the ferrite
sleeve from the coil, it is an excellent place to put the
variable capacitors and switch so that they don't
interfere with the Litz coil.
Here is the control panel roughly installed in the
bottom of the box. Its sits at an awkward angle, but
that is not evident from the outside. I ended up using
double-sided heavy duty carpet tape to affix the panel
to the inside of the wreath box. The FSL is snugly
sandwiched into the wreath box, which applies
pressure to the panel to keep it in place, but I will
eventually use some screws to hold the panel in place.
I then put a few 1-inch high foam spacers, against
which the bottom sheet of coroplast will rest. Since
the black plastic panel is about 1/8” thick, I put a 7/8”
foam spacer on it. These spacers were installed with
heavy duty double-stick carpet tape.
I used to the lid from an old Radio Shack project box,
affixing the variable capacitors and 4P3T switch and
then wiring them up. Shown is an earlier version,
using a DPDT. I left four long-ish leads to connect up
to the FSL.
None of the wires and connections can stick out more
than 3/4” from the surface of the black lid; otherwise,
they will rub against the bottom sheet of coroplast.
A 20-inch diameter, 4-inch thick styrofoam “cake
dummy” was used to wrap the FSL ferrites and coil
around. Rather than affix the cake dummy to the box,
I chose to affix it to two pieces of corrugated plastic,
often referred to as “coroplast”.
The cake dummy is just a bit too big, since the wreath
box has the clasp housing inside, which also means
the cake dummy is not actually centered in the wreath
box. Therefore, I needed to flatten out some areas of
the cake dummy using a “Surform” plane, taking off
about one-quarter inch. With these flattened areas, the
coil was still round in the end. Alternately, a 19-inch
cake dummy will fit perfectly as-is.
The wrapping of the ferrites and coil is as with any
other FSL. Here is a shot of the ferrites affixed to the
cake dummy, using two 1-inch strips of double-sided
carpet tape. In the foreground, you can tell that this
area was slightly flattened in order that the eventual
FSL will fit into the wreath box. The ferrites are quite
secure now, although I wrapped another layer of
strapping tape around them just to make sure.
Here is the first sheet of coroplast, cut to size and
sitting on the foam spacers. The bottom is square, and
sits against the flat surface at the bottom of the box, to
take all of the weight of the FSL. By cutting it just
the right size, this will prevent the FSL from moving
in any of the three directions.
After a layer of half-inch foam wrap and another layer
or strapping tape upon which to wind the coil, here is
my initial single coil of Litz wire. As discussed
above, I ended up with two “contra” wound coils,
with a space of about one-half inch between them to
reduce distributed capacitance.
With the bottom sheet of coroplast in place, the FSL
(with ferrites and coil, ready to tune – this was an
early picture prior to winding the antenna) is placed
on the bottom sheet of coroplast – see explanation
below. Double-sided carpet tape will hold and
suspend the FSL between the two sheets of coroplast.
With the FSL antenna itself complete, the next step is to place the FSL into the wreath box and hold it in place.
The pictures just above and below give an idea of how I put it together, but here is a little more information:

1. Put the lower coroplast sheet in, making sure that it is in place (picture above, left).
2. Put double-sided tape on the underside of the FSL, say 4-6 pieces, to affix the FSL to the lower sheet of
coroplast. With the box laying flat, lower the FSL onto the bottom sheet of coroplast (picture above, right).
3. I needed a 1-inch thick, 12-inch diameter piece of art foam as a spacer between the upper sheet of coroplast
and the lid of the wreath box (see picture at left, below).
4. Tack the spacer and upper sheet of coroplast into the lid of the wreath box. Put a few pieces of double-
sided tape onto the FSL, and then shut the lid to adhere the upper sheet of coroplast to the FSL. The FSL is
now suspended between the two sheet of coroplast, and should not be touching the inside of the wreath box.
5. Wire up the FSL to the control panel by running the wires through holes drilled in the bottom sheet of
coroplast, near the wreath box handle, and close it up!

Here is the final Green Giant, looming over the Ultralight Tecsun PL-380. The middle switch is the band
switch, flanked by the tuning capacitors. Since the contents of the wreath box are tightly held, the lid tends to
flare out halfway between the hings and lid; I put a couple pieces of strapping tape, visible at the upper left, to
hold the lid against the body, and to keep the lid from coming open should the latch get accidentally opened.
 Green Giant
Schematic Diagram

Kevin S.
Bainbridge Island, WA
schanileck(at)gmail.com