[IRCA] Kiwa Electronics' Prototype Tropical Band Loop Antenna - Photos

[Guy Atkins <dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here are links to my two photos of Kiwa's tropical band loop antenna:

https://app.box.com/s/glcwtutzhehn9i60l0vi84gvs0u7xkor

https://app.box.com/s/qz1rchj9iclskb8lsalxywg4khgdcquf

I have fond memories of the trip during which these photos were taken. It
was in the summer of 1992 (as best as I recall) that Craig Siegenthaler and
I agreed to meet at a dispersed camping area near Ranger Creek, Washington
for Kiwa antenna and equipment prototype testing. We also did some DXing
during the two or three-night camping trip, swapped a lot of stories, and
enjoyed a few beverages (the non-antenna type :^)

I'd been "field testing" some of Craig's in-development products for a few
years already by 1992, but this trip was my first chance to experience his
tropical band loop. I remember being impressed with its low noise
performance, sharp tuning, and portable construction. The four "arms" of
the loop folded together for easier transport. The loop was intended to be
mounted on a user-supplied camera tripod.

Despite my urgings, Craig never made a tropical band loop for sale. My
guess is that he had become very cautious about construction time and parts
costs of any new Kiwa products, as he was being "burned" by his
over-engineered Kiwa MAP unit (Multiband AM Pickup). That product had
*many* screws in its custom enclosure, just one of the reasons the device
was barely profitable (or not at all). It was a tedious device for Craig to
assemble. The powder-coated and CNC machined enclosure made the MAP sturdy
as a tank; Sherwood Engineering's competing SE-3 series outboard
synchronous AM detector accessory looked toy-like in comparison.

The Kiwa High Performance AM Loop was also a labor intensive product; at
one point he even built his own screw-feed cutting tool for making the
spiral grooves in the 12-1/2 inch diameter PVC pipe for the enameled wire.
The tool used some parts he found pushed to the curb during a neighborhood
"recycling day".

If anything, Craig has always been very resourceful! As another example
check out this photo of a receiver stand he lashed together from roadside
trash he found in a ditch near the campsite when we were on a DXpedition to
Table Mountain, north of Ellensburg, WA:
https://app.box.com/s/21vn8n36oejqrjx73h30ulhz6n4ufyr8

I'm thankful to have known Craig for nearly 30 years, and to have had the
chance to give feedback on some of his early designs. He and his firm Kiwa
Electronics are on my short list of small companies that are BIG
contributors to the DXing and radio hobbies.

73,

Guy Atkins
Puyallup, WA
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