On the front cover of Practical Wireless this month

Well, I had quite a surprise when the Sept 2013 edition of Practical Wireless (PW) magazine dropped on the mat in the post this morning. Although I knew my review of the Wonderwand Wonderloop was inside, I did not expect my bald head to be the subject of the main cover image! My wife Lis took the photo in the back garden of our current home.

I hope those reading the Wonderloop review will think it a fair one. The loop is tiny and uses thin 1mm wire, yet the performance was actually pretty good considering its size, averaging a couple of S-points down on a decent back garden antenna. As the review shows, some good results were obtained.

May I recommend you buy PW as there is a reasonably decent selection of articles in it most months. It is now the only independent amateur radio magazine published in the UK. I do miss the old Short Wave Magazine which was a good magazine in its heyday back in the 1950s and 1960s.

WonderLoop antenna

If you have just bought a copy of the August 2013 copy of Practical Wireless you may have noticed that in the next edition (September) I'm doing a review of the WonderLoop antenna, although the editors managed to give me a new callsign by mistake in the "Coming next month" column on p77, HI.

Confidentiality prevents me saying anything yet until the edition is published, but I much enjoyed carrying out my tests.  I have absolutely no affiliation with the manufacturer or supplier. As a keen blogger I find it hard not to blog about something radio related that I have played with!

The Wonderwand page is at http://www.wonder-wand.co.uk/WonderWand/WW_Homepage.html .

If you are interested in reading my review, please buy the Sept 2013 copy of PW on sale August 8th.