[tom.seeger]

In my particular location an outdoor long wire is really inconvenient. I wont argue weather a good outdoor will or won't beat an indoor loop. But I can say that in my case any radio with internal loop will always provide better reception than a similar radio tied to an indoor random wire layed on the floor, or taped to the ceiling.
As far as constructing internal loops, as long as you get the right inductance for the bottom of the band and adjust the antenna trimmer for the top of the band the performance has been excellent 3 out of 3 times that I tried. To determine the required inductance I found an easy technique using a loopstick with a sliding coil. I temporarily connect the loopstick in place of the original antenna transformer. I slide the ferrite rod in or out of the coil to find the best reception at 570 kHz. Then I adjust the antenna trimmer for best recetion at 1460 khz. (I happen to have radio stations at these 2 frequencies). Then I remove the loopstick, measure its inductance using an inductance meter, and construct an air loop with the same inductance. Then I permanently wire it inside the radio, and tweek the antenna trimmer. It works like a charm. No fuss, no magic. Two of the radios I had, had open circuit antenna transformers, so I felt no guilt in modifying them. I can always restore everything in the future anyway. Tom