Ground Plane Contest

[RickC.]

Got the drill press going. Mwahahahahhahaha....

 

[RickC.]

Nuts, I got impatient and tried to move it too soon. Have to fix a couple of things.

Be advised, this will possibly be the worst antenna you will ever see. Tomorrow should be the day.

 

[HomerBB]

Can't be worse than the chicken wire antenna.

 

[RickC.]

Oh, it can...

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

i like the chicken wire antenna . its definately home brewed using what you have at hand and is definately different .... not to mention it works

 

[RickC.]

I thought it was cool, also!

 

[HomerBB]

The chicken wire antenna is still out there behind the shed waiting for me to pull it out and shoot some skip with it. I'm thinking of putting it on top of my metal 8' x 10' shed and using that for the GP and see what happens with it.

Right now it's fooling with the vector 4000 replica made from the 5/8 I'd built.

 

[RickC.]

Well nuts.... I was taking it out of the garage to put it in the air and start tuning it... and dropped it, and it came apart in three pieces.

The new glue will cure overnight, then tomorrow. Man... and this was my idea. If I were a contractor working for me, I'd fire me.



Rick

 

[BOOTY MONSTER]

"If I were a contractor working for me, I'd fire me."

momma said there would be days like that

 

[HomerBB]

Problem is, Rick is gettin' them in bunches, like bananas

 

[RickC.]

Another setback-- radial mount snapped in two when I tripped over a radial wire while moving it. Off to Walmart for a replacement. Today is the day.

 

[RickC.]

OK, here we go:

Radial mount from the DX department at Walmart:

Highly scientific construction technique (notice that up on the counter is what I was drinking, Diet Coke):

I was lucky to find these:

Antenna at resonance, 20 cans (I didn’t crop the photo so I could acknowledge the help of Daisy, the RF Dog):

VSWR of 2:1 from:

To:

Since the VSWR was OK that high I dragged the TS-520 into the dining room and ran the coax in the back door—not a thing, not even on 28.400. So I went into the garage and grabbed a Cobra 25 and a 12VDC supply and made a couple of contacts on CH 19. This ended up being a lot more work than I thought- but worked OK for only 6 1/2 feet off the ground and 3 radials.

Rick

 

[mackmobile43]

Rick that is the best use I've ever seen for an ashtray.

 

[HomerBB]

Now that is worth the wait. Cool.
I'll have to confer with BM to see whether he wants to change his vote.
Just might be a winner.

 

[RickC.]

Ha! Well Homer, it'd be pretty cheesy for me to win my own contest, though I have to say that $1M bill looks pretty good!

You know, the bands always fold up and go on vacation whenever I have a new antenna to test, but I finally eeked out a couple of W3 special events stations a few minutes ago with it on 10. The band is not in good shape at all today, but oh well...