Giant Slinky Antenna - Having Fun on the HF Bands

[@aceofnone1980]

Slinkys are great for antennas with a good tuner. I used to use two regular slinkys as a dipole with a simple balun. They were stretched out on a length of para cord and were only about 5 feet above the ground. I talked all over the world both QRP and high power.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[@patriot9455]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I have 2 Walmart metal Slinkys. It might be practical to make a slinky dipole and see what happens.

[@agoraphobicadam1171]

Now I have that Slinky commercial tune stuck in my head. lol It's awesome how that Xiegu tunes things right in.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

The Slinky the Slinky…..hahaha

[@gliderrider]

You’ve turned out to be a real joy to be subscribed to. Good ideas with rigs, antennas, and QTH’s. Plus great editing and presentation. Super!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@neilfox4721]

Enjoying your videos, I have the same G90. Today using 10w on the 20 metre band with a random wire running (east/west) down the garden and a 9 to 1 unun made good contact with a station in Zagreb, 820 miles from the uk; great fun.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Awesome! 73 my friend!

[@mervmartin2112]

Love Slinky antennas!!! Hint; you can adjust the length on the fly with a fishing reel and line. Run the line through the Slinky and attach to the end opposite the reel. Tune by cranking. With your pole, I'd drill a hole in the top end and run the fishing line through that. Should be able to locate the reel at the bottom that way. I've used this rig SWLing for years. Nice and stealthy hanging out of an apartment window.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That's great info, thanks for sharing!

[@SteveH-TN]

Thanks for inspiring me to start experimenting and having fun on HF again. I had a couple of Strokes in 2021 that resulted in both mental and physical problems . I haven’t been active in a couple of hobbies since Ham radio being one. However recently watching KZbin videos I have learned about the affordable Xiegu 90 SDR and Rig Expert analyzers that have motivated me to get active again. I really appreciate you and other’s taking the time to share you knowledge and experience in creating dozens of videos. I am very excited about POTA & SOTA Operating and hope get active again on the Bands. I just ordered a regular Slinky on Amazon. 73 Steve AA4SH Tennessee

[@Cardassiaprime]

I-also like having fun making ad- hoc antennas. But that was very interesting. Your definitely creating- “Absolute Radio”. 73 de- M7PBX.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

73 de K4OGO

[@outlaw6595]

Good content Walt! Thanks!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thank you so much!

[@W6IWN_Radio]

Nice work 👏. I've made one with a regular slinky with surprisingly great results. Thanks for the video.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks! Cool, Slinkys are a lot of fun

[@RichHuff]

I am always amazed at some of the "unusual" things that will act as an antenna...

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Me too!

[@dereklea1183]

True. When I first got into ham radio I was fresh out of the military and lived in an apartment. I lived on the ground floor and my balcony door was right next to a metal vertical gutter. The gutter extended from the ground and up the wall approximately 40(?) feet to the remaining gutter system. I was using an Icom 751A and a Icom AT500 tuner to tune up the gutter. I was only able to tune up on 10 meters but, it provided some way to get on HF. I made some decent stateside contacts but never any DX…

[@jeroenhashman2383]

the back stay of my sailboat. no visible antenne 11m endfed saltwater experiment

[@pyeltd.5457]

Anything can. Even your body

[@timg5tm941]

Another interesting experiment! Well done Walt.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much Tim, hope you are well my friend!

[@DK5ONV]

Wohooo....what a Fun Antenna. You just blowing me away Uncle Walter...good Job. Happy Holidays & 73 de YFUG 💯👍🙋‍♂

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much my good friend! Happy Holidays!!

[@WHNorthcote]

I had make a long slinky antenna once using 4 of them. Made a contact on top band with it. When I had it as a standard dipole with no balun I managed some contacts into Europe on 40. It worked in a NVIS type of antenna as it was only 3 feet over ground and fully stretched out. As a vertical it might not have worked but as a dipole they work very well.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@Thermopylae2007]

You have me wondering whether I should try making a doublet out of my pair of slinkeys. Perhaps hanging vertically I could get a fair radiating length without a radial field. May need to look at those giant slinkeys.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Great idea!

[@Thermopylae2007]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES At 67 feet per slinkey, two of them might make a decent 80m antenna or doublet (a bit concerned about it being too close to resonance) though two giant slinkeys might make for an even better compact radiating element. Will probably play around with the standard slinkeys to start.

[@paulgroundwatermm0phg842]

Excellent! I love trying stuff like this and loading up barbed wire fences and such like. 👍

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Me too! Fun experimenting

[@SmokeSignalsRF]

Fun video to watch that makes me create ideas for something temporary on my property. I like the earlier post of adding wire as an inverted V. Thanks Walt! W1FYG

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks brother! I wish I had better weather to move that thing up and down and experiment. I’m back in the States next Friday! 73 my friend!

[@ronhuggins696]

Amazing

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for watching!

[@thomaskilburn3111]

I used them for communication in Vietnam for communication with a distant command center.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Wow, thanks for sharing!

[@kennethblackwell1137]

Go Walt Go... smiling 🙌🙌🙌

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Kenneth!

[@K3JRZOnTheAir]

Nice work Walt! I’ve seen a few Slinky antenna videos before. Dipole mostly,’but nice to know it can be a vertical one too if needed! 73

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for watching! 73

[@rohnkd4hct260]

Interesting project. Heard Army Signal Core used them in Viet nam on 7 & 8 MHz.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

I’ve heard that too, wish I could find some info on it. Really cool

[@hamradioqrp-k0klb]

Great demo of the slinky.. I've often wanted to try this as well but I keep forgetting to put it on the XYL walmart list to purchase, LOL.. Thanks for sharing your success with it.. 73, Kevin ~ k0klb

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Hahaha this one was purchased at a Walmart, 73 my friend I’ll be back in the States soon and looking forward to catching up on the net.

[@redstickham6394]

Another thing to try is run it horizontally and feed it at various points along the coil to see what it does.

[@stuartpalmer3404]

I love your video. Slightly off topic. Perhaps yo have covered it elsewhere? I am wondering what you might be using for your mast. Green Fiberglass??

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Stuart, It's a 7 meter telescopic fiberglass fishing pole. I got it on Amazon. They are also called Crappy Poles or Squid Poles.

[@patriot9455]

20 watts, super!

[@ehayes5217]

...& I REALLY enjoy ur enthusiasm for experimenting with different antennas, as I've done the same here but with much less variety as u☹️But please continue ur experimentation, as I'm always looking forward to the next one! de WA4ELW 🇺🇸😀

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much for the kind words, I was that kid that took everything apart and looked inside haha, just keeping it going. 73 my friend!

[@JhKnife-OZ4HJ-Jimmi]

Cool setup… Is your radio on tomorrow Sunday the 11/12/22… I am in Sweden with my G90…

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

mycket bra, yes I will be on the radio Sunday!

[@GordonHudson]

In the UK we get large stainless steel springs for getting electric fences round gate hinges. Very inexpensive. I need to give this a try.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That would be awesome, Gordon my family is from Tamworth, Staffordshire could we be long lost cousins? Hahaha My last name is Hudson

[@GordonHudson]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Believe it or not our Hudsons came from Ireland. They must have come from England originally though. I live in Scotland, GM4SVM

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@GordonHudson well maybe we’re cousins on my mum’s side LOL, she’s a MacLaren

[@crazyham]

Awesome mate. Don't worry about resonance having to present a low Impedance. We can also have resonance with a high impedance like the EFHW wire does. The main thing is keeping transmission line losses down. if a low loss line is used then an ATU brings the "system" to resonance and the RF (TEM) WAVE is actually created by the Changing Potentials between two points like the element and ground (creating rotating magnetic fields) Displacement currents between the ele and ground. or if a half wave long the potentials are also between each end of the antenna element. The main objective is being able to peak the system to highest Vpp (Resonant State created by USING the ATU if required. You can make a low loss coax of higher characteristic impedance using Aircon / ventilation Ducting provided it is truly conductive and having a centre wire running through it with periodic foam balls to keep the wire centred. Then Tuning with a broad ATU will incur minimal Losses. 🙏 Love your experiemnt mate Great Work 🙏🙏🙏

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much and thanks for sharing this great info! 73, Walt K4OGO

[@pasjeihobby]

Amazing idea :)

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thank you, it was fun!

[@barryzoll9772]

Another great video Walt. Where did you purchase the 9:1 un un? Thanks and 73

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much Barry! I got the unun from nelson_antennas on eBay. 73

[@barryzoll9772]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks Walt. Safe travels.

[@mikestone9129]

Love it when you build these crazy antennas. What's next? Maybe hook up some farmers barbwire fence? Take care and enjoy Poland, hope you make it home for Christmas. 73s

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Mike, I fly home next Friday and I can’t wait. 73 and Merry Christmas my friend

[@DonzLockz]

Cool! It looks like some kind of 60's death ray gun. Haha

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Hahaha yes it does!

[@MINI-4X4-RADIO]

It's great to experiment... Like they say.. "Any antenna is better than no antenna"

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Absolutely!

[@N4XTL]

Maybe you could attach a long wire to the top of the slinky and run it horizontally to another mast, turning it into a crazy inverted L. Thanks for the videos Walt, 73!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That’s actually a great idea Dan, hmmm you got me thinking. 73 my friend!

[@johnalcock7536]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES get enough wire and go 80 or 160 😂

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@johnalcock7536 I hear you but I’m in Poland, 160 here means I’d have to learn a couple new languages

[@pigeonsniper667]

Did you put a vertical whip on top of the support mast, or is that just the mast extending beyond the slinky???

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Just the mast extending beyond the slinky

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Hey Walt The antenna, at 6.5m, is around a half a wavelength for 15m. That would explain why you had a good response. Nice low takeoff angle on a vertical half wave The coil would act as a loaded vertical making it electrically longer than the magic 22’ for 15m so the impedance would be less, as the antenna appears longer, and resonance would be lower down. I’d be curious what frequencies the antenna resonates at. What the smith chart on a VNA says I use a vertical extendable aluminium telescopic pole made from 6x 9’ drawn aluminium tubes. I tune them for resonance by adjusting the height, then match them to 50 ohms with a switchable ratio matching transformer that gives me between 2 and 14 windings each side, so I can match up a quarter wave, or an end fed.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for the input, that makes sense, it was awesome on 15. I wish I could have spent more time with this but as you can see in the video the weather locked me in. I’ll visit this antenna again and go deeper. Thanks so much for your knowledge and input. 73, Walt K4OGO

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES no worries. Living in Sydney Australia, we don’t get snowed in, just washed away I’m always looking at those magic resonance points, where the smith chart shows no reactance. I need to do some experiments myself, see what the difference is between an antenna that “tunes up” vs one that is matched and at resonance. The little work I’ve done with this, it seems that size / length is what counts as far as take off angle goes. You can make a 5/8 or the 0.64 wavelength antenna which has the best low take off angle for a vertical, by using a capacitor in the antenna to electrically shorten the antenna, the same way a coil will extend the electrical length of the antenna. So even though a ham stick will tune 20m, it will never be as good as a full height 33’ end fed vertical Good luck with your antenna adventures:-)

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I’ll just explain myself a little better with the adding of capacitance to an antenna 5/8 and 0.64 wave antennas have a slightly better / lower take off angle than a half wave So you make a 5/8 wave electrically a half wave by adding capacitance to the antenna. You can also electrically shrink a 3/4 ground plane vertical by adding some inductance to the antenna So the trick is to get the antenna resonant and matched, but slightly physically longer (or shorter) to hit that optimum low take off radiation pattern Have a look at some of the coax 5/8 wave antennas for 11/10m. They do scale to 20m at 12.5m tall Anyway, lots to experiment with. Keep it up and have fun

[@joekrepps]

As someone who’s stuck in a HOA (long, sad story), I’m always looking for an alternative to my Buddistick. It’s a nice antenna but not a quick setup. A collapsible pole with that Slinky would save a lot of setup/teardown time. Now, if I could figure out radials…(suddenly rememberers the 90’ rain gutter!) 😮😮😮

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Ahhh the gutters! Great idea

[@GoonyMclinux]

I turned my gutter into a skeleton slot antenna, thing really dis do well and with a thin enough wire nobody will notice.

[@dalemyers9439]

Did the end feed work as well as the slinky dipole?

[@RithMedia_xL]

Whoa that's pretty interesting

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

It was a fun experiment brother

[@kellypaws]

My first attempt at an antenna quite some time ago, was with a rough dipole with two slinkys. It was by quite some margin, the most abominable disaster of a radiating device I have ever encountered. Maybe okay for fun, but good Lord, not for any other reason.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes I had a Slinky dipole fail a few years ago LOL

[@mikes55g]

Try to add 3-4 10m radials too.... 73 de S55G

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

I had 6 radials 10 meters long on this antenna

[@RandellReeder]

what is the green pole?

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Got it on Amazon: Goture Telescopic Tenkara Fishing... www.amazon.com/dp/B074M4Y4KT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

[@jamesbellke8saf645]

Contest

[@revbikerbigd8664]

How about trimming the slinkie???

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Why?

[@antenaseinterfacescb]

Amazing, with a 9:1 congratulations. Try to put only 4,70 meters of wire attached to your 9:1 and put it on in your 7 meters pole, you have a great surprise, try in first time without counterpoise. 7351 from Portugal, ok I'm a CB user. I like a lot your experiments. Good Work 73 Paulo.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thank you Paulo! 73

[@joeblow8593]

Cool experiment. Were you able to get anyone on 160 or 80? How well did it load up on those bands? Thamks

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

I could hear well on both bands and tried calls on 80 but didn’t get through

[@StreakyP]

look at the number of turns & turn diameter in a straight old 2m "rubber duck" helical antenna (not a vhf/uhf dual band) & simply multiply the size by 20 to scale from 2m to 40m (same number of turns) & basically you get a slinky.... you should be able to cut it to length & resonate it directly on 40m without the 9:1 un-un (rubber ducks don't need un-uns)........ try measuring it's resonant freq without the un:un........ basically you have a naked rubber duck here. Secondly... 10 Watts is about 20 volts (into 50 ohms) so sticking that through a 9:1 un-un will give you about 60 volts (impedance ratio = square of turns ratio hence x3 as the voltage ratio).... open metal & wet snow with 60V on it is probably going to be a bit leaky impacting SWR (the un-un kicking the voltage up is probably making things worse here in the snow)

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for the input and for commenting. I’ll do some study and a deep dive on this. 73, Walt K4OGO

[@jeromegrzelak8236]

Interesting kg6mn

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for watching! 73, K4OGO

[@patriot9455]

That way you know exactly how long your wires on the ground are, yeehah

[@jamesbellke8saf645]

Hello Walt….KE8SAF

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Hello James!!!

[@jamesbellke8saf645]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES are you doing 10 meters

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@jamesbellke8saf645 band is completely dead here, I had one contact into Kazakhstan earlier. Sun just went down at 3:30 here

[@jamesbellke8saf645]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES I plan on around 1:00 pm

[@ehayes5217]

Great video, enjoy ALL of ur vids! 73 de WA4ELW in TN 🇺🇸 dit dit 😃

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thank you so much my friend!