I could imagine a fleet of Walmart carts secretly being used to transmit on HF. Carts On The Air.
@straublittlemanАй бұрын
🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒🛒😁😁🤣
@jonathansanders8268Ай бұрын
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you're a ham, everything looks like an antenna!
@mikesradiorepairАй бұрын
With the bleachers you should have loaded up one and hooked up the other to the ground post. HUGE ground mounted dipole. And the next time you load up a grocery cart (not with grocery's) try rotating it. Be interesting to see how much effect if any it has on signal strength. The wheels were just screaming at you asking to be used as a rotor.
@davidsradioroom9678Ай бұрын
In the Atlanta area there used to be a strange antenna challenge, where hams would use unconventional items to make QSOs on. Great practice for emergency contacts.
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
That's awesome. We did that at a trip to WA I took a couple years ago. Going back next week. Should be lots of fun!
@castle5711Ай бұрын
@@hamradiotube DC or PNW WA?
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
@@castle5711pnw
@castle5711Ай бұрын
@@hamradiotube cool. not too far from me...
@brentboydston2565Ай бұрын
If I recall correctly the strange antenna challenge is each year on memorial day. A lot of fun😅
@TrzCharlieАй бұрын
What a friggin blast....I had fun watching this. Thanks.
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@davybassАй бұрын
After a miserable and wet army cadet field day out in an English forest trying to make any contact at all on our old WW2 radio using a 30ft mast, on the way home we reached a high piece of ground and slow traffic near Ongar in an Eastern National Lodekka omnibus. We clipped the antenna connection to a handrail, tuned up, and YAY! we got our first contact of the day. So now you know, a double-decker bus works as an antenna as well!
@N2YTAАй бұрын
Mike, you just put the entire antenna industry out of business!
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
With my antenna addiction I don’t think that’s possible. I clearly needed more so I went out on the streets to find some.
@BillPfaffenbergerАй бұрын
When I was first licensed 57 years ago the old timers would brag that their “match box” could load a one-eyed Tom cat hanging on a screen door. I think the turner in your G90 would qualify.
@robbcrm1142Ай бұрын
Fun, Fun!!! Thanks for the effort. I have some new things to try. I did make contacts using the downspout and gutters on the back of my house. I have a G90 also. Will go to the kids park and try to load up a swing set. Years ago read where a Ham successfully used a metal bridge over a small river in the country. What a great Hobby! I make lots of antennas that Walt, K4OGO makes. Good results. Love you guys! Kevin, up in Iowa even make contacts using 2 corn stalks. Take, stay safe. Robb, KC0VRO
@KC7DTBАй бұрын
Only got to the opening of the go box and now I want to see a two shopping cart dipole 😂
@EdHelms1Ай бұрын
Great video. This reminds me of being a kid in the ‘70s and clipping my crystal radio to various pieces of metal. The chainlink fence and water spigot always worked best.
@ivandubinsky1857Ай бұрын
I've used a bedspring and aluminum window frame with good success to make contacts.
@MrMudsHamRadioRadioTimeАй бұрын
That’s so last year😂😂. Just kidding…. Or I’m I?😮. Great job having a great time with ham radio. A true Ham! 🤙🏻
@RuckProductions35Ай бұрын
Dude i love how you did this video and love seeing that childlike wonder. This is how ham radio should be instead of how the sad hams act. Keep up the awesome content 😁
@castle5711Ай бұрын
Way cool! Great field expedient antenna action! Maybe start a PLOTA (Parking Lots On The Air) group...
@chrille2409Ай бұрын
Next time, try 10m. It is hot in the past few days. You might can work DX. Great idea BTW!
@travisdrake2940Ай бұрын
Just wear a reflective vest and no cop, no person will ever bother you lol. Thanks for the video your experiment was awesome! KQ4DVS 73
@reznepsАй бұрын
One of my first experiments was using magnet leads with a bnc connector to attach to things and see what would happen. Made a contact through my lamp shade but I was definitely about to screw-up my baofeng haha.
@hazer72Ай бұрын
Shopping cart corral has horrible take off angle 🤣
@FIL357Ай бұрын
Bonkers! Just love your sense of humour, brilliant 🤣 I have just bought a G90. Thanks for the fun. Regards, 73, Phil, Suffolk U.K.🇬🇧
@woodsbikes6130Ай бұрын
All those antennas are the epitome of a McGyver antenna if I ever saw it. 😁😁👍👍 Great job Mike. That really shows what could be used in a desperate situation. Happy hamming everyone. 😁😎
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
All I need now is a mullet!
@woodsbikes613022 күн бұрын
@@hamradiotube I'll get you a gift card for a wig shop. 😁😂🤣
@stephanhersey1186Ай бұрын
You just showed how great the G90 tuner is. Why can't other manufactures do the same?? Great video. Steve, k7ofg
@paulsengupta971Ай бұрын
May I suggest a 9:1 transformer instead of the straight connector. It would probably give the G90 tuner an easier time. I note that you did a very quick food segment as a nod to Salty Walt.
@hammathguy3995Ай бұрын
The next experiment: go back to the guy wire. Try attaching your clip lead at various points along the line. Your mileage may vary.
@ke8mattjАй бұрын
All hail the G90. It's why it's my portable rig. If in an emergemcy, I can use a lot of weird things to make that contact.
@GaRbAllZАй бұрын
I often thought about using a fishing pole with thin wire as line and then cast a fishing weight into the trees. Starting at 160 working all the way down to 6 meters, tuning the line by just reeling in line on the fishing p[ole :)
@chrissewell1608Ай бұрын
There is always a wet matress or something dead in the alley behind a Kroger. You just gotta jam a piece of rusty rebar through them and make a good ground... And BAM your in business!
@NovemberOneOscarGrouchАй бұрын
Now you've got me wondering what the Chinese ATU-100 could tune in the wild.
@paulsengupta971Ай бұрын
I think you should try for the lower bands on the larger items. The chain link fence and the seats look like they may be good for 80m and 160m.
@Dan-56Ай бұрын
What fun 😆👍! Many yeas ago there was an annual “competition”, (it was not a contest), called The Strange Antenna Challenge, the object was to use things other than wire and pipe for antennas. For the three years I participated along with a couple of other HAMs we used: Three an aluminum canoes on plastic sawhorses as an OCF dipole. A roll of foil duct tape strung up as an inverted V. And lastly an accordion style bathroom vent hose suspended as a vertical with a scrap of discarded valley tin as counterpoise. Not only did all of them work, we made DX contacts with each of them 🤪👍
@redstickham6394Ай бұрын
I've heard of that. Some of what I heard of hams loading up metal ladders, bedsprings, soldering soda cans together, and all sorts of stuff. I bet it was a blast.
@P.SeanCoadyАй бұрын
I have always wanted to use a softball backstop as a corner reflector for a vertical antenna.
@oceanaximАй бұрын
II think that is an excellent idea! My local field has 4 fields pointing to cardinal points North, South, East, West maybe use as a reflector and have antenna on the pitcher's mound?
@P.SeanCoadyАй бұрын
@@oceanaxim you will want to be in the focal point of the reflector and run some of the radials to the backstp and wire em up
@jackK5FITАй бұрын
Oh man, shoulda used the bleachers as a dipole. Maybe a dumpster?
@StanHirsonАй бұрын
LOL! Love it! I'm out in farm country... lots of fences to tune. I'm going to be busy with my Xiegu X6100 tomorrow!
@wrowe2559Ай бұрын
I'm going to be busy with my X6100 as well!
@WD0OMHamRadioАй бұрын
7:14 I'd have loved to have heard a signal report from the Net Control there. He didn't seem to be having any trouble copying you, though! 8:30 height is might and luminieres are tall! 10:30 I'm genuinely surprised the bleachers didn't work out. That's a lot of metal that should all have continuity. I wonder what would have happened if you'd thrown out a counterpoise! 12:07 I'll bet that could have used a counterpoise as well, but you got the guy! I really love the G90 tuner!
@craigpaternoster6221Ай бұрын
People driving by looking at me like I'm nuts... The people are correct! Haha but we love it
@SonicgottАй бұрын
Mike, this is the most hilarious thing I have ever seen you do. When someone told me they could tune a G 90 to a rain gutter, I wouldn’t believe it. But now, I’m kind of convinced! Thanks and 73, KF0QNM.
@bensmith4563Ай бұрын
Rain gutters are pretty commonly used as antennas
@ke4estАй бұрын
Ha! That was cool you working me Mike on that light pole!!
@N1JURАй бұрын
Random mother in walmart parking lot: Hello, store manager, there is a weird man connecting wires to the shopping cart rack - laughing loudly. Store manager: well look into it mam. Shouts to store employee - Someone Tell K8MRD to stop scaring the patrons
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
lol I’m surprised they didn’t send someone out to see what I was doing with their shopping cart.
@johnk23705Ай бұрын
@@hamradiotube What you were doing was just not weird enough for Walmart. Try harder...lol
@kyoshivpАй бұрын
Let's be honest here... this isn't the weirdest thing to ever happen in a Wal-Mart parking lot... lol
@bch6938Ай бұрын
Anything can be an antenna if you use it wrong enough 😂
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
Hahahahahahaa!!!!
@jamiecoburn1231Ай бұрын
So cool! Aluminum oxide is a terrible conductor. If you had scratched through the oxide layer it the bleachers might have worked! Ham channels need more of this stuff!
@3henry214Ай бұрын
That was hilarious, and very cool!! Why waste money on an expensive antenna... LOL. If I was there in the Walmart parking lot, I'd be tempted to clip onto the car parked next to me to see what happens 😁
@slashzero4514Ай бұрын
Or two Cars making a dipole Or two shopping carts ;-)
@johnk23705Ай бұрын
Great video Mike....You're off the chain dog...lol. You 100% picked the right radio to to make contacts. The G-90 will tune a wet noodle. It goes to show that in a pinch, finding the right piece of metal will make contacts. Outstanding !!!
@drjonathanln9871Ай бұрын
KC3YZI here so bummed couldn't make the contact 🤣🤣🤣 as always another great video!!!
@michaellin4553Ай бұрын
Ha, speak of the devil, I just heard your signals on JS8 40 meters.
@drjonathanln9871Ай бұрын
@michaellin4553 you did hear them!?! that's great lol.. base rig is a ft-dx10 and has been a bit of a bear to get going on js8. No base profile.. just glad it got out atleast
@chrissewell1608Ай бұрын
You may need a Harbor Freight welding clamp to use for hooking up to really big metal items!
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
Don't tempt me with a good time at Harbor Freight. Now I just might have an excuse to get a welding clamp that I don't need 🤣
@DominicMazochАй бұрын
@@hamradiotubeHFT has some stuff you can make antennae with.
@timel64Ай бұрын
At what point does the counterpoise become the element and the element become the counterpoise?
@Philip-KA4KOEАй бұрын
Kevin Behn loads up everything metal on his farm.
@AndrewSchottАй бұрын
That AC guy wire was the one that surprised me, I would have expected the telco guy wire would have created far too much RF noise. But -- hey! -- it worked! Nice job -- both in getting things to work and in creativity.
@W-733_KWXАй бұрын
THAT'S HAM fun ; I love it ! I was told by an elmer that back in the day, they used to tune bed frames (made of metal) and coat hangers for fun. I also managed to make HF contacts on my dummy load lol.
@redstickham6394Ай бұрын
You never know what will load up. I worked a ham once who said he was doing a demonstration of ham radio at a shopping mall. He was using a Uniden HR2510 10 meter radio with a quarter wave CB antenna that was mounted on a shopping cart inside the mall and he was getting out. He made it from California to me in Louisiana! It may have been a long day, but it looks like you had a great time and gave us a fun video.
@MrTommy001Ай бұрын
This video cracked me up! i love to see people actually having fun with ham radio - and you were having fun.
@DellFargusАй бұрын
This is pretty wild. I have been thinking about making a "beverage" antenna - made out of Sapporo cans soldered together.
@chrissewell1608Ай бұрын
You better empty 30 of them first! 😋 Cheers! 🍻
@panplayerАй бұрын
This was a trip. And I think this has sold me on the G90 as my first HF rig.
@brentboydston2565Ай бұрын
Has a retired USAF veteran you have my permission to load up that F16. Flexibility is the key to are power🎉
@jamesemery1Ай бұрын
I tuned the top row of barbwire fence with the g90 and a 64-1 unun the fence was a a huge square roughly a mile in total, I only had a short run of coax so added a counterpoise and it work great made contacts within 6 -500 miles and made a few people laugh when i explained I'd tuned a fence
@stacymahana314826 күн бұрын
Wow! Amazing, Texas to Kentucky. Fabulous!
@markviers998Ай бұрын
What a fun day and shaking my head at the tuner in the 90, amazing!!
@JBryant1981Ай бұрын
An Elmer once told me some wisdom he was given by his Elmer; if it can radiate you can communicate. I am going to have to build a random object antenna kit for myself now.
@BradSnyder1Ай бұрын
That was so cool! Goes to show *almost* anything can be used as an antenna if need be.
@haydend380Ай бұрын
If this video doesn't gain more traction, it's a crime. This was pure golden content. This would make a really fun event for a club to do and see who could make the most contacts in an area. Keep up the great work Mike. 73 de KD9HAY
@KK7UMO_HAM_RADIOАй бұрын
HIs laugh when you mentioned you were using a shopping cart is priceless.
@KK7UMO_HAM_RADIOАй бұрын
I bet I could hook up my Hf radio to my fence that runs our whole yard
@Maker_MikeyАй бұрын
We have a group here in phoenix that likes to use box springs, awnings, dumpsters and other clutter.
@aa3konthegoАй бұрын
Interesting. And the light pole and fence are definitely grounded yet they still worked.
@dienadel30Ай бұрын
I'm guessing the counterpoise became the emitter and the object became the ground plan. Great stuff !
@keegan854Ай бұрын
That might be a good way to use the bleachers. Set up a vertical and use the big chunk of metal under you as the counterpoise.
@GreyGhost-r4z22 күн бұрын
Make a tight COIL around the base of one of those tall parking lot lights, and try to couple to it and see if it will resonate. Use a 4:1 balun
@HAMFunko4pdiАй бұрын
I might have to pick up a G-90 now. Love it Mike.
@jerryKB2GCGАй бұрын
Almost fell off my chair laughing, been one of my fantasy things to try for a while! Awesome video Jerry KB2GCG
@davidgettman4695Ай бұрын
Thanks. That was great fun!
@saltydawg8988Ай бұрын
Woah! I grew up in Huntsville Tx! Crazy how much it’s grown. Graduated highschool there in 2006, may have gone to school with you.
@Philip-KA4KOEАй бұрын
Dipole with 2 shopping carts or two bleachers.
@bennyholb4 күн бұрын
I just bought the connector and adapter to try this myself with my IC-746Pro. Thinking I’ll have to make my own video trying it out next week!!
@wildbill1Ай бұрын
That’s awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven around, looking at street lights, fences, and all kinds of things that I can hook up to and see if it will work. Cool video.
@buffdelcampo22 күн бұрын
Somebody making ham radio fun. I love it!
@Jaidom1Ай бұрын
@KRMD... You are the antenna God!!!! Awesome video!!!!
@RJ-cf8jqАй бұрын
I absolutely love my G90. It will for sure tune anything for an antenna.
@dougdanielsАй бұрын
I remember you did a back yard competition like this a few years back. Good stuff 👍
@HamRadioDuoАй бұрын
Fun video! Great job Mike! We recently tuned our rain gutters and had great luck tuning all the bands with our g90. One of my first contacts was with a guy using a flagpole as an antenna. That contact was flagpole to rain gutter. 73 Mike N4FFF es Becky N4BKY
@philipwyman3325Ай бұрын
Just goes to show in a pinch you can get something together to get a signal out!! Very nice video!
@hamradioqrp-k0klbАй бұрын
hahaha Mike.. Whoda Thunk it, LOL... just a wire and alligator clip = fun radio adventures.. thx for the fun.. k0klb
@ASHES63Ай бұрын
great video more to come?
@briangarrison9518Ай бұрын
Fantastic Mike! That's a fun day that I can't wait to try. Thanks, man! 🤣
@CigarsOnTheAirАй бұрын
LOL!! Love this. I started COTA (Cigars on the Air) but now its Carts on the Air. And PLOTA (Parking Lots on the Air) Haha! Cheers and 73 Mike :)
@glass4600Ай бұрын
So I can see this was posted a bit ago for members or whatever the paid sub is. I say that because I really don’t think you’ll see this, But I would really love to see a set up / build up of this “random object antenna” kit. I love it. I think I honestly wanna do one of my own and keep it in the vehicle. This is amazing.
@robmccray6360Ай бұрын
What, no dumpsters in the wild? Great video, and yes, I see random things in the wild all the time and ask myself...Will it antenna?
@Eric10179Ай бұрын
1:11 Mike: “and I see another antenna over there” Me: He’s not pointing at the power lines is he?!?
@rudiwiedemann8173Ай бұрын
You should use all the metal objects as GROUND PLANES off of which you can run a quarter lengths wire horizontally for NVIS on 40m or a telescopic whip vertical. Actually works well.
@av3510Ай бұрын
Epic effort, Miguel. Good work, dude.
@bwillan23 күн бұрын
I have a metal chimney for a woodstove. I was thinking of making that an antenna using the gutter antenna principle. However I want to use a magnet to attach it to the wire instead of a screw over a ring terminal.
@MattPatterson1411Ай бұрын
I always assumed that the radiating element needed to be isolated from ground. That being said, I’ve loaded up a 32’ cattle trailer and a backhoe and made contacts before.
@timmoore60Ай бұрын
Great stuff Mike, the only comment I have is that most of your wild antennas look like they’re grounded, so how much you’re actually radiating would be probably very little. The rusty joints might have a strange effect. I’ve used the top wire on a farmer’s fence myself, it loaded up OK but it didn’t seem to radiate very well at least on 80m.
@mattsmithey5131Ай бұрын
I used to go to elementary school across the street from that Gibbs Park. What a small world.
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
Well how do you like them apples?
@adamfunk5812Ай бұрын
There needs to be more of these… this was great! Would be great options for the new hams out there
@Krispin291Ай бұрын
This is just epic and contagious! Now you have me looking around, searching! 🙄🤣
@IamTingsterАй бұрын
Great video and great idea antenna considerations.
@KD7JVRАй бұрын
I need this video. Contemplating buying an ATU-100.
@Ammed_KN6STXАй бұрын
That was a fun video, Mike!!!
@thedoorchickАй бұрын
Cool idea. This was interesting to watch!
@AndrewB416Ай бұрын
I joke about this all the time with my dad. Just tune up the gutters or the fence in the backyard. Yehaw!
@justincompton4593Ай бұрын
We need a comparison between the random objects and a EFHW or a dipole. Maybe it would have taken just as long to make the contacts with a “real” antenna as it did the random objects?
@hamradiotubeАй бұрын
I can just tell you no. A real antenna would have done WAAAAAAY better.
@send2mcАй бұрын
So nice to hear your call it aluminium 😊
@JT-py9lvАй бұрын
WOW... $2.53 per gallon for gas. I wish it was that cheap in AZ - Thanks for the video
@robertvantichelt6448Ай бұрын
It's double that in California. Be glad you are in Arizona