Slinky Ham Radio Antenna

#hamradio #pota #sota
Activating both SOTA and POTA with a SLINKY for an antenna!
How I made it, how I set it up, antenna analyzer, and SOTA/POTA activation with the SLINKY!
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POTA Park--- pota.app/#/par...
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[@MikeN2MAK]

I might have to pick up a Slinky and give this a try.

[@W6IWN_Radio]

It's fun to experiment with. You can make a dipole with 2. I worked France with it during good band conditions last year! kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3eucpZ5h6qDftUsi=CIs-16upsFgAnGXN

[@jonsymmonds1120]

First time watcher, enjoyed the video here. AA9IG is the call. I used to have a friend that used a pair of slinkies in a dipole configuration suspended via NYLON rope about 60' in the air. I am not sure that he didn't use 2 slinkies per side of the dipole. Anyway, he fed it with 450 ohm ladder line with a home made tuner. He swore he could tune the thing from 160 to 10 meters. He did state however the inductance at low frequencies was hard to capacitively tune out. He also employed some sort of pulley/nylon rope configuration to lengthen and shorten the slinkies while in the air. I would have loved to play with something like this in my younger days! And by the way, he also stated that the slinkies rusted badly over time. The time frame would have been in the early 1990's. Take care and please upload more!

[@W6IWN_Radio]

@jonsymmonds1120 AA9IG, thank you 😊 I've been wanting to experiment with the dipole slinky configuration for some time... That sounds like a really awesome setup your friend had! I don't think they make the slinkys the way they used to. I want some brass ones, but they are expensive now! Thanks for watching, 73

[@joewoodchuck3824]

Are you sure the inductance problem was on the LOWER frequencies and not the higher ones? It seems counterintuitive to me.

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

Slinky antenna... old things are new again, with some modern additions, nice setup.

[@W6IWN_Radio]

@@JohnHill-qo3hb thanks 😊

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

I made one using a PVC pipe after your first video on it. I made a qso to a POTA in WI from So Cal on 10m since like you showed it had a workable swr

[@W6IWN_Radio]

Awesome! It's funny you mention PVC pipe for a mast. I was just thinking about builds with one last night. I'm curious if the length that the slinky is extended changes the SWR much. If so, a PVC pipe marked with different bands would be nifty. I've read that you can clamp sections of the slinky together at the bottom to shorten it. 73, Bobby

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

@@W6IWN_Radio I have read the same thing about length and swr. I used a pvc pipe because I was having issues with the fishing pole collapsing with the slinky.

[@W6IWN_Radio]

​@dadsrcworkbench1322 These are the masts I use. I just twist it tight as I extend it. amzn.to/4ffLvDf

[@dadsrcworkbench1322]

@@W6IWN_Radio yep I use the same ones for my QTH Hf antenna and mobile masts

[@JIMISPIER]

That was pretty cool.

[@forgetyourlife]

With the g90 tuner you can ditch the 9:1

[@mthrk15301]

Great video... Confirming that this would be vertical polarization and good for 10/15/20? was thinking about a long wire version of this horizonal along my fence... Thanks!

[@W6IWN_Radio]

Thanks 😊 Yes it was performing ok in a vertical configuration on 10/15/20m with a 9:1 UnUn. You could try the slinky dipole configuration. I've been wanting to make one but haven't gotten around to it yet. Here's a great resource for the build. www.nonstopsystems.com/radio/frank_radio_antenna.htm

[@mthrk15301]

@@W6IWN_Radio Thank you... I have been away from things for awhile ( 20 years ) still have my icom 706 and looking forward to getting things going again