How To Make A Radio Antenna Out Of Anything! 

You know how long we've been waiting for one of those things to show itself!

Been waiting all day and thumbs up before it even premiers! Thank you for all your videos josh

This video was right up my alley as a prepper and new ham. I love real world kits like this. I spend most of my operating time out in the field, so it looks like it’s time to build yet another Altoids kit. Keep up the great work!

Love that fire extinguisher antenna!! That's awesome...

thanks Josh , I made an impression on a non ham yrs ago by using a flag pole at work , he talks about still 10 yrs later.

Thanks man. Enjoyed that.

Hey, nice idea! Love the idea of having a magnet with you.

Fire extinguisher, why not? Park bench? Sure. Subway car? Awesome vid!

I just bought some paracord from a company called Titan Survival, the paracord has a strand of wire in it, supposedly it can be used as an antenna or small game snare if needed. Also has 25 lb monofilament line for fishing and a strand of waxed jute string for starting fires. Someday I'll experiment with the cord for making antennas, I'm not sure if I have to remove the wire from the cord or just use the paracord and expose the wire on the end. Should be fun trying it out. Any way your video subject matter reminded me of this product.

Love the videos Josh, your content helped me get my Tech, and recently my General as well. The RFI video helped me especially, helped me find some pretty noisy stuff in my shack. 73s from W8IJC!

Awesome video Josh!

Nice video, always fun to see if "it will antenna". Btw, I was on Santiago Peak today (in Orange County, CA) and 146.520 was on fire. I made QSOs from San Diego to LA. Also I made a QSO to the Yucca Valley Repeater (2m) on 50W. Almost 150mi with a ton of mountains in the way. I'm a new ham so I was super stoked.

Haha love it josh. I have used all kinds of things for antennas. From greenhouse frames. Out house tin roofs. Metal lampposts. Fence railings. Etc. Keep up the good work. M6yik

i think i saw a TX-500 on that bench of yours!! Very freaking cool. Cant wait to see your review of that rig. nice snag on a very highly anticipated rig!!

The QRPGuys tuning indicator works the opposite of what you mentioned, the LED dims out when you ARE in tune. Easy to mix up. 73

Imagine not being able to watch this awesome video live @ 6 :(

I'm so thankful for this channel and for the amateur radio community. What a cool hobby!

as a fellow kx3 and 817 qrp user, i suggest sodering and crimping ring terminals big enough to go around the bnc posts. I do this in the field as its a stronger hold and more secure. I like that you can screw off the caps and lock it back in. 73

Another awesome video Josh thank you for this! I own that little SWR indicator kit, though I have not built it. I bought a G90 before I went too far down the path of buying manual QRP tuners, though I have built a few. -building a good compact variable inductor was my biggest hurdle, but the experience was well worth it. I have this luggable kit with a piece of coax and a 9:1 end fed for an antenna. -Didn't even think about something as simple elegant and accessible as this. I think I am going to try some stuff with my G90, and may ultimately build a very similar antenna kit as yours for it! Even for SWL this is an awesome kit. Very adaptable. 73 de N2NLQ

I’d add some plumbers emery cloth for sanding/cleaning things a little more, some mini rubber bands and electrical tape, a tailor’s tape measure, and maybe a few coax adaptors

Speaking of using structures that might be grounded, if you were crafty enough and the structure only had one ground point you could make a gamma match antenna, and then the grounded-ness wouldn’t matter. Just a thought. Fun video!

Freaking sweet.

Im not sure what you are doing with your life but, I highly recommend knipex wire snippers. I LOVE mine. L ol Thanks for all of the lessons!

Whaaaattt? Vaporware realized! I have a preorder in on the IC-705, but the TX-500 looks legit, hopefully some SOTA comparisons are coming!

you should add some electrical wiring terminals....the white ones with the 2 screws per line. These are very handy on connecting lengths of antenna and power cables

Long time ago in a remote jungle in Latin America was having trouble making contact using PRC-77 radio. Accidentally leaned the antenna onto a tree and got very clear communications while antenna was touching the tree.

I use prescription vials (from CVS) to carry small items.

It's sad I spent as much time as I did on my dipole and you pull a 3 to 1 on a fire extinguisher. No justice.

The patch is a Garand Thumb reference?

When "flashlight" meant 2 D cells I always put a piece of 400 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper alongside the batteries, in case contacts needing cleaning. For antennas...maybe a patch of 220 grit?

How about adding a small disk magnet with a bolt thats sharpen on the end attach to center of the magnet. Pretty much a minature magnet ground clamp used on welders. Point on bolt or screw will scratch and pentrate paint or oxidation and clip alligator clip to other side.

Can you do an updated video of an antenna making “survival kit” of sorts?

Josh, You may want to use larger rubber bands to bind your Altoids box closed, so you can use the velcro wrap for the wire bundles or vise-versa.

Try making a truck/car as an antenna. Will it work with the car battery still connected to the vehicle?

Hey Josh. How about a small piece of sandpaper or emery cloth?

Ditch the "tie wrap" on the long wire, use the feed wire as the wrap, OR, use a piece of solid copper ground wire, for both. Could come in handy..... I'd add: -- A square of coarse sandpaper for roughing surfaces, along with the razor blade, and a spare `gator clip. -- 6" or so of copper ground braid -- Solder on the `gator clip, and a flat, open lug to the other end of your "feed line", you get a lot more flexibility this way -- Put the same on your long wire, again, for flexibility sake. Cut the lengths right, might get a trick di-pole out of it? All of this should fit in your tin.\ BUT, why not upgrade to a small plastic case intended for fishing stuff, with the same relative footprint as the radio, and add some more goodies?

Like *all* your videos and streams, this was great, Josh! Thanks for these. As a noob, I have to ask: what type of wire is that? I guess I'm asking if it's single, stranded, what gauge? Thanks again for all the help you don't know you've given me! 🍻

Recommend a dogbone w/ some 550cord instead of the boxcutter. With it, you can reduce the length of your wire, without cutting, in order to tune to resonance. PSA reminder: tuners are just where watts go to die

A small piece of 100 grit sandpaper might also help in removing rust and or paint.

Great Video. Whats the name of that magentic thing shown in the vid? I love the idea to experiment with several things being an antenna. ;) Tnx.

Does anyone have that specific magnet 🧲 link on Amazon thanks

It look like MFJ isn't selling the X5105 anymore. I was looking into getting one!

Frankly things touching the ground can be used as an antenna. It's a matter of feed point.

Oh man, the infamous vaporware radio?! How even?! Do that review now! 😀

What specs on a laptop do you recommend to run a sdr?

I can even tune a 50 ohm restistor ! You can tune anything, but If it tunes okay, that doesn't mean its usefull.

I tuned up a gutter once out of desperation... didn't work well though.

A couple of mini insulators and some string will get your radiator up into a tree. 3D print some whatever size your tin is.

why wouldn't u have a 9/1 unun?

Open open open...... (vague television commercial reference...)

JOSH!!! Tell me that Russian radio is everything I hope it is!!! I've been waiting for them to come out! It seems like a great piece of kit for portable ops and I want one to backpack with.

👏👏👏😎

Oxy-di-zation You had it right :)

You forgot about catch 22. A well tuned antenna is not necessarily a good one, what about radiation pattern, gain etc? You're basically tuning something that's slightly better or equal as a dummy load...js

Sorry folks, don't mean to rain on the average Joe's parade,,, but I've pretty much STOPPED subscribing and or watching ALL of the REGULAR RU-vid HAMM Radio domains ! HAMM Radio is not about buying all of the latest gizmos and gadgets. It's about talking on radios. It's not about buying the latest rig that just came out or trying out another Chinese made MFJ gadget that you don't need ! Anyone else that gets what I'm saying knows exactly what I'm talking about and which domains/hosts I am referring to. It seems like YT has created a little, " click " of usuals that are always showing up at some function or event, not just one or two, there are like a half dozen or so ! This hobby is expensive enough as it is,let alone all the YT HAMM wizard click telling me what I need to buy next. Take advantage of all the great used gear out there, let the newbs and millennials try to keep up with the YT click ! The have deep pockets because they don't have a family and still live rent free in thier mom's basement or garage !!! Get back to the hobby ! And yes, you don't have to have an ICOM 7300 or a grossly overpriced latest Elekraft to enjoy this hobby,,, PS I have the means to buy all of these things, the the click's actions and YT are beginning to turn me away from the hobby.