[Elecraft] Antenna

[Helmut Usbeck]

Since the antenna subject came up again, I'd give the results of this one.
Years ago when I was in the Army Signal Corps I saw some guys fooling
around with an antenna that looked, and was made out of two slinkys.
It was not homebrewed but was commercially made.  They just stretched the
slinky's out and fed the coax into their T-195 transmitter which had an
auto-tune antenna tuner.  Worked out as good as the normal Army issued
doublets or whip antennae.

Well I finally got around to playing with this setup.  I took one slinky
and mounted it on a length of PVC and lashed it vertically to the railing
on my terrace.  For a "ground" I used the railing of the terrace.  One
tunes it by lengthening or shortening it.  Seven and one-half feet is a
good starting point for 40 meters.  Two slinky's need to be spliced
together for 80 meters.  No problem getting a 1 to 1 SWR, without a tuner.

A dipole can be made with two of them supported though the middle of the
slinkys with nylon cord which also serve as insulators. It's fed of course
with coax.  This was pretty much the setup the Army used. When done it can
be collapsed and put into a large pocket. I was told (by people who
were never in the military) that this antenna was used extensively in Viet Nam, but I never seen any when
I was there (1968).  It's also not the famous "jungle antenna".  I've seen
them used when I was stationed down in the Canal Zone(1969).  A warrant officer
did tell me that they were used since the 1950's experimently.

So far I've worked into the NE, down south, and into the mid-west with 59
reports from my QTH in NYC using a K2/100 on sideband.  I'm a rather
casual operator and haven't chased any DX.

Has anyone else tried slinkys?

Regards,
Helm.  WB2ADT