Random Wire, Or What In The Heck Am I Up To Now?

That is an MFJ-16010 random wire antenna tuner. I attached a green 12 gauge stranded copper wire to a screw on its chassis for grounding. I drove a 1/2″ diameter copper pipe a few feet into the ground, and secured the green wire to it with a clamp. This random wire experimentation has me exploring grounding.

The antenna radiator consists of maybe 30 feet of 14 gauge stranded copper wire. It has one end secured in a loop with cable ties including a cable tie insulator. The other end terminates in a banana plug. The banana plug inserts into the center pin hole of the SO-239 connector labeled “antenna” on the back of the tuner.

A 25′ run of coax inserts into the connector labelled “transmitter” in the tuner, with the other end attached to the 1:1 balun (i.e., an RF choke). Another 25′ of coax connects the transceiver to the balun.

That is the SWR with great dips below 2:1 on 40M and 80M. But when I brought the coax inside, the antenna electrically lengthened on 40M, with the Icom 705 refusing to put out any power. I could transmit full power on 80M.

That is the start of random wire antennas. No doubt there will be more to come…

Mindy