Simple Ham Radio Antennas: A 12 meter Pepsi can vertical antenna. Post #323.

Great video by Dave Turlock! It's time to recycle those aluminum soft drink cans and turn them into functioning amateur radio antennas. Dave says this antenna can be used on 10 meters, 11 meters (CB), and even the 15 meter amateur radio bands. With the price of copper tubing going higher every day, this economical approach to a metal vertical makes a lot of sense. I would be concerned, however, in making sure the cans were joined together tightly to maintain integrity throughout the length of the antenna. Some of the paint would have to be removed from the joined sections to make sure aluminum met aluminum along the entire length of the vertical. "QST" published a story in the late 1950s about a ham who built a beautiful "beer can" antenna for 40 meters, complete with guylines and an extensive ground system. That antenna worked very well. Although I pride myself in making antennas out of the scrap wire and metal lying about my shack, I've never tried Dave's Pepsi can antenna. It's time to recyle my soda cans into something useful for ham radio. The recycling center can wait. Nice project. For the latest Amateur Radio news and events, please check out the blog sidebars. These news feeds are updated daily. You can follow our blog community with a free email subscription or by tapping into the blog RSS feed. Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM).