Hunting for Hertz at the Hardware Store

Hardware Store HF Antenna Building Challenge

ver Sept 26a 2025

Leandra MacLennan, AF1R

Introduction

The inspiration for this contest is a QST Stray I saw about a year ago. A club in the Midwest challenged their club members to make a contact using an incandescent light bulb for an antenna. How about other items? Every time I go into a Home Depot I see many items which could be used to build an antenna: an extendable paint handle, rain gutters, metal flashing, paint cans . . . Let’s have a contest to see if we can build a working antenna from parts that were not designed to radiate RF.

Goal

The intent of the contest is to attempt to make a working antenna by the creative use of hardware store parts which were not designed to be used in an antenna. Let’s find new and original ways to build an antenna with unconventional parts. The contest is set up to reward your effort to build an antenna even if it is not a contest grade antenna. Let’s have fun and see some original designs!

Scenario

Your ham radio friend found an inexpensive rental home on a rare Pacific island and has invited you to join her for a week of DXing fun. Unfortunately, after putting down a big deposit, she discovered the reason she got a good deal on rental home is that the home is located in a scenic area of the island where outdoor antennas are prohibited. After exploring invisible antennas, both of you saw the notice for the neighborhood modern art competition during the week of your rental. A piece of modern art in the front yard of your rental house would be eligible to enter the neighborhood modern art competition. How about creating a piece of modern art which is actually a disguised HF antenna?

After checking with the owner, both of you find out the rental home has a small workshop with basic hand tools, and a cordless drill. And there is a well-stocked hardware store on the island.

The only transportation to the island, other than 3 day boat ride, is by a small plane. For the plane ride, each of you are restricted to one, small, soft-sided suitcase weighing less than 20 pounds. The two suitcases allowed between the two of you, only have room for your clothes, basic necessities, your radio, power supply and coax. There is no room for any parts to build an antenna. All of the parts you need for the antenna must be purchased at the hardware store.

You know you can’t make a piece of art with wire, metal rods, PVC or cut-up tape measures, which would be recognized as an antenna, so you think carefully about what you could use from the hardware store that would look more like art. And, you also plan the paint scheme for the antenna – all the more to hide the real purpose of the artwork!

Rules

1. Five judges will observe the evaluation of each antenna.

2. All parts in the antenna, except for the required SO-239 connector, must have been purchased within the previous 30 days from either a local hardware store, such as Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight or Ace Hardware. Parts may be purchased from multiple stores. Store receipts must show every part used in the antenna. Parts cannot be purchased from another individual. The SO-239 connector can be obtained from any source and will not count toward the cost of the antenna. For this rule, “local” is defined as a 25 mile radius from the individual’s home address. If it is a club entry, “local” is defined as a 25 mile radius from the club President’s home address.

Clarification: An antenna is defined as a collection of parts which includes a SO-239 connector. The purpose of these parts is to radiate RF energy delivered to the antenna via an external coaxial cable connected to the antenna SO-239 connector.

3. Parts of the antenna may be painted. The paint (including spray cans) and paint brushes used to paint the antenna do not need to be on the store receipts and do not count toward the cost of the antenna. In order to qualify for the Graphics points, at least three contrasting colors must be used to create a logo with a name or part number for the antenna.

Clarification: The intent of this rule is to create a painted graphic design on the antenna, and not just splash paint on the antenna. The Judges may give 0 score for Graphics if they don’t think any effort was put into designing the paint scheme for the antenna.

Clarification:“Three contrasting colors” means three distinct colors must be used, and not, for example, three types of white paint.

4. Parts must be purchased locally and cannot be purchased from the internet, by phone or by mail. This includes parts from Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Lowes or Ace Hardware. The parts must be bought off the shelf from a local store. If a part is used on the antenna, it must be shown on a store receipt. See the definition above for “local”.

5. Junk box, or free (for example, junk box nuts & bolts, electrical tape or discarded cardboard boxes) parts cannot be used in the antenna. All parts used in the antenna must be purchased from a local store and shown on the store receipts.

6. In the spirit of originality, parts which have been used to build existing antennas will not be allowed

A. Measuring tapes, rulers, yard sticks or any physical, non-electronic, linear measuring devices of any length are not allowed. (Devices with a rotary wheel for measuring long distances, designed to be rolled along the ground incrementing a mechanical counter, are allowed.)

Clarification: The intent of this rule is to prohibit the use of these parts in the antenna. Measuring devices are allowed to be used during the construction of the antenna.

B. The minimum diameter of copper pipe, EMT conduit, PVC tubing or any other type of pipe must be 1.5 inch diameter (outside dimension).

Clarification: The intent of this rule is to discourage the use of copper pipe, EMT conduit, PVC tubing, etc. because these items are commonly used in existing antennas.

C. Electrical wire is permitted to be used, but not as a radiating element. Electrical wire is allowed for winding coils and guys but cannot be radiating part of the antenna or a phasing device (such as the horizontal section of a half-square antenna). For the purpose of this rule “Electrical Wire” is defined as a metal conductor, made with or without insulation which is sold for the purpose of passing an electrical current from one location to another location. This includes extension cords, reels of wire, electric fence wire and coaxial cable. Not included are devices used to direct or make use of an electric current, such as light switches, light bulbs, or toasters.

Clarification: Light strings are considered to be Electrical Wire if there is a female power plug at the end of the light string for the purpose of plugging in a second light string. Cutting off the female power connector is not allowed.

Clarification: Note this rule does not permit wrapping wire around an object to make a loaded antenna, such as is done with a hamstick.

7. Only standard unpowered hand tools, a hand-held rotary or reciprocating saw and a hand-held electric drill may be used to construct the antenna. For example, a table saw or a drill press is not allowed.

Clarification: The intent of this rule is to limit the tools used to create the antenna to tools that are commonly found in most homes. Unusual tools must be purchased and shown on the receipts. For example, if coaxial cable is used, the stripping tool and connector crimp tool must be shown on the purchase receipts.

Clarification: Tap and die tools, used for creating threaded holes or threaded rods, are considered to be standard unpowered hand tools.

Clarification: A vise is considered to be a standard hand tool

Clarification: If an assembly jig is made to assist in parts fabrication for the antenna, the cost of the parts used in the jig must be included in the cost of the antenna.

Clarification: If a standard hand tool is modified to be used as an assembly jig, and the resulting modified tool can no longer be used for its original function, the cost of the hand tool must be included in the cost of the antenna.

8. The antenna must be designed to be connected directly to a radio via a 50 ohm male to male PL-259 to PL-259 cable. Nothing, other than the supplied cable, is allowed between the radio and the antenna. The radio provided by the contestant is allowed to have a built in antenna matching device.

9. The antenna must be self-supporting. If it is a dipole or end fed style antenna, the support for the antenna must be shown in the purchase receipts. “Self-Supporting” means the antenna will remain erect in a moderate breeze. The Judges will test this requirement by gently pushing or pulling the erected antenna.

10. The antenna must be designed to work on at least one amateur radio band between 1.7 MHz to 30 MHz. On that band it must have a minimum bandwidth of 25 KHz where the SWR must be 3:1 or less.

Clarification: The antenna may have a tuning device to allow the antenna to be tuned in the field. The time it takes to tune the antenna will be included in the antenna erection time. Once the antenna is tuned, the contestant can no longer touch the antenna.

11. With one exception, all tools needed to erect & assemble the antenna in the field must be included in the purchase receipts. For example, if a sledgehammer and slingshot are needed to assemble & erect the antenna, they must be shown on the purchase receipts. A conventional style 2 pound hammer (the type designed to pound nails and with the hook for removing nails) may be used to assemble and disassemble the antenna without being considered a purchased item.

12. For safety, any parts of the antenna that exceed 8 feet from the ground must be guyed with a minimum of 3 guys arranged 120 degrees apart and anchored to the ground. The guys and anchors must be strong enough to keep the antenna from tipping over and becoming a safety hazard. Taller antennas may need a second set of guys. The guys and the ground anchors must be included in the purchase receipts. The antenna must fit inside a 50 foot (long) by 30 foot (wide) or 40 foot diameter space. A majority of the judges will determine if additional support is needed to make the antenna safe.

13. Antennas must be able to be erected in any outdoor open location and in any random compass direction.

14. No power sources, or devices capable of storing chemical, mechanical or electrical energy are allowed. Examples of power sources would include mechanical springs, batteries, solar cells, or energy storage capacitors.

15. The antenna, before, after and during erection and without being connected to a radio, must be safe to touch at any location. No sharp edges, spring loaded mechanical devices, loose parts or pinch points are allowed.

16. For making QSOs

A. A valid QSO is a two way exchange of the year first licensed by each operator. The exchange must be acknowledged by both operators.

B. QSOs can be prearranged.

C. Self-spotting is allowed

D. QSOs can be CW or SSB, or keyboard to keyboard (see below)

E. QSOs made with the WSJT-X application will not qualify for points.

F. Keyboard to Keyboard digital modes (for example, using FLDIGI or VarAC) will count for points, but a valid contact requires communicating with a human at the other end.

G. The operator using the antenna being tested can only contact a station one time on each band.

H. The radio at the other station cannot be used to make more than one contact per band unless it is operated by members of the same family.

I. Up to 100 watts (RF output) can be used.

J. Multiple operators may operate the radio.

K. The radio operator using the competition antenna may have assistance to log contacts or do other tasks such as picking out calls in a pile up.

L. A 100 foot coax cable will be provided by the judges to connect the antenna to the radio provided by the competitor for this test.

M. If the antenna meets the qualification to be considered a multiband antenna (see Rule 10), QSOs may be made on those bands

N. The exchange must be made using the competition antenna on the HF amateur radio band(s) where the SWR is 1:1. See Rule 10.

16. The winning contestant will be the team with the highest sum of Points.

17. The antenna must be an original design and cannot be similar to another antenna design that is or has been manufactured or has been previously published in print or on the web. The contestant must indicate if they used an existing antenna design for the basis of the design of their antenna.

Clarification: Making one-, two- or three-dimension changes to a published antenna design does not make the antenna an original design.

Clarification: The judges will make the decision whether the antenna is similar to an existing antenna design.

18. A majority of the judges may consider an antenna to be in violation of these rules and not eligible for this competition. This will be documented in a written statement.

19. A majority of the judges may approve exceptions to these rules. A rule exception will apply to all competitors. The rule exception will be documented in a written or emailed statement distributed to all competitors.

20. Judges’ rulings will be considered final.

21. Competitors may submit requests for rule clarifications. Competitors will be allowed one request for rule clarifications every 5 days. Clarification Requests must be emailed to AF1R@arrl.net

Clarification: The 5 day time period is the interval between email Clarification Requests submitted by a specific competitor. The time stamp of the received email will be the time reference. For example, if the time stamp of a Clarification Request from Competitor A is 2024-09-01 1:00 P.M., the next clarification request which will be considered from Competitor A must have a time stamp of 2024-09-06 1:01 P.M. or later.

Clarification: Allowed Clarification Requests do not accumulate for a Team over time. For example, if Competitor A does not send any Clarification Requests for five weeks, they have not accumulated the right to send seven Clarification Requests within 5 days. Competitor A is only allowed to send one Clarification Request every 5 days whether or not they decide to do so.

Clarification: Clarification Requests sent by a team within the 5 day waiting time will be ignored and discarded. They will not be considered at the expiration of the 5 day waiting period.

Clarification: The response to a Clarification Request will be available to all competitors

Scoring

 

The first phase will be an outdoor inspection of the erection of the antenna and a visual inspection of the antenna. All aspects of the antenna, will be evaluated for Points. Points will be awarded based on the physical characteristics of the antenna. All competition antennas will be evaluated on this date. All Judges will be present for this evaluation.

Antennas will be evaluated at Elm Bank Reservation in Dover, MA. The antenna will be erected on a flat, grassy area, in an open field with no obstructions within 50 feet of the antenna.

The SWR will be measured by a RigExpert meter connected to the erected antenna. A 15 foot male to male PL-259 to PL-259 cable will be used to connect the RigExpert meter to the antenna.

 

Points will be awarded based on meeting specific requirements

 

1. Cost of antenna parts. Receipts must be presented

Cost of antenna parts

Points

Less than $50

100

Between $100 to $50

50

Greater than $100

0

2. Portability (Only choose the highest score that applies)

Portability and weight

Points

All parts and erection tools fit in a backpack and can be carried 100 yards by one person. All parts and tools must fit into or be strapped to backpack. It is acceptable for parts to be strapped to the backpack or extend outside of the backpack. No antenna parts or tools can be hand carried, supported by hands or any other body part, dragged along the ground or supported by a wheeled device. The competitor must supply the backpack.

100

All parts and erection tools can be carried 100 yards in one trip by one person. All items must be carried and cannot be dragged along the ground or placed in or on a wheeled device.

75

All parts and erection tools can be carried 100 yards in one trip by two people. All items must be carried and cannot be dragged along the ground or placed in or on a wheeled device.

25

All parts and erection tools must be carried in multiple trips or by more than two people

0

Notes: The judges have the right to choose any person older than 21 years old to carry the antenna 100 yards.

3. Personnel needed for erection (Only choose the highest score that applies)

Number of people

Points

One person

100

Two people

50

More than two people

0

4. Time to erection (Only choose the highest score that applies)

Time to prepare the antenna for use from a set of loose parts on the ground to meeting the requirement for25 Khz bandwidth at minimum 3:1 SWR on one band

Points

Less than 5 minutes

100

Less than 10 minutes

80

Less than 15 minutes

50

Less than 30 minutes

25

Greater than 30 minutes

0

5. Antenna with graphics and a logo (only choose the highest score that applies)

Size of painted area

Points

144 square inches or greater

100

72 square inches to 143.99 square inches

50

36 square inches to 71.99 square inches

25

Less than 36 square inches

0

Notes:

Painting and graphics on a flat surface which has no other purpose other than to hold paint will only include the area of one side in the painted area calculation.

Paint on wire will not be included in the painted area calculation.

Parts to be considered in the paint area calculation must have a minimum 1 inch dimension in all X, Y, Z dimensions.

6. Number of QSOs during 5 minutes on inspection day (Only choose the highest score that applies)

Number of contacts in 5 minutes

Points

5 or more

250

3 or 4

200

2

150

1

100

0

0

Notes:

The contestant will have 5 minutes to demonstrate the performance of the antenna.

The contestant may spot himself.at any time during the inspection day.

The contestant may use any means to spot himself, including email, SMS text and phone calls.

7. Additional bands (Only choose the highest score that applies)

See the rules for definition of operation on a band and the explanation of how the SWR measurement will be made

Number of bands

Points

2

200

3

250

4

300

5

350

8. QSO Distance

The Points awarded for QSO Distance will be the 1/10th of the sum of the mileage of the distance from the antenna to the physical locations of the other stations.

9.Creativity/ Originality

The judges will each privately (without discussion among the judges) award a score from 0 (not creative) to 10 (very clever) for the physical antenna design. After the judges have privately chosen a score, all of the judges’ scores will be added together and multiplied by 5 to determine the Points for Creativity.

10. Endurance

A 100 watt radio will be used to test the power endurance of the antenna. While in CW mode, and set for 100 watts, the radio will be key down for 30 seconds continuously. After a 1 minute cooling time, the radio will be key down continuously for a second 30 second period.

If the antenna does not emit smoke and the SWR does not change after both key down cycles, 50 points will be awarded.

11. Mechanical Drawing

50 points will be awarded for a mechanical drawing of the antenna and a Bill of Materials. The drawing must clearly show locations of parts of the antenna and dimensions of the antenna. The Mechanical drawing must have references to the Bill of Materials. A clear hand sketch will be acceptable as a mechanical drawing. The mechanical drawing does not need to be drawn to scale.

The Bill of Material must include the generic name of the part, store part number, quantity of the part, individual cost of the part, quantity cost of the part and a “find number” reference for the mechanical drawing.

The Mechanical Drawing must not include any copyrighted materials (including photos).

The Mechanical Drawing must include a revision letter or number and date of the revision.

The Mechanical Drawing must include the name of the person who created the drawing and the person who made each revision.

The Mechanical drawing must be printed on paper and available as *.png, respectively or an equivalent public format.

The Bill of Materials must be printed on paper and available as a Microsoft Excel file, or an equivalent format.

12. Instructions to build the antenna

100 points will be awarded for detailed written instructions to construct and erect the antenna. The instructions must contain a Bill of Materials (see the requirements for the Bill of Materials above), a list of tools needed to build the antenna, and illustrated step by step instructions to construct and erect the antenna.

The Instructions must not include any copyrighted materials (including photos).

Photos must be captioned.

People in the photos must be identified by first name and callsign. Minors in the photos must have an adult release.

Credit must be given to the photographers of the photos included in the Instructions.

The Instructions to build the antenna must be printed on paper and available as a Microsoft Word or equivalent electronic format.

The Bill of Materials must be printed on paper and available as a Microsoft Excel file, or an equivalent format.

13. Antenna Design Story

100 points will be awarded for a one page (8 ½ x 11 inches, with margins no larger than 1 inch on the sides, top or bottom) story about the team effort to design and test the antenna. The one page article may include a ¼ page size photo.

25 points will be added for each additional page, for up to 4 additional pages. The additional pages may include photos up to ½ page (including caption) size.

The story must not include any copyrighted materials (including photos).

The font for the text must be size 12 or 14 Times New Roman.

Photos must be captioned.

People in the photos must be identified by first name and callsign. Minors in the photos must have an adult release.

The authors must be listed.

Credit must be given to the photographers of the photos included in the story.

The story must be printed on paper and available in Microsoft Word format.

Maximum Antenna Design Story Points are 200.

Clarification: The purpose of this Points item is collect stories about the development of the antennas for publication on the Web or in a newsletter.

Optional second day performance test

The contestant may choose a second day to demonstrate the antenna performance.

The second phase of the evaluation will be the QSO test. The Judges and competitor will agree on the location, date and time for this test. The antenna competitor will provide the radio. A 100 foot coax cable will be provided by the committee to connect the antenna to the radio provided by the competitor for this test. At least two judges must be present to witness the QSO test.

The antenna used for the performance test must be the antenna examined by the judges on inspection day. The competitor must prove that the antenna was not modified in the time period between inspection day and the performance test.

The rule for valid QSOs applies to the second day performance test.

A. A minimum of two judges will observe operators making QSOs with the antenna.

B. The operator will have up to 30 minutes to make as many QSOs as possible using the antenna.

C. The antenna competitor and judges will agree on a location, date and hour for making QSOs.

E. The antenna can be erected inside a POTA park.

G. Self-spotting is allowed, but texting and phone calls are not allowed

Points for the Optional Second Day

Number of QSOs in 30 minutes on a second day (Only choose the highest score that applies)

Number of contacts in 30 minutes

Points

More than 10

300

5 to 10

200

2 to 5

100

1

50

0

0

QSO Distance

The Points awarded for QSO Distance will be the 1/10th of the sum of the mileage of the distance from the antenna to the physical locations of the other stations