FMW's Antenna

[FMW]

Here's the latest from the FMW Laboratory - a (mostly) in scale three-piece sectional antenna.



I made it to replace the one on the 1/25th Batmobile (shown in the picture for comparison, along with a '60s fender antenna).

It's made from hypodermic tubing and straight pins. Let me know if you want details.

FMW

[Mastercaster]

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH! Details, Details!

[FMW]

Okay, here it is.

The bottom section is 18 GA. hypodermic tubing (0.050" OD, 0.033" ID). The middle section is 21 GA. hypodermic tubing (0.032" OD, 0.023" ID). The top section is a straight pin with the head filed down. The ball on the bottom is a ball-head pin. It's a little over-large, but OK for this application. The rest of the base is formed Magic Sculp epoxy putty covered in bare metal foil. The top section actually moves a little bit, but I appear to have glued the middle section in when I put in the ball.

I bought all of the hypodermic tubing from Amazon.com. The only tricky parts are:
1) Making sure that the ID of the large tubing is the same or a tic more than the OD of the small tubing.
2) Finding the stuff in stock at Amazon. When it's available, it can be as cheap as $6.00 for a pack of 5 in 48" to 60" lengths. (Yeah, that's a lot of antennas).
3) Measure what you're going to use for the top section. My wife's straight pins (yes, I steal them) run 0.023" +/- 0.002", so I have to measure and select to get one to fit.

You have to watch pricing, too. Sometimes a pack of 5 in 4' lengths is cheaper than one 12" length. Go figure. The stuff comes in a bunch of steel types and wall thicknesses. The 0.004" wall thickness is what I used.

I saw some on Amazon today that was 27 Gauge (0.0163" OD, 0.0123" ID). Not sure what I'd use something that small for.

I cut the tubing with a rotary tool cut-off wheel and then ground the ends flat. Cutting it by rolling it under a #11 blade might work. It might even create a little narrowing of the tube to make a nice friction fit. I used the smallest ball-head pin my wife had for the base. I'm going to see if I can get some round beads that are a little smaller.

That's about it. It's an idea that I've had on the burner for a while, which let me piggy-back the tubing (when it was available) on other Amazon orders & get free shipping.

FMW

05-04-12 Addendum: It just occurred to me that I should have put the straight pin in the motor tool and ground the head down on a flat abrasive, yielding a nice symmetrical end with a minimum of effort.

[PHXKSTM]

Great tip i like them better than the 59 impala ones

[Danno]

Great idea!

Thanks for sharing.