I help out a local a radio enthusiast from time to time. He's a CBer and Shortwave Listener. Every time I call round, he has a new radio. Yesterday I counted nine - all in his tiny kitchen. With each new radio purchase he buys an antenna and then I get a call to help get everything working.

For his CB radios he often buys mag-mount antennas which he sets up indoors. His latest mag-mount antenna is so long the he has to set it on the bottom of his stairs to have enough head-room to get it in.

As a radio systems engineer, I always feel duty-bound to let him know that mag mounts need some metal underneath them to work properly. Of course I mean a car, but as my friend is a CBer, he is steeped in the lore of CB. Wherever CBers have mag-mounts, biscuit tins are used as a substitute for a car. I have tried to persuade them that this does not work but that lore is really ingrained.

Folks, a biscuit tin will not be a suitable substitute for a car, and indeed a car is often a poor substitute for proper radials (for HF antennas anyway). But whatever I say, during this festive season, if you know a CBer, give them a gift of a tin of biscuits. It will be very welcome.

Read a bit about radials here.



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