Originally published at: Man makes a shortwave radio antenna out of a measuring tape to listen to numbers stations | Boing Boing
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Using metal measuring tapes for antennas has a long history. For one thing, it’s easy to get the right length for the frequency.
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neat! i can’t believe this is the first time i’ve heard that.
word of warning though: don’t let the tape measure snap close on your finger. that hertz
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People even make VHF Yagis out of them…seem a bit awkward but there you go
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I’ve tried the RTL SDR dongle this guy used. Cheap, but didn’t work all that well for me. For more than a passing interest I use an SDR Play device: 100-200$ and you get a 14 or 16 bit ADC instead of 8. (depending on the model) . It’s a small external box though, so not as convenient as the dongle
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That’s definitely a rule!
Q: If they are broadcast by Russians, to Russian spies, why do they read the numbers out in English?
(Yeah - I guess that may not have worked for the deep sleepers and spies like Philby etc)
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Being overheard listening to Russian numbers would be suspicious?
English, why it’s … winning lottery numbers … yeah, that’s it!
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darn it. my puns just don’t measure up
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It’s not the width of the pun, it’s the depth!
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The 1950s vintage PRC-6 military handy-talkie had a measuring tape antenna for compact storage, but it wasn’t calibrated. It worked on the 6 meter band, needing a 1.5 meter antenna length.
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The Alouette Satellites used what were characterised as measuring tape antennas…I don’t expect that was literally true though. But maybe 
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