Project TouCans: Donuts over Toroids and Bananas

Project TouCans was having an issue with fog-borne moisture here in San Francisco. The flat top of the Tuna Can provided a place for water to pool—even if only a bit. Consequently, each morning, the radio would need to be lowered—don't forget, it lives in the antenna—disassembled, and dried.

I tried taping the radio shut more completely, I tried tightening the banana connectors—it doesn't help that on top of everything else, tuna cans bottoms have ripples—all to no avail. And then, the solution presented itself.

The kid—Diaze—and I had discussed using airliner barf bags as rain shields on our recent trip to New Mexico. I'd successfully used a Donette's bag to the same end when the gang and I were out camping back in June. I couldn't find a barf bag, a coffee bag, or a Donettes bag. (They're all lined in plastic, that's why they work.) But, I did find a plain old wax lined donut shop bag, and voila!

The rig has had no water issues since. You probably also noticed that during the process, the banana plugs were rearranged so that the easy to use side of the connector is in the confined space of the interior of the rig, and that the antenna has now been fitted with terminal lugs!

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