Carbon-fiber masts don’t have to be the villain. For Straight Key Month I ran a quarter-wave 20-meter vertical two ways—first with 12-gauge wire taped to the outside of a Goture carbon-fiber mast, then with 18-gauge magnet wire laced inside the mast. Result: both versions delivered S9 into Utah from downtown San Francisco, and the internal-wire build was far stealthier for city operating. I finally got to do a long term—a few hours—test of the TouCans and a Stick vertical antenna with magnet wire on the inside this week! The interior magnet wire setup worked just as well as the same antenna rigged with 12 gauge wire taped to the outside of the carbon fiber mast did. The rig was S9 into the Utah SDR that morning. Here's a look at the antenna setup and results. There are more text details below the video.. Construction To construct the antenna I removed the brass bottom of the carbon mast, removed the upermost segment, and then inserted 18 guague magnet wire through the...