Build a DIY Recycled Antenna (To Get Free T.V!)

Step 5 Solder Everything Together

Now you just have to solder everything together.

The first thing I did was punch one small hole in each can. This gave me something to thread the wire through and helped give a better soldered connection. I then soldered one wire to each of the cans.

Next, I soldered the wire from one can too the outside coaxial wire, and the wire from the other can to the inside coaxial wire.

Once everything was soldered I used electrical tape and hot glue to insulate everything.

Comments

[the Watcher]

Solder does not stick to aluminium

[msw100]

It does if well cleaned and you use flux

[Gjdj3]

Haha, idk then. For some reason it worked for me. Thats interesting... Any ideas on why it worked for me?

[Dr. dB]

Love this project - it has such a great "ET-phone-home" feel to it!

Now, to address your question:

Although solder won't actually "wet" to aluminum, your "cross-hatching" trick, with gouges in going in many different directions, will have created enough opposing "hills and valleys" for the molten solder to "grip" the roughened spots - sort of - similar to the way "scarifying" or "etching" glossy surfaces will improve the adhesion of a new coat of paint.

Plus, if the solder flowed through on the (presumably copper?) wire to both sides of the hole, it would form a fairly snug "plug", holding pretty well mechanically. Signal-strength problems may arise later, though, when corrosion works in between the solder and the aluminum.

If the material will stand the gaff, pop-rivets might be a longer-term solution. (Then again, the rivets might simply rip through the thin can walls before "popping" properly.)

[SharpyWarpy]

Here's an idea that make your connections to the cans better. As Dr. dB has said soldering is iffy because all it's doing is building up on the copper wire forming a "plug" because it can't adhere to aluminum. So why not drill a hole in each can the size of a small nut and screw combination. Tin the ends of your copper wires. Form loops the size of the diameter of your screws. Secure the rounded tin copper wire leads under the head of the screw with the wire arranged in a clockwise direction -- which will ensure the lead doesn't back out and off the screw while it is being tightened. A good sanding on the can around the screw holes will permit a solid connection. To prevent future corrosion problems apply hot glue to the finished connections.

[bobby561]

were do i get a red\black wire

[Minifig666]

Maplin (UK) Radioshack (US) Garden centre Hardware store It doesn't need to be red and black however, two bits of wire will do.

[the Watcher]

How did you solder to an aluminium can?

[computerwiz_222]

To solder to the can, take a utility knife and create a "crosshatch" area. A bunch of intersecting lines. Just don't cut through the can. Then you can solder here. You can use this same technique to solder directly to batteries. (Only in rare cases such as building a joule thief...)

[Gjdj3]

I think there's an instructable somewhere on soldering to larger objects...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Soldering-to-large-metal-objects/

[jasinth]

Would it be possible to get a close up picture between the Coaxial wire and the red/black connection?