The smiling radio operator greeting viewers of his YouTube videos calls himself "Cornfield Kevin," and yes, Kevin KØKLB is outstanding in his field -- which happens to be an Iowa cornfield. There, in August of 2022, Kevin harvested two SSB contacts between Iowa and Texas while operating on 5 watts using a 20m vertical antenna fashioned ... from cornstalks. He called his creation "The CornTenna."

This year, Kevin is making the QSOs -- and the corn -- pop all over again. In his latest video, he shows how he put cornstalks back to work recently, this time using stalks from a fresh harvest to build a horizontal 20 metre dipole. He tested the corn-tenna over a two-day period and, sadly, made no contacts on the first day. The next day, after cutting fresh new stalks, he worked his brother Bruce, KEØQQE, on 10 metres. Bruce, who was nearby, gave him a 5 5. Then a POTA activator in Ohio copied him and gave him a 4 4, telling him he was [quote] "down in the weeds." [endquote]

Well those weren't exactly weeds Kevin was standing in but the POTA op was correct about the challenging RST. Nonetheless, satisfied with his project, Kevin is sharing the build on his YouTube channel, "Ham Radio QRP - KØKLB." While you're there, check out Kevin's earlier project for the original vertical corn-tenna. After all, when you're a ham on a farm in Iowa, every day can be field day.