Eighty years ago this month, this father-son team lived in an area with poor ground conductivity due to dry sandy soil. Undaunted, they still managed to hook up a good ground for their radio, thanks to this self-explanatory helpful hint from the June 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics. The funnel is permanently soldered to the pipe serving as ground rod. Therefore, whenever the ground conductivity gets poor, it’s a simple matter to pour in some water and squeeze the last mho out of the soil.

If the idea sounds familiar, it’s probably because you previously saw it here.