There is a long, thin, rubber-y line wrapped around/connected to the water line pictured below.
Other angle:
The piece in question is loosely hanging via a zip tie on my main water line about shoulder height and can be moved up/down easily.
this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2025
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What is this thing?
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I haven't looked at its specifications to know what frequency it operates on, but it's potentially using the water pipe as an antenna, so I wouldn't move it around either.
As an antenna engineer I can conclusively say this is NOT happening.
Anything is an antenna if you don't care about SWR lol.
Seriously though, us amateur radio operators have turned rain gutters, chain link fences, and bridges into antennas, among other things. If it's metal and the swr can be controlled with a tuner of any sort, it's an antenna.
Is it going to be great on every wavelength? Absolutely not. But it will work.
You think they are using HAM radio frequencies?
They aren't, and they better not. The old FCC was vigilant about protecting frequencies and hams will sometimes even be the ones who find the offender and turn over the information to the authority. The fines are not cheap.
We practice this with foxhunts and capture the flag activities.
Gotta love that I was down voted on my own friggin profession. The world is so much stranger than I ever thought it could be.
I upvoted you mate. Maybe people are inferring a negative tone to your question. I just read it as a valid question. Idk.
Thank you. I upvoted you too.
As a licensed radio amateur I'm not sure either way.
Allow me to nudge you. How long is that pipe? Where is the ground? Why would a water company use ham radio frequencies to transmit data? How is the contraption feeding signal into the pipe with plastic and no matching network? Plumbing is grounded so it's conceivable the pipe is being used as a ground, but then it wouldn't matter if you moved it up or down a little. This is NOT and antenna.