When I first wrote about Color Matched Antenna and their great idea for a product (you give them your VIN number and they match your satellite radio antenna exactly to your car's color), I couldn't resist but to ask for some product review samples.
Afterall, looking at something on your monitor, versus looking at it in person - especially when it comes to paint - really cannot be compared. I just had to see the quality of these products myself, to hold, and touch, and play with in my grubby hands.
But unfortunately, as my wife can attest to, most things that I touch... I destroy. I simply couldn't just ask for some review antennas and leave it at that. Afterall, Blogging isn't like Traditional Media, and so the first ever Orbitcast Product Test can't be traditional either. Right?
So three days later, I had three antennas in my grubby, accident prone hands. Interestingly enough, I'm pretty much rebuilding a house I just bought... and I have all these tools laying around, so conditions weren't really "optimal" for taking photos... or were they?
So, OK, I sat down to take some pictures. The Mopar Green antenna had some beautiful details with little speckles in the paint. The white antenna was clean and very glossy, definitely felt like it had some protective coating on it or something.
And to demonstrate the amount of customization that can be done, the guys at Color Matched Antenna sent me an antenna with the letters "FCC" with that "not" sign through it - I like to call it the FUCK THE FCC Antenna.
....but then I started to get bored. There's no fun in just taking pics. Afterall, I'm supposed to be testing these things. What can I do to show that these antennas have quality craftmanship behind them?
Hmmmm... FCC Antenna, meet 20oz Hammer:
(WHAM!)
Ok, so that was fun. I got to hit something. Interestingly enough, there wasn't really any paint damage. Not bad! But that's not enough, we needed something more... abrasive.
White Antenna, meet keyhole saw. Those sharp teeth, perfect for slicing through drywall... amoungst other things.
Ah cool. So the paint DOES scratch after I take a friggin' saw to it. That's validating at least. Nice. Still, I didn't feel satisfied just running a saw against an antenna.
So hammered a nail into it.
Much more satisfying! And in a moment of inspiration with hammer in hand, combined with my loathing for censorship, I turned to the FCC Antenna....... and continued testing.
It was at this moment that I realized something. Sitting next to me is a very useless (and might I add, sexy) Porter-Cable Framing Nailgun loaded to the teeth with ringshank underlayment nails.
AH HA! Now we can truly test! Out came the air compressor, and in a moment of joyful, senseless, and violent euphoria - I drove several nails into a perfectly good (and nicely painted) antenna....
Now THAT'S what I call a product test - Orbitcast style.
Listen to the Podcast of the Nailgun Test here (MP3).
View all these images (and a couple extras) in a Flickr Slideshow.
And do me a favor and go check out Color Match Antenna and thank them for sending me these test subjects. It was fun. :)
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