Stensat Antennas
The antennas consist of two (2m and 70cm) center fed dipoles that are made of 1/2 inch wide spring steel measuring tape. The antennas wrap around the perimeter of the satellite in a 1/8 inch deep racetrack and are held in the racetrack with (four pound test strength) fishing line.
The antennas are released by shorting a AWG 38 nichrome wire (for 1 second) after the batteries are fully charged. The nichrome wire melts the fishing line releasing the antennas.