Reminds me of a story back in a '30s vintage QST titled "Haywire".
After the guy does a terrific job of bashing a transmitter together.
He can't make any contacts with it. His conclusion? "The bands are
dead."

Note: This is NOT a comment on anyone's ability at field day, just
a random memory of an old story I'd read in QST that was brought
back to me by this thread.

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi