How do I reverse wind pickups?
You switch the leads on one of two coils. It only makes a difference in sound if you are using two coils at once, and you only switch the leads on one of the two coils. What you are doing is changing the phase relationship between the two coils. In phase gives high output, but more hum (noise). Out of phase has a cleaner low output sound, and the hum is canceled out.(hum bucking) I looked up the Burns Trisonic pickups, and the web site mentioned they are taped. This means the the coil has three wires and can act as two coils on one spool. Look up "autotransformer" online to get a picture of what this looks like. To wire this up so that it is out of phase (reverse wound), connect the outside leads together, and use the tap as the other lead. If the leads are not labled, connect an ohm meter to all possible combinations of the three leads. The two with the highest resistance between them are the outside leads. The remaining lead is the tap. There are books out on guitar electronics. You can learn how to wire switches up, so that you can get the most sound combinations possible from your pickups.
Why does aluminum foil improve antenna reception?
The width of a dipole element increases its bandwidth. Skinny wire antennas are very narrow in bandwidth and resonate at one frequency. At other frequencies they are a poor match, so reception isn't good (and transmission could damage your transmitter). Making a wide element with a sheet of foil increases the bandwidth; it also increases the aperture so you receive more of the incoming radiation. TV signals are especially sensitive to a nice smooth bandwidth response because they are digital signals 6 MHz wide, and if you have phase and amplitude disturbances in the antenna due to weird resonances, your signal will get garbled and possibly unwatchable. The material an antenna is made from is, well, immaterial. As long as it conducts electricity well and is mechanically OK. Outdoor antennas are made from thicker aluminum because it's cheap, light, and corrosion resistant. One of the best antennas is the bow tie, which you can make out of coat hanger wire or aluminum foil, supported on cardboard if needed, and hung on the wall. The elements are an example of a simple fractal. The active area is smaller at higher frequencies (nearest the center), yet looks the same electrically at lower frequencies. I have built bow tie antennas down to 3 MHz, and they match a transmitter fairly well.