The best laid plans...

[AE1PT]

So, the weather is beautiful. No wind to speak of. Time to shoot some new lines into the trees before they get leafed out. The program was set to put the doublet about 30 feet or so more in the air--so that it would be at least 60' at the feed point. I mounted the new Saunders archery reel on the 2.5" connector to the tennis ball gun--loaded with 50lb Spectra line. The first discovery is that 60 psi was a bit much. It shot through the spot I wanted in the tree, over the tops of the neighbors trees, and fell into the lot of the house on the other side of him. Hmmmm. Luckily it pulled through back to my yard. :yes:

Time to pull the old line back out of the tree, and drop it in my front yard to be retied to the new line. The antenna runs over the house, so I put the weighted tennis ball on the end of the line and pulled. After catching on a small branch that gave it stored energy, the ball flew loose and did the bolo around another limb a few feet in front of it. I have cut the line off as high as I can--this has now become a permanent feature in the front yard. Maybe I could hang a bird feeder or planter from it... :irked:

Obviously this is not going anything like planned. Now I need to shoot a line over the top of the house to get to the antenna. As they say, tomorrow is another day. :bs:

[K7SGJ]

Pisser. I get the picture of something like a pair of sneekers hanging over a high line. Well, at least it didn't get it stuck in the neighbors tree. You'd probably have gotten tired of him yelling at you to get your balls outta his tree.

[WX7P]

Pisser. I get the picture of something like a pair of sneekers hanging over a high line. Well, at least it didn't get it stuck in the neighbors tree. You'd probably have gotten tired of him yelling at you to get your balls outta his tree.

You've been on a roll lately Senor rata del desierto...:lol:

[KG4CGC]

Got a large-ish spin casting rod?

[WX7P]

Got a large-ish spin casting rod?

Stop Casting Porosity!

9575

[NQ6U]

Could have been worse, Pat: the tennis ball could have looped back and hit you upside the head. Don't ask me how I know this...

[NQ6U]

Stop Casting Porosity!

9575

I remember that sign! Right off the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland. You could see it from the Cypress Structure, which collapsed in the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake.

[ki4itv]

Angrily wave a raised arm and repeat after me, "Hey you kids! Get out of here with that thing!
Now that's what you do immediately upon discovering something is going awry while hanging wire.
You're welcome :yes:

[WX7P]

Angrily wave a raised arm and repeat after me, "Hey you kids! Get out of here with that thing!
Now that's what you do immediately upon discovering something is going awry while hanging wire.
Your welcome :yes:

"Hey, I would have gotten this antenna in the air if it weren't for you meddling kids..."

[WX7P]

I remember that sign! Right off the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland. You could see it from the Cypress Structure, which collapsed in the '89 Loma Prieta earthquake.

We have a winner...

[AE1PT]

Could have been worse, Pat: the tennis ball could have looped back and hit you upside the head. Don't ask me how I know this...

And that, dear Papa is the reason I no longer use a slingshot and eggshell weight. Funny how those little fuckers will bounce off a limb... :quiet:

I did decide to shoot the line over the house. One end is now a solid 70' in the air. Tomorrow will be the other tree.

When human brute force fails, tie one end of the rope to the SUV and start driving. The line and tennis ball came out of the tree--albeit in differing directions. :evil:

[ki4itv]

:lol:

[NQ6U]

We have a winner...

I always liked the road sign off the Nimitz in Hayward: "A Street Downtown". Doesn't say which street downtown, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

A thoroughly-stoned friend of mine once started riffing on it on our way home from a show in Berkeley, "It was a street just like any other, just...A Street Downtown..."

[K7SGJ]

I always liked the road sign off the Nimitz in Hayward: "A Street Downtown". Doesn't say which street downtown, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

A thoroughly-stoned friend of mine once started riffing on it on our way home from a show in Berkeley, "It was a street just like any other, just...A Street Downtown..."

A dark and stormy night, by chance?

[KK4AMI]

We are in the middle of our cicada invasion. Would you believe they (the little shells) are hooked to my wire about every three feet? How do they get up there? Does anybody know if cicada shells improve my antenna pattern?

I am getting an idea. If I tie an adult cicada on about every foot of wire, I think I could fly a new antenna into position.

[WØTKX]

Cicadas are supposed to be good eating, especially if you get them right when they emerge. Soft shell cicadas. Yummy.