Yeah, same here on both counts. Plus, the trees that I'm using aren't really strong enough to allow for climbing to the tip-top--especially for someone who's 30 pounds overweight!Quote:
Originally Posted by n2ize
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Yeah, same here on both counts. Plus, the trees that I'm using aren't really strong enough to allow for climbing to the tip-top--especially for someone who's 30 pounds overweight!Quote:
Originally Posted by n2ize
30 pounds over the weight limit of the trees? :>Quote:
Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
Probably about 150 pounds over the weight limit of the trees, at the very top, anyhow. They're both only about 30 feet tall; one is too puny at the top to take my weight, the other is so thick that I found myself unable to force my way through all the foliage when I tried to climb it.Quote:
Originally Posted by kd8dey
I recommend trying an extensible painter's pole. They come in lengths up to twenty-four feet fully extended, and the end is thread to take a standard paint roller handle (same thread as brooms and shit). I use a cut-off paint roller, the heavy wire shaft of which I bend into a hook that permits me to raise a weighted line to the target branch -- drop the fish weight over the other side of the branch and use it to pull your wire (attached accordingly to the end of the line) over the branch. The hook permits snagging in the loop of the antenna at the end insulator and pulling it when a bit of resistance so dictates.
Try it.
Sounds like a good idea, Albi, I'll keep it in mind for next time. I got a line up with a fishing rod and a 2 oz. sinker and am back in business again. Still need to come up with a better antenna than a G5RV though. It's very good on 20m, acceptable on 40m and crap on anything else. I put up a 10m dipole for working the locals but that's about the extent of my really usable band coverage.
One hf antenna that stays up under all weather conditions is a simple loop of wire stapled under the eaves of the house, fed with coax. This antenna will usualy get a few hundred feet of wire into a place that is protected from ice, wind, and animals. This antenna is much better at rx than tx however, but is still better than nothing. In that like, it may be a better rx antenna than your current antenna config.
Funny thing--last night, just for the heck of it, I tried doing some digital work on 80m. I like to live life on the edge sometimes, you know? Much to my surprise I was able to tune up okay and get an acceptably low SWR (although it was like trying to balance on the edge of a razor blade) and I got excellent signal reports even though I was using an antenna that isn't supposed to work on that band.
Things like that are what makes ham radio such an interesting hobby.