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Another strong storm is passing through southern California today and one of its casualties has been the rope that supported my wire HF antenna. I guess I know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow, or whenever it is that things dry out enough for me to work outdoors.
Don't you hate it when that happens?
I used stainles steel cable for it, good quality isolators because i hate climbing on the roofs here.
That sucks. I hope you get it up quickly :shifty: :rofl: :giggity:
What you did there...I see it.Quote:
Originally Posted by N2KKM
He can use a ball launcher to achieve the desired effect.
I used nylon rope because it stretches when the trees that support the antenna move in the wind. I didn't have enough when I erected this particular antenna, though, so I used a braided polypropylene rope on one end. It lasted about a year but the nylon rope on the other end is still good to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by PA5COR
I use chimney's of the rows of housing so they are not probne to swaying in the wind ( i hope...) ;)
I can get it up quick enough.
(Just don't remember what I wanted to do with it).................................
Even at my age I seem to be able to get it up and rise to the occaision... :lol::lol::-DQuote:
Originally Posted by N2KKM
I think I'll have no problem erecting it. And the last time I did, it stayed up for a year.
Something to consider is putting a spring on the bitter end with a weight to keep it reasonably taught, and run it through a pulley to the antenna. I've had to do that here, as there seem to be more windy days than not.
Bungee Cord?...Quote:
Originally Posted by W5GA
It'll rot.Quote:
Originally Posted by kd8dey
Pulley and a stainless steel spring worked for me when i used trees as anchor points...
agree w/YX
Anything more than four hours you need medical help. Just pray they can get you into the ambulance.Quote:
Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
Dayum!Quote:
Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
if its longer then 4 hours your supposed to call your doctorQuote:
Originally Posted by KJ6BSO
No problem if you have a tower implant, crank it up and it stays up.
My HF old doublett is still dangling in the top of an sycamore and the other end of the feed line is shared by an oak tree. It's like the trees are teasing me, saying "If you want it climb up and get it". I've got some new open wire line on order. I wanto to get the new aerial up before the leaves show up.
Seems to be drooping a bit but at least I'm back on HF again.
20 meters is jammin' here in Six-Land, too!
If you got it up but it's still drooping you need the heavy duty model.
17 is rocking too.
I use new skool UV protected fabric covered bungies and they lasted longer than the wire did.
Droop helps, and using non metallic pulleys on the "corners of" a loop antenna really help.
All stuff I got at Lowes, the pulleys are large diameter ones found in the clothesline section.
Using a pulley with a counterweight works well too. http://www.radioworks.com/ninstallant.html
I was going to throw one up today but the wind gusts are killing that idea.
I have built and tested my pneumatic antenna launcher kit... it's ready for me to try as soon as it's a bit warmer.
Want to rebuild my loop, the house next door sold, and I doubt I can use their trees anymore.
Scared the crap out of some prairie dogs a couple of days ago, and wasted 6 tennis balls.
At 55 PSI shooting straight up and no line attached, the tennis balls disappear. :rofl:
http://akbeng.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/csv19s.JPG
Nifty, Dave. I just used a fishing rod with a 2 oz. sinker attached, but I only had to get my line up thirty feet. I still managed to get my line caught in a neighbor's tree and lose one sinker; I guess that's what happens when you move to the desert and go 16 years without wetting a line in fresh water.
The EZ-Hang has worked well here. 60-70 feet in the air is my average. YMMV
Wish I had trees that tall to work with. Here in the coastal desert, the only reason there are trees at all is because someone planted them and they grow slowly because of the arid climate.Quote:
Originally Posted by KJ3N
With an 8' surf rod, they call them catfish rods here, and smooth line on a spinning reel, it is advisable to use a few drops of thin household oil on the line in the spool before casting. You will thank me later when your line hits the soft bark.
Using a spring and a pully? Egad! What overkill. A screen door spring (cheap!!!!) from a hardware store is all you need to compensate for swaying trees and then you do DON'T have the danger of falling weights to worry about. Just put the spring in one of the support ropes and you're good to go. Never, ever, had antenna break that was put up that way, EVER! I'd guess that you can get at least 10 years from a spring. Sure, it'll be nice and rusty by then...but it'll still be holding. And, anyway, they're very easy and cheap to replace. Parachute cord is all over hamfests as really decent antenna support rope. Usually comes in olive drab.
And don't ever forget the first scientifically proven fact of antenna raising. The worse the weather, the longer the antenna will last and the better it will work!
In the old days 9high school) I would have climbed to put up an antenna. But, these days i'm too fat to climb and I am scared of falling. In the past I've used a bow and arrow. A bit conspicuous but it worked
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.