Lo' these all-too-many-winters ago there were actual reports of Hams using folded dipoles with open wire line in heavy ice/snow regions. As y'all probably know, a folded dipole has a direct current continuity across the feeders, since it's essentially a dipole with an extra wire running parallel to the dipole radiator and connected at each end.
If a dangerously heavy ice coating appeared, they'd connect the feeders to a variable power source and allow enough current to flow to heat the wires and melt the ice. Took a while, but it beat trying to splice and raise the antenna again in mid-winter. Being a "California Boy" in those days - Southern California at that - I never really had any need to test the idea first-hand. While others were snowed and iced-in up to their end-insulators, we were praying for a few drops of rain before the dry season resumed in the spring. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
