One of my Elmers showed me another way. Purposley choose the twig ends of the branch of a huge tree. Use this as your center of the dipole, or whatever. Blow a line all the way over the tree, and attach it to something other than the tree. Pull up the antenna, and leave rope line going down from the center point. Once you get the center where you want it, tie the dangling rope to something solid, like a Land Anchor. Pull the other side and tie it down to something solid as well, like another Land Anchor, or even the base of another tree.
Now your center point is suspended towards the outside of a tree branch, and will not move up and down, as you have it anchored from above, and below even when the wind blows. Use the ends of the antenna to stop the antenna from moving side to side. The trick is not allowing the centerpoint to twist before you get the ends stretched out. Keith KB9WMJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Townsend" <fptowns...@earthlink.net> To: "Doug Person" <k0...@aol.com>; <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2014 12:19 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] RF in the Trees [OT] Hi Doug: I use a similar technique in suspending my antennas. I thought I would add some do's and don'ts. Like don't forget copper will stretch. I use 1 gallon paint buckets full of dirt for about 10# of weight on the pulleys. I suspend the rope in a tree yoke or a limb close to the trunk to minimize sway. Be sure there is pleanty of travel for wind storms. The ends of the antenna are 'hotter' than the feed point so I like to clear the end of the antenna and the tree with at least 8' of rope. If I have a middle support I use a yard arm of at least 4'. If you are using an antenna like a G5RV, Windom, or zepp that uses a portion of the feed line as a match, don't forget that portion will be radiating too so keep it vertical and away from the tree. I have found pine and eucalyptus trees to be the worst for parasitic absorption but I think that is largely a function of the volume of sap and water so the wetter the more loss and the further away you want to keep the antenna. 73, Fred, AE6QL ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
