I made my pneumatic launcher, info was in
a QST a few years back. I made a larger
one than written up in QST, the smaller
one worked fine.
You can see it at the bottom of my QRZ
page. I shoot 30 pound test with it & it's
never broken yet, though I have replaced
the line last year, just to
I bought two under-$200 drones, and sent back both for a refund. (I have
also used slingshots/fishing reels/lead weight.)
Neither of those worked as well as the pneumatic launcher that I bought
from the Joplin, Missouri ARC. And it was windy, too! But the calmer the
wind speed, the better.
If you get a good drone (such as DJI Phantom) you can tie 1/4" rope to
drone leg and take it up and over tree. I set rope in 90' tree at FD this
year using this method. Be careful bringing the drone back down to avoid
getting rope caught in blades. You can purchase an actuator to drop a load
I have been thinking about purchasing a drone. It just occurred to me that I
might be able to use it to install antenna wires. A row of trees separates my
lot from my neighbor's. The row is about 150 feet long and 65 feet high. A
similar row runs in front of my house, but that row is closer to
Hi Pete. My inverted L over K2AV FCP was in the trees touching limbs and
leaves. Although it worked OK it wasn't until I moved it into the clear that I
realized how much signal I was loosing having it in the trees. Nearly 3db
increase according to RBN after the move. RBN testing was done
My inverted L with elevated radials has touched limbs and leaves and I have
still gotten out well. SWR does change (but not appreciably) with the rise and
fall of the tree sap and with rain (very wet tree). All were made of 14 gauge
insulated wire from the big box hardware stores. The only
