Randy,
I’m glad the system is working for you.
I have 15 Beverage wires with about 2.5 miles (4km) of wire through dense old
forest and will have down trees regularly after a storm.
Perhaps every 2 weeks I have a down tree, and need to visit with the chain saw.
I cant imagine if I had to repair broken wires every time….especially in the
winter.
I’m sure I have removed well over 50 down trees over the last few years. (I
lost count long ago). In fact I fixed three down trees yesterday.
With so many Beverages, if I needed to walk and check every wire for a problem
it would takes hours, since I would need to hike over 5 miles (8km) in the
bush!!
To solve this problem, I can check each wire from the comfort of my home (100km
away from the remote) by using my antenna analyzer which is permanently set up
to be switched in and sweep each wire to compare to a saved sweep. Even the
slightest problem its quite obvious. Also, using TDR I can see a bad feedline
and isolate the location within a few feet.
For those with a sizeable Beverage set-up, I encourage you to consider using
this method to check for problems. Even from a base station, its great to be
able to check all your wires in a few minutes before a contest, and know
exactly which wire has a problem.
I made a YouTube video about this system if anyone is interested:
https://youtu.be/PA67Tz-1TO4 <https://youtu.be/PA67Tz-1TO4>
73, de steve ve6wz
> On Sep 15, 2021, at 5:58 AM, Randy via Topband <topband@contesting.com> wrote:
>
> I thought that I would report to the reflector the results of my efforts to
> find a way to deal with falling branches and trees causing my beverage wires
> to need constant repair. My beverages are 8 feet high and 650 feet long and
> run through densely wooded areas. I use WD-1A military comm wire which is
> tough stuff but breaks when a large branch or tree fall across it. Several
> months ago I posted a request on the reflector looking for ideas as to how to
> deal with the problem. I got several very good suggestions including one
> from Steve VE6WZ. He suggested using a counterweight on the ground at each
> end of the beverage. The weight would will be pulled upward if a tree fell
> across the wire and hopefully the wire would not break. Knowing that we
> have lots of summer storms with high winds I arranged one of the beverages
> with the weights in May. The new system worked great. I had large trees
> fall across the beverage on more than one occasion and all I need to do was
> remove the trees and the weights came back to their resting position. I found
> that a 15 pound weight at each end kept the 650 foot wire taut but would also
> be light enough to be lifted by a falling tree. I used plastic electric
> fence insulators to support the beverage along its length except at the ends
> where I used small pulleys to lessen the stress on the wire where it bends
> downward. I have now installed all my beverages using this system. It will
> be interesting to see if they survive the winter storms. Thanks to VE6WZ for
> the idea. 73 Randy W9ZR
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