Author: Jonathan white <jonathan.white20@btinternet.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:44:57 +0000
Hi everyone. I have had my top loaded vertical break on me again. The antenna is held up by a probably 70` eucalyptus tree,the top loading wires run away via insulators to pulleys and long elastic co
What I do is fasten stranded hook up wire to dacron rope with small cable ties every 3 to 6 feet. The ropes are used to guy the top of the vertical. I let the ropes take all the mechanical abuse. The
Hi Johnathan: Here in the U.S., many people use copper-clad steel wire. It is sold under the name CopperWeld. I have purchased it from The Wire Man (http://www.thewireman.com/antennap.html). 73 Brian
Do you have access to copperweld wire? That's what I would use in this application. I have several wires up using copperweld wire. I've had ropes and supports break, but the antenna wire is still in
Jonathan: What was the mode of failure? Did the wire itself break or was there a tear at a solder joint, etc.? This will help us understand how to help you design a better installation. 73 de Gene Sm
Author: Mike Waters W0BTU <mrscience65704@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:12:02 -0700 (PDT)
... Jon, You can certainly use galvanized wire, if you take precautions against corrosion. If you wrap galvanized electric fence wire next to copper wire, the connection will quickly corrode in the
I think the key here is maybe not the wire so much, but the tree. I hold up an inverted L between trees, and the sudden stress of tree movement pulling a wire taut can be QUITE high. Would be very he
In my opinion, the ideal top loading wire is stainless steel wire rope. The smallest common size is 3/32" (or metric equivalent), which has a rated breaking strength around 900 lb. A good local hardw
Jonathan, I agree with Mike's comments about galvanized wire. I built my elevated inverted-L using galvanized fence wire for the radials. No problem soldering it at the junction with the copper grou
John, You can throw or shoot a small rope over the tree, attach a pulley on the end of this rope and route a second rope through the pulley. One end of the second rope goes to the end of your top loa
I concur. Granted, my system for the inv-L is not ideal but it seems to work for me. I have dead bug radial base with 60 some 130' radials. Dead bug in that in the middle of the stainless plate is a
Many great suggestions. I have nothing new to add except get rid of the flex-weave ... works OK for a couple of years and then starts disintegrating. Breaks easily and hard to repair once water gets