Hi Pete,
One of the best ways to figure out how to rig antenna wires
for long reliable life is to examine how power companies
and trolley lines rig their wires.
I have many 280 foot diameter quad loops with the corners
hundreds of feet high and supported at the corners by ropes.
The loops sometimes support hundreds of pounds of ice
during ice storms. The loops have been installed for decades
with no failures.
I use two small thimbles, one that supports the vertical wire
and one that supports the horizontal wire, with a short slack
wire section between them. A small shackle mechanically
joins the insulator to the two thimbles.
73
Frank
W3LPL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pete Smith N4ZR" <pete.n4zr@gmail.com>
To: "topband reflector" <Topband@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2021 1:32:26 PM
Subject: Topband: Corner insulator of Inverted L
I'm in the process of putting my inverted L back up, and have a
construction question - how do you position and attach the corner
insulator? My support for the vertical section is an old maple, plenty
tall but only really reachable with a pull-up rope by firing a
tennis-ball gun over it. The first time I put this up, I used a pulley
with a deep insulated sleeve and passed the inverted L wire through the
pulley. Neat, it seemed - the corner was automatically positioned to
keep the vertical portion the right length. Unfortunately, over a year
or so, the antenna wire flexing over the pulley caused it to break, so
this time around I'd like to use a rope through the pulley and an
insulator at the corner. Question is how best to do it, to minimize
strain on the antenna wire, making it more durable.
--
73, Pete N4ZR
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