Thanks to all for the answers supplied. Great jokes too - its nice we've all
got a smile on our faces !! The best since the 'I need a new wench for the
tower' thread...
Well, most of the replies were received on the Antenna and TowerTalk
reflectors. I never know why people post direct - is it because they want to
keep their answers private, or is it because they click on the 'Reply'
button instead of the 'Reply All' ? Just in case its the former, I won't
copy the callsigns.
Some of the off-list replies were:
******************
You could try capacitively coupling the thing to your receiver. Then you
can put a few hundred volts of DC on it (through a limiting resistor) which
will make the cows keep away after the few encounters.
******************
[Use a] heavy post, deeply sunk. You were right about cows liking to rub.
So the posts need to be solid and well sunk. I would recommend small
telephone poles.
******************
I would wrap barbed wire around the support from about 1 meter above the
ground for about 3-4 meters up the support. If the support is non-metallic
you might even think about a battery operated electric fencer device to
mildly shock the cattle. They learn real fast to stay away from both barbed
wire and/or
electric pulser.
*****************
Might try supporting it on some PVC pipe.......just high enough to keep it
well above the heads of the cows. To keep them away from the poles the
electric fence idea would be good. Most all cows will not step into an old
tire. Four of these around the base of the PVC might do the trick.
I work for a power company, and have used old tires where the guy wire nears
the anchor point. Bulls especially like to rub on it, and we have very
little trouble where we can anchor the old tires where they want to rub.
Some of the farmers also use this trick around irrigation sprinklers.
This wouldn't be practical if you need to go a great distance, but should
work well for a few supports.
*****************
I live on a dairy farm here in Alabama and my beverage runs out through a
pasture adjoining the house. I drove 6 ft steel fence posts 2 ft into the
ground every 100 ft. Over the steel posts I put a 10 ft length of 3 in sked
40 PVC pipe with a notch cut in the top. The steel fence post supports the
PVC leaving about 6 ft of PVC above it. I use steel coated aluminium
electric fence wire placed on top in the notches for the beverage. The cows
never seem to bother it much and has worked well for me.
*****************
I don't know if you have steel tee posts in EI but that's what I use for my
Beverages. I drive the post into the ground 1 foot and then slip a piece of
1.5 inch PVC pipe over the tee post. I use a 1.5 inch PVC tee to run the
Beverage wire through. I don't believe cows would bother the PVC, it's not
a good scratching post. But if they do you could put a strand of barb wire
around the bottom few feet.
*****************
PVC pipe on a piece of reinforcing rod driven into the ground? Make it 1.1
cows tall, and you should have something that will be resilient enough to
stand up to them...
*****************
Having been brought up on a farm here's my experience (for what it's
worth)......
Use a support post about 8ft high so the Beverage wire is well above the
reach of the cows tongues. Then put a little square fence (3-4ft square)
around it with a couple of runs of barbed wire. You can even use rope to
help support the centre post to the corner posts of the fence. That is
about the only way you will stop the cows from knocking the Beverage support
down!! As the old saying goes, been there, done that!
*****************
W8CAR from here in Ohio used a Beverage on the ground. Everything is
exactly the same as a normal Beverage except the antenna impedance is about
200 ohms, and the matching transformer needs to be wound accordingly.
He said it performed just as good as his 600' Beverage at 2M that he used
the year before. As long as the cows don't break the wire by stepping on
it, you'll be OK.
*****************
4 X 4's or larger pressure treated with barbed wire wrapped from 2' (above
ground level) to 5' (above ground level) at 3 or 4 inch spacing.
*****************
The general opinion splits between barbed-wire or an electric fencer unit.
The cows here LIKE to rub against barbed wire, for a bit of a scratch.
I guess the fence-in-your-beverage-supports is the most reliable idea,
though the most costly too. Any one else tried the tires idea ? The easiest
idea has got to be laying the beverage straight on to the ground. Anyone
else tried that ? Does it really work, compared to a supported one ?
73s Tim EI8IC.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tim Makins, EI8IC
> To: TowerTalk
> Cc: Antennas
> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 13:59
> Subject: [Antennas] Cow-Proof Beverage
>
>
> I would like to try a Beverage this year, but the problem is that it would
> have to run through a field full of cows, who take great delight in
> scratching and rubbing on anything they find.
>
> I would like to ask fellow Amateurs what is the best cow-proof support for
a
> Beverage antenna ?
>
> Tim, EI8IC
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