[SCCC] Fishing line for Antennas

[Michael Tope]

Steve,

If the pull line/rope is kept in contact with tree branches, add 
abrasion resistance to the list of requirements. For instance the 
popular black Dacron rope sold by HRO (made by Synthetic Textiles), will 
last seemingly forever in the hot desert sun as long as it is not 
subject to abrasion. Abrasion will kill it in fairly short order. 
Spiderbeam uses PVDF mono filament to attach the wire elements of their 
Yagis to the fiberglass spreaders:

https://www.spiderbeam.com/product_info.php?info=p201_100m%20roll%20PVDF%20Monofil.html&XTCsid=f8477d4eb599b32fba0d2e3a890c1645

My personal experience is that this PVDF monofilament line holds up 
extremely well in the Southern California desert sun.  However, I am not 
sure how if fairs if subjected to abrasion from a tree limb moving 
around in the wind. You could probably ask the folks at Spiderbeam about 
that.

The TowerTalk reflector hosted by contesting.com is a good resource for 
this kind of information.

Good luck,

Mike W4EF..................

On 12/2/2019 9:43 AM, Steve wrote:
> Thanks to all for the suggestions. Basically, the consensus is my 
> present line is not UV-proof and I should replace it with line that is 
> (one or two suggestions were given). I don't want to use any sort of 
> cord or other thicker line since the idea behind using the fishing 
> line, in the first place, is less visibility. I started out using 
> 10-lb-test line, and while it easily hauled my first lightweight 39' 
> wire into the tree without breaking, I got nervous about it when I 
> replaced it with some heavier 13-kV HV wire to try to prevent arcing 
> to the tree branches, lengthened the wire to 49-feet-plus, and 
> replaced the line with the present 60-lb-test stuff. And yes, the HV 
> wire WAS necessary: I found several burnt spots in the insulation in 
> the far end of the original 39-foot wire that was ordinary 300V 
> stranded, insulated hookup wire.
>
> Thanks,
> SteveH K0XP