[TenTec] Hanging antennas Off topic

[Jim Brown K9YC]

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:20:11 -0400, John Molenda wrote:

>spud gun with potatoes and tennis balls

Over most of my ham career, most of my antennas have been hung in trees. 
Here in CA, they're up 120 ft in redwoods. I've tried a lot of things. The 
best, by far, is the pneumatic tennis ball launcher built by a ham near San 
Francisco. www.antennalaunchers.com   Several of my friends one them. One 
of them, K2RD, came over to help me get my first antenna up at that level. 
With his first shot, he cleared the top of my tallest redwood (about 170 
ft) by at least 10 ft. 

I also own an industrial grade slingshot sold by Sherrill Tree Service (in 
NC). http://sherrilltree.com  It's good for 80-100 ft, costs about $160 
with line and weights. It takes two men and a boy to hit max heights. The 
club I belonged to in Chicago owns one that we used quite effectively to 
launch Field Day antennas, and loaned to members for their own antennas. 

Some of the guys out here like the EZHang that's advertised in QST. And 
there are guys who tie a small gauge rope to a pop bottle filled with 
water, get it going with a circling action, and launch it over a tree. I've 
watched guys get up 50 ft or so. 

ALL of these methods take skill, a learning curve, and PATIENCE. You WILL 
get tangled, you WILL lose wieghts, you WILL lose some line, and you WILL 
need to make multiple tries at hitting the sweet spot. It typically takes 
at least several hours to get a wire antenna up where you really want it, 
and can often take longer. And it is MUCH easier with help. I like to have 
at least three guys (including me) on any wire antenna launching team. But 
if you persevere, you'll have a better signal, and the result will be worth 
it.  

There are a lot more ideas, including antenna construction techniques, 
parts recommendations and sources, and antenna concepts in two different 
articles on my website. 

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/LimitedSpaceAntennasPPT.pdf

http://audiosystemsgroup.com/LimitedSpaceAntennas.pdf

73, Jim Brown K9YC