[TenTec] Open wire line

[Edward Feustel]

I have used the open wire and open wire antennas that TrueLadderLine 
supplies. Formerly it was distributed by W7FY. The antenna is supported 
by trees at each end.  A rope attached to one end of the antenna goes 
over the tree.  A rope over the other tree is attached to a pulley. A 
rope attached to the antenna goes through the pulley goes to a hefty 
counter weight.

I found that the open wire line worked well, but my 210 foot doublet 
that they had supplied kept breaking at the center insulator. The strain 
relief simply was not enough for my doublet and the 125 foot of Dacron 
line used to hold the antenna up.

I replaced the horizontal wire with number 10 copperweld and the center 
insulator with a ceramic one. A 30 pound plastic canister of cat litter 
serves as a counter weight but it is not really heavy enough.

Since I replaced the horizontal parts, I have not had any problems with 
winds or ice.

Ed, N5EI

On 2/11/2013 1:16 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
> Well I think the "true ladderline" looks pretty big and bulky and ugly and
> subject to catching too much wind.
>
> It's very easy to build your own ladderline if you have the right spreaders.
> IMO, the very best there is, and nothing else come even close:
> http://www.hfparts.com/eng/products.php
>   
> You can see where I used the smallest ones in the pictures of my shack in
> OKC, here: http://www.dj0ip.de/my-station/oklahoma-2010/
> Using the small set as I used here, you get about 450 Ohms.
> Longer spreaders can give you 600 Ohms or even more.
> Take your pick. They come in several sizes.
>
> Outside the shack I spaced the spreaders about 1 ft. apart.
> Inside the shack I spaced them about 6" apart.
>
> Although they slip right onto the wires quite easily, they don't slip off.
>
> Unfortunately I don't think they have a US distributor.
> You'll have to order from Germany.
>
> 73
> Rick, DJ0IP
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Andrew
> Flessner
> Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 7:50 PM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Open wire line
>
> When I considered what I could build for a single multiband antenna that
> would fit on the apartment roof and reading as many sources of info I could,
> including Maxwell, W2DU, I made a 132' doublet fed with 450 ladder line. I
> later changed it to open wire with 4" spacing. It works very well on 80-6
> meters, tuned with my 238 tuner. I do use a Balun Designs 4:1 "tuner balun"
> just outside the house with 10 ft of RG-213.
>
> Here are 3 sources for open wire line, there may be others.  I built the
> first because I had most of the parts.
>   
>   I think the True Ladder Line product probably makes the most sense based on
> price/effort, etc.
>    
>   Andy K9ARM
>    
>   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKGB6qkXs
>    
>   http://www.trueladderline.com/
>   
> http://www.73cnc.com/product_p/ls100.htm
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