[TenTec] BUNGEE CORDS

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

Interesting Kim.  But Walmarts didn't exist back then so I guess there was
no place to buy them.  ;-)

Seriously, it kind of depends on your approach to building antennas.
I jokingly use the term WW II antennas when referring to how things were
built then and in most cases now.

However since then an awful lot of lightweight material has been invented
and is available at low cost.

Keeping in mind that height is might, it is a lot easier for one OM alone to
erect an antenna high in the air when using lightweight components (e.g.
fiberglass telescoping pole, non-porcelain insulators, thinner Copperweld
wire, and thinner Kevlar or Dyneema rope), than with traditional heavy metal
poles and heavy wire and insulators.  

With this type of installation, you don't need pulleys with ropes suspending
buckets of cement to deal with swaying trees.  Bungees work just fine and
are certainly a lot easier to install and adjust.  

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)


-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Kim Elmore
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2015 2:07 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] BUNGEE CORDS

There were bungees prior to WWII. Well, prior, in fact. They were used
extensively as shock absorbers on aircraft landing gear. Most aircraft on
both side had them. Exposed to weather, they are fragile, but inside
aircraft they last quite a while regardless of temperature. Oil and age
cause them to lose elasticity and require replacement. All Piper aircraft
used them until the advent of the PA-28 series. Most fixed gear biplanes had
them save for those lucky few that flew those with the fancy "oleo" struts.
Bungees are still used on some production aircraft to this day and mechanics
have special tools with which to install them. 

That said, for antennas weights and pulleys are probably better if you can
use them. 

Kim N5OP

"People that make music together cannot be enemies, at least as long as the
music lasts." -- Paul Hindemith

> On Dec 31, 2014, at 18:24, "Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP" <Rick at DJ0IP.de> wrote:
> 
> If you read the ARRL Handbook or even the ARRL Antenna Handbook, you 
> will be well prepared for World War II.
> 
> In the past 60 years, a lot has changed.
> There is nothing wrong with how we did it in the 1950s and 1960s, but 
> as a BIG SUPPORTER of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), I would like to 
> point out that a boatload of thing have changed in the past 50 years.
> 
> There were no bungees in 1960.
> 
> Both ways work and for me, a good rubber bungee is a lot simpler to 
> deploy than a rope through a pulley, supporting a bucket of cement 
> that has been calculated to represent the load that I need.
> 
> Fast forward 40 years; WW II is long since over;  we have bungees.  
> Just deploy the right ones.
> End of message.
> 
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Tom 
> Pennebaker
> Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 4:25 PM
> To: TenTec at contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] BUNGEE CORDS
> 
> My experience with bungee cords....they work good until winter comes. 
> When the temp goes below freezing your bungee is toast. It will 
> crumble to tiny pieces....Tom N4RS 
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