Topband: Beverages sharing supports?

[Greg - ZL3IX]

Alan Benoit wrote:
> Sorry for the possibly newby question, but I can't seem to find an answer to this in the ON4UN book or the archives:
>  
> Can 2 seperate beverages (seperate feedlines, seperate transformers, seperate ground rods) share the same supports?  I have a 585' NE beverage I recently put up that uses 5' steel conduit supports with PVC pipe insulators at the top (~ 7' height).  I have cut slits at the top of the PVC pipes and run the wire through those.  
>  
> Could I drill a hole in the PVCs about a foot vertical down from the current wire and run another wire through these as an independent SW beverage without excessive coupling of the antennas?
>  
> Thanks in advance for your replies.
>  
> 73,
> Alan, WQ5W
> _______________________________________________
>
>   

Hi Alan,

I'm not going to answer your question directly, but rather give you
another idea.

Since you intended to run a second Bev, presumably you also intended to
run separate coax feeds to each.  That being the case, why don't you
send DC down the coaxes as well, to energise a relay at the far end of
either coax.  Use a SPST relay, and connect the end of the Bev wire to
common, the inner of your coax to NO, and the termination resistor to
NC.  This way, as you select the required feeder, the terminations are
switched automatically.

This method removes the necessity for a second wire, with the possible
problems of cross coupling.  I used it very successfully when in Durban
operating as ZS5K.

73, Greg, ZL3IX