Topband: Using wires from large trees as verticals?

[Charles W. Shaw]

On 11/14/2007, Eddy, VE3CUI - VE3XZ wrote:
>. . . I'd MUCH rather run the vertical
>portion of my inverted "L" up some handy fir tree, rather than mere inches
>parallel to my Delhi self-supporting sky-hook...

         I haven't become involved before, but will now.
         My T vertical is suspended about 5 feet from an 86 foot tall 
creosoted wood pole which has a #6 copper ground wire stapled onto 
its opposite side and grounded for the 14 feet that the pole was buried.
         Twelve years ago, W5DM and I made a series of tests in this 
configuration and with the ground wire cut about 5 feet above the 
ground.  At Paul's location about ten miles away on the side of the 
pole with the antenna, my 160 meter signal was 3 dB stronger on his 
Yaesu FT-1000 with the ground wire cut.
         Similar results may not always happen elsewhere, but Paul 
and I have repeated this test in more recent years with the same 
results.  My lightening rod wire is open during Topband season and 
connected the rest of the time.

Charles - N5UL
Hobbs, NM