Topband: Beverage supports - Thinking of Deer...AND MORE

[Mike & Coreen Smith]

> I run my Beverages at ten feet above the ground.

> ==============================================================
de VE9AA Mike says::

When I used to have beverages @ my old QTH in FN65rs  I ran 1000's of feet 
of wire down through the woods here and there and everywhere on the branches 
of whatever trees were handy.  Once I had it 3-5' above the ground with tons 
of slack,  I retraced all my steps and used a long 15' peice of pipe 
(reflector element from an HF yagi iirc) with a little homebrew double hook 
thing on the end.  With that tool, I could get most of the wire a minimum of 
15' above the ground by lifting it up and over the higher branches.  I tried 
to always install my bevs in late fall / early winter.  As I was in deep 
woods, there are less leaves and brush to fight with and the wire slides 
over the branches much easier when it's cold and frozen. You can also see 
where you're running your wire !   Also, because I was in a boggy area, the 
ground was more or less solid to walk on.

Not only did I have deer to worry about, but we had Moose !  Also, don't 
forget hunters, snowmobilers, cross country skiers, snowshoe-ers etc.  If 
you know the average yearly snowpack depth in your area, add to that the 
height of a person (with skipoles or rifle) and add a couple feet for a 
fudge factor to allow for wire sage, or broken branches that will allow your 
wire to fall down some...Good idea to walk the beverage again in the spring 
when the ground is still mostly frozen and leaves just barely starting to 
emerge. (for the same reasons stated above)

I found over time that (dark brown) #12AWG stranded/insulated seemed to hold 
up best.  Very few repairs and practically invisible.  Never heard 1 comment 
from any neighbour or hiker in the area about wires.

Hope this helps,

Currently Beverageless in FN66na, NB, Mike VE9AA