Topband: Inverted L wire

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

It is possible to find 500 foot spools of teflon insulation for #11
wire (I got such a spool on Ebay).  With some work, assuming you know
how to straighten out #12 copperweld, the teflon tubing can be pushed
over the copperweld, and held in place by the wrap and soldering at
the end.

IMHO, I think it is more likely that your insulation has perforated
somewhere and is making your antenna appear short. A dead giveaway is
a sharply varying Z while looking at it with a micro-power source such
as an antenna analyzer.  Transmitter power can overpower a
wire-to-tree short and make it appear steady on an SWR meter.

If it is a wire broken inside, you probably don't have long in the
air.  The wire can easily enough be pulled out of the insulation on
the short end.  (Been there, etc.)

73, Guy.

On Wed, May 26, 2010 at 7:26 PM, Gary Smith <Gary at ka1j.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just fired up 160 to see what I might find active at this time of
> year & found the SWR was terrible. Resonance is now around 2 MHz and
> my guess is the wire has broken inside the insulation again.
>
> I'm thinking my best bet is to replace the wire with something
> essentially bulletproof as possible. Since it is over tree tops, I
> have to use insulated wire and the insulation has to be durable.
>
> I am on the edge of a salt marsh and the antenna is over the closest
> tall tree to the marsh. This means the tree gets hammered by strong
> winds. The wire itself needs to be able to hold up under these
> conditions.
>
> Any suggestions on what I might find most beneficial?
>
> Thanks.
>
> 73,
>
> Gary
> KA1J
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