Topband: Beverage Woes

[Kees Nijdam]

I use twinlead (DX-wire or Wireman) 300 Ohm,  less attenuation compaired to 
RG58 and small. not much windload.
Doing its job for over 5 years now. Only fixed at the ends.

Kees, PE5T



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From: "Les Kalmus" <w2lk at bk-lk.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:21 PM
To: <topband at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: Beverage Woes

> I use ladder line from the Wireman and from Davis RF. I think the 
> conductors are copper plated solid steel.
> I bought 1/4" thick 2" wide strips of acrylic from McMaster Carr and made 
> a pair of clamps of 6" long pieces by cutting grooves for the wire 
> thickness, two holes for ss bolts and one for a rope.
> These clamp the ends tightly and the acrylic is useable outdoors.
> The ladder line is supported every 50 -75 feet by a 3-4" piece of pvc wide 
> enough to easily pass the ladder line and with a large and small hole in 
> it. The small hole is for a screw into a convenient tree and the large is 
> to pass the screwhead.
> Where there were no trees, mainly a swampy area, I used metal fence posts 
> with a piece of pvc over the post with a bolt through limit how far down 
> it slides on the post and a T on the top end. The ladder line passes 
> through the T.
> The supports are at the end only. The ladder line has a twist every 3 or 4 
> feet and rides easily through the pvc supports. This has been up for at 
> least three years and has survived tree limbs, frost, snow and people with 
> no problems to date.
>
> I think I have pictures of the clamps if anyone is interested.
>
> Les W2LK
>
> On 10/23/2013 5:46 PM, Mike Waters wrote:
>> Whatever you use for wire, it needs to float at the supports. Anchor it 
>> at
>> only one end and tension it tightly at the other end.
>>
>> I use my own ladder line, made from .061" diameter plated steel electric
>> fence wire and spacers made from 1/4" dia. plastic coat hangers. Supports
>> are 10' high and 100' apart. It's taken a lot of abuse, including large
>> tree branches falling on it and a porch roof hurled against it by a small
>> tornado. Some supports broke during the flying porch roof incident, but 
>> the
>> wires never broke either time.
>>
>> WD-1A military telephone wire works well, if you have the right impedance
>> matching transformers.
>>
>> Having said all this, I know that a lot of Topbanders use that brown
>> plastic window line for their Beverage antennas. Which kind lasts?
>>
>> 73, Mike
>> http://www.w0btu.com/Beverage_antennas.html
>> _________________
>> Topband Reflector
>>
>>
>
> _________________
> Topband Reflector
>