Topband: Corner insulator of Inverted L

[donovanf at erols.com]

Hi Pete, 


One of the best ways to figure out how to rig antenna wires 
for long reliable life is to examine how power companies 
and trolley lines rig their wires. 


I have many 280 foot diameter quad loops with the corners 
hundreds of feet high and supported at the corners by ropes. 
The loops sometimes support hundreds of pounds of ice 
during ice storms. The loops have been installed for decades 
with no failures. 


I use two small thimbles, one that supports the vertical wire 
and one that supports the horizontal wire, with a short slack 
wire section between them. A small shackle mechanically 
joins the insulator to the two thimbles. 


73 
Frank 
W3LPL 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Pete Smith N4ZR" <pete.n4zr at gmail.com> 
To: "topband reflector" <Topband at contesting.com> 
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2021 1:32:26 PM 
Subject: Topband: Corner insulator of Inverted L 

I'm in the process of putting my inverted L back up, and have a 
construction question - how do you position and attach the corner 
insulator? My support for the vertical section is an old maple, plenty 
tall but only really reachable with a pull-up rope by firing a 
tennis-ball gun over it. The first time I put this up, I used a pulley 
with a deep insulated sleeve and passed the inverted L wire through the 
pulley. Neat, it seemed - the corner was automatically positioned to 
keep the vertical portion the right length. Unfortunately, over a year 
or so, the antenna wire flexing over the pulley caused it to break, so 
this time around I'd like to use a rope through the pulley and an 
insulator at the corner. Question is how best to do it, to minimize 
strain on the antenna wire, making it more durable. 

-- 
73, Pete N4ZR 
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web server at <http://beta.reversebeacon.net>. 
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