[TowerTalk] ++ Trees

[alex]

This message has been censored twice because of what it was considered as
unacceptable
language. I had to delete the offending sentences.

What it comes as a surprise to me is about the exacerbation of sensitivities
in certain group
population.

I am a Political Refugee in this wonderful Land  (please  observe the
capital letter). Not even in the Ceausescu regime I have not seen such a
suppression. Is this a sign of things to come ?

============================================================



I have this 117 foot Ginkgo tree. About 130 years old. Three persons
barely
can brace it and it's corona covers half of my property, the entire street
width and some of the property across it. Every other year it bears fruit,
much like yellow prunes with a big hard core. The squirrels are lowing it
and entire fights break lose for it's nuts. The prunes stink like s...t and
the neighbors always complain about it. One of them even sued me for "smell
distress" but how can I have the heart to cut such a towering beauty? The
judge "punished me" by ordering me to collect the fruits fallen on the
ground more often :)

I have build a 5/8 vertical ground plane for the 15m band out of 3 sections
of copper plumbing tubing, the bottom one being about 3 &1/2 inch in
diameter. It has four 1/4lamba radials at 120 degrees from vertical made out
of 1/4 copper piping. they do sag a bit :) All tubing has been "sweat"
welded but the bottom tube is telescopic at it's base for about 4 feet so I
can adjust the total length of the antenna for the best SWR. It is keep in
place by a large hose clamp that constricts the tube at it's cut slots.

As you can imagine this antenna can not be erected or mounded in a standard
way as the soft copper will bend immediately. Thus, I sling-shot a 1/8 inch
nylon rope on a branch about 95 feet high and  about 7 feet from the trunk.
It took me 3 days to get  it in the proper position.

..............................(  Censored Lines come
ere  )...................

I tied the other end to the tip of the antenna hoping that the string is a
good enough insulator :) and hoisted the whole thing all the way up in the
tree ...  it's tip now sitting at about 80-90 feet. It all hangs loose with
no other support. The feeder, 50OHM coax, while tied securely to the
insulating base of the antenna ( a large polyvinyl  pipe cap) is hanging
lose from it.

Compared with my R7000 or GAP antenna, this contraption of my provides 3 S
units more
on reception than the commercial ones. It is slightly directive atenuating
somewhat (about 2 S units) stations behind the trunk. I am not quite sure if
the trunk does not ackt as a reflector
thus providing some gain.

Initially the antenna lasted me only 2 weeks until it come down crushing. It
boils down
that the high voltages present at the tip of the antenna simply burned
through the double folded 1/8inch nylon rope :) What was I thinking? :)

I had to restart all again but this time I used a string of 4 porcelain
"knuckle pearl" isolators before I  tied all to the rope. It now sits there
for more than a year and it is one of my most reliable antennas.

I think to get a 20m vertical trapped for 15 and 10m  in it,s place but this
is a future project.

So... If you have a tall tree... just think PLUMBING :) and  Rope :)


Alex, N2NNU


Next time I'll tell you about my 2m/70cm Beam with 3 axis of freedom not
only elevation and azimuth but back and forward also :). It actually gets
rid of multipath :)




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