[TowerTalk] Open wire line no longer the weak link

[Pat Barthelow]

Steve,

Terminate the incoming transmission line wires with stout bananna plugs, 
mount corresponding bananna jacks in the plexiglass panel.  Use a small 
amount of silicone dielectric grease on the plugs and sockets to weatherize. 
   We have a plexiglass feed through panel at N6IJ, with such a connection.

73, DX, de Pat Barthelow AA6EG aa6eg at hotmail.com

>From: Steve <steveac at charter.net>
>To: TowerTalk <towertalk at contesting.com>
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Open wire line no longer the weak link
>
>A few months ago I replaced my #18AWG open wire feeding my 80 meter
>dipole with #8AWG open wire.
>
>For a long while my transition from outside to inside has been a window
>pane of glass that I replaced with plexiglass. I put short pieces of
>threaded rod thru the plexiglass to serve as feedthrus. About 70 feet of
>open wire leaves the threaded-rod termination on the outside and makes
>its way up to the center of my dipole, which is supported in a tree and
>surrounded by other trees.
>
>Through the course of a year there will be several good size branches
>fall from those trees. Seems like it’s just a matter of time until one
>of them hits my open wire on the way to the ground.
>
>I wasn’t concerned about it with the #18AWG, thinking the small wire was
>the weak link and would break before anything else gave way.
>
>But the bigger wire –- the #8AWG –- moves the weak link to somewhere
>else. Probably the pane of plexiglass. And on the inside there’s about
>15 feet of the same open wire tied to a switching relay which is tied to
>antenna tuners. I can envision how a large branch could tear the
>plexiglass out of the window, tear my relay and mounting into pieces,
>etc. Not a pretty picture.
>
>What can I do to ensure that the plexiglass pane remains intact when
>something big from a tree falls across the open wire line?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Steve K8JQ