[TowerTalk] birds on the elements

[K0DAN]

Hi John, and congrats on your new T10 (great antenna, you will not regret 
it!).

I have found that owls (north-pointing or not) work for a while, and then 
the critters discover the owls are phonies. An owl will work for a while) 
but the dumb critters aren't THAT dumb. I'd skip the owl and negotiate with 
the birds.

The T10 is a super performer, efficient radiator, lightweight, and ice/wind 
survivable. ARRL and Tennadyne had some pix of my antenna some years back 
that was with 3/4" of radial ice and winds. I thought it, my tower, my 
house, etc., were all doomed. The trees, and some wire antennas got whacked, 
but the tower, house, and T10 all survived...the T10 was bent like a pretzel 
but sprung back, I did not expect it to, very impressive.

Back to the birds, the shotgun works (only for a while) and is occasionally 
known to ruin a ham's antenna.  I don't think birds can be dealt with, just 
accommodate them. The T10 can stand up to it, and the birds flay away if the 
ends of the elements get too wobbly! The birds will poop all over 
everything, but you're used to that, right? If the bird poop starts to 
destroy the aluminum, then resort to the owl or shotgun. In all seriousness, 
the aircraft aluminum On the T10 is very resilient and recovers its shape 
after serious loading. I have had to repair a few bent elements, and replace 
one, but it was fairly easy & materials were available.

Good luck! Do you have a Labrador or barncat who'd be willing to chase birds 
up the tower?

73

Dan
K0DAN




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "W5JMW" <w5jmw at cableone.net>
To: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics." <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2011 6:24 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] birds on the elements


> Hello to all.I am getting ready to put up a t-10.The weather is getting
> about right.I re-worked the tower about 3 months ago.I had a kma-5054 that 
> I
> re-built after loosing 2 elements from birds.WELL,again missing 2 elements
> from birds.They gather on every inch of every element.It is really a sight
> to see.It is comming down next week.I will ga back with a 6 meter gp.I do
> not want the same thing to happen on the t-10.Does the owl work? where do
> you get them? what else works to keep birds away from the perch besides a
> shotgun,hi..  73 john
>


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