[TowerTalk] Topband: Pulleys for antennas in trees

[K4RO Kirk Pickering]

I have a 40m wire yagi with six rope attachment points, five of which 
are in trees. The wire and ropes broke often, usually right before a 
contest or major DXpedition. With a house plus other trees beneath it, 
repairs were often a snarled mess. There had to be a better way.

Several years ago I started using the rope anchoring method pictured in 
the photos at the link below. There is a continuous loop to a pulley at 
the top in each tree. The antenna rope is attached to the loop via a 
third pulley, which provides even more flexibility. The springs are 
strong enough to hold the antenna in shape, but have enough stretch to 
survive wind storms. The ropes ride effortlessly along the pulleys.

No repairs have been necessary since using this system. All of the 
hardware is available from Harbor Freight or Tractor Supply. The expense 
was well worth it to me, as it's has eliminated many hours of 
frustrating repair work every season.

http://k4ro.net/Tree_Anchors/

Kirk K4RO


On 1/31/2015 9:56 AM, K7LXC--- via TowerTalk wrote:
>>   My wires are up 130 ft in redwoods, so they need pretty  robust rigging
> hardware. Not everyone needs stuff this robust. :) Another  important
> rigging element for any wire in a tree is a weight below a pulley
> terminating one end of the antenna to provide some "give" for tree sway.
> There are many ways to skin this cat, including old window weights and
> cement in a bucket. I use big water jugs that I fill with dry sand. I'm
> typically using 70-90 pounds of tension.
>
>      Another point. Make the dipole halyard (haul rope)  a continuous loop.
> Put a knot in the line and attach the antenna wire to it.  That way if the
> wire breaks, you won't have to climb up to the top of the rope  to retrieve
> it. In my experience it's almost always the wire that breaks - not  the
> halyard.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve    K7LXC
> TOWER TECH
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