[TowerTalk] Weight on ends of a OCF diploe
Howard Hoyt
hhoyt at mebtel.net
Fri Aug 12 01:01:33 EDT 2016
Hi all,
I have a 265' 160M OCF strung between two 90+ ft. trees which are ~400ft
apart, so it required a LOT of tension to keep relatively horizontal. I
tensioned it by hanging on the line end before tying off (and I weigh
200lbs) so I estimate the residual tension at 100-150+ pounds. I have
each end of the 1/8" Kevlar guy ropes connected to pulleys on a vertical
tram system so the antenna can be taken down without having to shoot
lines over the trees a second time. Even though there is 100lbs.+ of
tension in the antenna, the 1/2" vertical Dacron tram lines effectively
act as a tensioning/shock absorber element and the antenna has been up
for 5+ years in NC wx with no problem. For instance we just had a
Derecho come through with 60MPH+ winds which took down a 80' white oak
tree near the antenna :'(, and during the wind I saw the OCF feedpoint
rocket up and down as much as 30', but it is still up at the correct height!
There is another wire antenna tensioning device I found, but I hadn't
seen anyone post about it:
http://antennatensioner.com/drupal/ <http://antennatensioner.com/drupal/>
I would like to hear from people who have used it.
Cheers & 73,
Howie - WA4PSC
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