[TowerTalk] Ropes in trees

[n6sj at earthlink.net]

Brad-

I use a crossbow with two 16p nails taped to the tip of the arrow.  The back
end is tied to 8 lb fish line on a spinning reel mounted on a stake at my
feet.  I don't try this if there is any significant breeze as the arrow
drifts quite a bit.  

Just as the arrow sails over the limb, maybe 100 to 130 feet up, I grab the
line to stop the arrow and get it to fall (hopefully) just beyond the limb.
Then it can be lowered straight down the trunk of the tree and not through a
bunch of branches on the next tree over.  I lower the arrow and when it's
within reach, I detach it and tie it to the end of a spool of 200 lb test
nylon cord to the fish line, and go back to reel in the fish line and
retrieve the heavier line.  Then I use that 200 lb line to pull the final
1/4" or 5/16" poly rope over the limb.  

For a dipole, I attach the rope on one of the trees to a fixed point.  For
the other end, I use the rope to hoist a pulley with a second rope looped
through it.  The upper end of the second rope goes to the dipole insulator
while the lower end goes to a counter weight.  I use a 1-gallon paint can
filled with concrete.  When the wind blows and makes the two trees spread
apart, the counter weight rises and falls so the fixed rope doesn't break.
I've done this on several high dipoles over 50 years and never had one fail.
Of course I use #12 solid copperweld wire for the antenna!

For my 160M inverted L, I hoisted a small pulley to just below a high limb.
I ran around 170 feet of #14 insulated stranded wire through the pulley, so
when I raised it I got whatever height was available under the high limb for
the vertical portion of the L, and the rest was available for the sloping
top loading wire.  I used the crossbow for the pulley on the high limb, but
for the lower end of the top loading wire I just threw a line over a low
limb with a rock tied to it!  My RigExpert AA-54 was extremely useful for
trimming the loading wire to the right length.

One caution is to be sure the gap between the pulley wheel and its housing
is smaller than the wire, so it can't slip into that space and get stuck.
That happened to me and I had to replace the pulley with a smaller one.

73,
Steve
N6SJ

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Brad Anbro
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2018 3:27 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Ropes in trees

Hello all,

I imagine that this subject has been covered in the past but rather than
search the archives, I thought that I'd just ask the group for some
information.

What is available for purchase on the market for getting ropes into trees? I
am planning on putting up an inverted L wire antenna and need to get a
couple of ropes installed for supporting the antenna.

Thank you.

73,
Brad, N9EN
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