[TowerTalk] Drones

[WI6X Jim]

> I own a DJI Phantom 3 but never tried to drop a line with it.  What type of release mechanism can you recommend?
> 
> Paul, W9AC 

I drilled through a tennis ball, pushed 12 AWG solid wire through it, and wound the wire ends around the skids of a DJI Phantom 4. 
I cut a slit in the tennis ball that will fit one end of a porcelain egg insulator. I tie SyntheticTextiles (STI) ST-3/16 antenna rope to the other end of the egg insulator.
Spool out a generous amount of rope needed to get over a tree and back to the ground on the other side.
Fly the drone over the tree and keep it flying away from you until the insulator pops out of the slit cut in the tennis ball. 
You now have a halyard for your antenna. 
73,
Jim WI6X