I have used a pulley system myself and have had good luck with it. But I used a boat winch to hoist the antenna up and down. I attached the winch at the bottom of the tree with a piece of wood block. The winch has locking teeth to keep it taught, and I detach the handle to keep anyone from playing with it. I used bungee cords at each end to allow some movement in high winds.
I am now trying to put up a loop and am going to try electric fence anchors in the trees. Dave K9UX ----- Original Message ----- From: "D. Chester" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 11:35 AM Subject: Re: [AMRadio] Seeking advice on "wires in trees" >I would never use a pulley, springs or weights. Use some good, heavy duty > UV-resistant rope. Instead of a pulley, use a medium size "johnny ball" > strain insulator, like you would use on guy wires. Don't use the smallest > size. Attach the insulator to the rope that goes across the limb, just as > you would a guy wire, and securely tie the rope. Then run the rope that > is > attached to the end of the antenna through the hole. Pull the first > rope > until the insulator is just a few inches over the limb and firmly tie it > down. Now pull the antenna rope, letting it slip through the hole in the > insulator until the antenna is as tight as you can get it. If you leave > too much slack and sag, it will bounce all over the place and likely shake > itself apart in a windstorm, and sometimes the feedline can manage to > tangle > itself up with anything else it can. > > The insulator has no moving parts, and if the ropes are inserted > properly, > about the only thing that could go wrong would be to break the insulator, > which is unlikely since they are designed to handle at least 3000 lbs. > The rope just slips through the hole over the glazed porcelain. Pulleys > have a bad habit of freezing up over time, or the rope derails off the > groove at the edge of the wheel and manages to bind between the side of > the > wheel and the frame of the pulley. Or the whole thing rusts over time and > falls apart. > > The spring is even a worse idea. If it doesn't stretch out in a > windstorm, > it will very quickly rust in two and break. > > The rope over the limb should not be able to slip back and forth. That > will > wear the rope in two and cause chronic damage to the tree as well. Better > to let the tree limb grow over the rope with time, and use the insulator > for > the antenna rope to slip through. > > Generally, it is a bad idea to tie the rope or wire round a tree limb if > that can possibly be avoided. This may eventually cause rot to set in and > you lose the entire limb or even the tree. If you can climb up to the > point of attachment, a better idea is to get a hot-dipped galvanised (not > zinc-plated) threaded eyelet with about a 1/2" diameter threaded rod and > about 3" longer than the diameter of the limb, drill a slightly larger > hole > all way through the limb, insert the eyelet through the hole, and secure > it > in place with galvanised washer and two nuts. Use the first nut to hold > the > eyelet, and use the second nut as a "pal nut", torqued down tightly > against > the first one, to avoid the possibility of the first nut managing to > unscrew > itself from the eyelet. > > They also make eyelets with a shank like a wood screw, which will work if > you can get them screwed most of the way through the limb, but that may be > easier said than done. I have found it easier to pierce a hole with a > cordless drill and use the nuts and washer method of attachment, > especially > while hanging onto a tree limb at 40-50 ft. in the air. A good climbing > belt is highly recommended. > > When I had my antenna in a tree, I could climb to where it was attached, > at > both ends. I had better luck using #10 copperweld wire for the antenna, > good *heavy duty* insulators, and attaching the antenna rope directly to > the > tree, pulling it as tight as I could, and permanently fastening each end > so > nothing was slipping through anything or over limbs. During windstorms, > the > antenna would actually hold the limb stationary and the feedline would > bounce around less. That antenna stayed up at least 5 years before I had > to > re-do it. With rope looped through the insulator or over the limb, I > could > count on putting the antenna back up after every heavy windstorm, at least > 2 > or 3 times a year. But flimsy wire and/or antenna rope will break. > > Don k4kyv > > > > _______________________________________________________________ > > This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout. > > http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ > http://gigliwood.com/abcd/ > > ______________________________________________________________ > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > AMRadio mailing list > Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Post: [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] with > the word unsubscribe in the message body. > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Post: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [email protected] with the word unsubscribe in the message body. 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