Since this for the moment has morphed into the "shameless plug dept." the guys up the road from me at the Joplin MO ARC also offer an antenna launcher:
http://joplin-arc.org/?page_id=84 Disclaimer: no financial interest etc., just a great bunch of guys who host a top-notch hamfest every year. (Anyone who can bounce back after being whacked by an EF5 tornado gets a "thumbs-up" in my book. I personally saw some of the destruction a few months after it happened and heard some mind-boggling personal accounts of the storm's power from witnesses. But that's probably getting too far off topic....) 73, Al On Mon October 5 2015 4:21:56 pm Rick WA6NHC wrote: > Take a look at antennalaunchers.com for a good pneumatic launcher. I > have no pecuniary interest but have know the owner for 40 years now and > love the launcher. > > Rick nhc > > On 10/5/2015 2:10 PM, Phil Hystad wrote: > > I was going to add my own comments to the original question but I don’t > > see how I can do anything better than Jim’s comments below. > > > > Well, maybe just one thing… > > > > I have a Buddipole and I kind of like it. > > > > It works great in some situations where the other methods are not as easy > > to accomplish. > > > > I used to do wires up in trees (using a sling shot with fishing line > > although I use a Bow & Arrow at home — I also have trees on the > > property). And, I had a 30 foot push up fiberglass pole that I used as > > the center for an inverted 20-meter Dipole which is easy to put up. I > > have a mount I made (or, I used to) fastened on the back of my pickup > > truck for the pole giving it another 3 feet. I need to fix up a new > > mount though as I junked the previous one. Of course, this works only > > when you use your pickup truck as the base station but I am portable in > > the field doing that (while my wife is busy photographing birds). > > Unfortunately, I broke the fiberglass pole and need to get a new one > > someday. > > > > However, now that I am more experienced with the Buddipole and I have my > > own extension mast that I use at times, it is not a bad deal. I operate > > almost always 20 meters though. > > > > But, nothing can beat the cost of wires in trees and if you had to buy > > pushup fiberglass pole, that is still cheaper than a Buddipole. > > > > > > 73, phil, K7PEH > > > >> On Oct 5, 2015, at 1:52 PM, Jim Brown <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> On Mon,10/5/2015 12:49 PM, David Davis wrote: > >>> The two items I have been looking at are the following: > >>> > >>> 1. PX3 Panadapter > >>> 2. AA-170 Antenna analyzer > >> > >> The answer depends on a lot of things -- your technical background, your > >> operating style and objectives, etc. What do you plan to do with your > >> "portable" station? Backpacking? Driving somewhere to set up? In the > >> wilderness or in a neighborhood park? What do you want to work? What > >> bands, what style? Contesting, summits, lighthouses, casual operation, > >> vacations, etc.? > >> > >> Definitely do NOT waste money on an antenna analyzer until you have real > >> antennas to measure. Besides -- the KX3 has a very good SWR readout > >> built in, so it's easy to use to figure out where your antenna is > >> resonant, and tweak it to length if necessary. If the feedline is short, > >> all you really care about is whether the antenna loads -- push the > >> button to activate the KXAT3 and see if it loads OK (close to full > >> power). > >> > >> The PX3 is VERY useful when trying to find activity on a quiet band, but > >> you must learn to use it first. > >> > >> I agree with the suggestion of some form of launcher to get wires in > >> trees. The tennis ball launcher is great if you're driving to the site, > >> but far too heavy to carry up a trail. For backpacking, something like a > >> "wrist rocket" would be a far better choice. Several of my local friends > >> (AE6RF and N6RNO) are quite skilled at launching wires into trees using > >> nothing more than fishing line with a small heavy weight attached, using > >> their arm as a catapault. Once the line is in the tree, use it to pull > >> up the rope that will hold the antenna. > >> > >> I'm not a fan of Buddipoles -- inefficient, heavy, expensive. I like one > >> of several telescoping fiberglass poles to which it's easy to tape a > >> wire. Buy or improvise one or more fixtures to mount it vertically, buy > >> more wire to use as radials or a counterpoise, and you've got a far more > >> effective antenna for less money. #18 (or even #22) works fine for > >> backpacking. > >> > >> 73, Jim K9YC > >> > >> > >> ______________________________________________________________ > >> Elecraft mailing list > >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > >> Post: mailto:[email protected] > >> > >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > >> Message delivered to [email protected] > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > Message delivered to [email protected] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
