Antennas

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Actually, I did speak to other Hams about your very suggestion because another Ham said the same thing, but I got mixed reactions. The one who used a bow and arrow actually had his wife do the shooting because she's an archer. Another said he tried this approach, lost a few arrows and was afraid he'd hurt somebody further away. And a few said they'd tried their kid's bow and arrow, removed the cups, but that they couldn't get very high with the arrow once they'd tied a string to it. One tried a monofilament line and that got over the branches, but said he kept breaking the line when pulling to untangle or to get the weight off further branches when it went too far.

When I looked at the price of an adult bow, they weren't cheap ($150 and up plus arrows) and a compound bow, which was the common recommendation, was even more expensive ($350 and up). The arborist's rope launcher was cheaper and could send up a weight with a 1/8 inch, 150 pound test line. So that was the product that looked like it would best meet my needs.

Also, I'm not sending a line over a lone tree, but rather over a tree in a tree line with many more trees in the forest behind - I'm at the edge of a forest. When I had tried to toss a weight with a line and couldn't reach the necessary height, it still often went over a lower branch and into trees behind it - it was not easy to pull the weight back down and I needed to sometimes pull quite hard. So I felt that light monofilament line really would break and I'd spend more time retying and re-shooting than achieving my goal. The arborist's rope launcher can send a much stronger line up and let me pull it back when I miss. Similarly, it'd also help me pull down a stuck drone or that of my friends who also fly.
 
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I once tagged along with a group of hams in the early 70's who regularly entered /p (portable) competitions, little knowing what was involved. We found a suitable site and set up camp. Unfortunately the friend who drove me only had a small tent (for him!) so I opted to sleep in the back of his van. It was right next to the noisy petrol generator which ran all night, so not much sleep was had... but I digress.
The ceremonial erecting of the antenna was a wonder to behold.
They'd brought a man-sized catapult which was wedged into the ground and supported by a couple of them. Another pulled back on the rubber sling, and someone else pulled back on him. I just watched thinking someone was going to get killed.
The slingshot was also a tradition, having been used every year for decades... a tin of spam. Very badly dented but still recognisable. This was duly 'shot' over a tree towing a line, which was then used to pull up the antenna wire. I couldn't stop laughing.
 
I once tagged along with a group of hams in the early 70's who regularly entered /p (portable) competitions, little knowing what was involved..... The ceremonial erecting of the antenna was a wonder to behold. They'd brought a man-sized catapult which was wedged into the ground and supported by a couple of them. Another pulled back on the rubber sling, and someone else pulled back on him. I just watched thinking someone was going to get killed.

The slingshot was also a tradition, having been used every year for decades... a tin of spam. Very badly dented but still recognisable. This was duly 'shot' over a tree towing a line, which was then used to pull up the antenna wire. I couldn't stop laughing.

That's a great story - a trebuchet to hang an antenna. I'm glad today's launching equipment comes in a much smaller package. I tried it today and was easily able to place a line over a large limb about 60 feet up. Some of the trees on my property are over 100 feet high, but most of the limbs that are useful as supports and don't move too much in heavy winds don't go much higher than 70 - 80 feet or so. But I previously wasn't able to get higher than about 35 feet with my 16 foot ladder and the 20 foot aluminum pole I used to get the current antenna up, and that hasn't proven to be high enough for the lower Ham bands. Now, world communication domination is almost mine!
 
@Phil Tipping if we hadn't started this thread we never would have heard that story! Hilarious! Thank you for your sacrifice, and for sharing!
 
@skier said:

Actually, I did speak to other Hams about your very suggestion because another Ham said the same thing, but I got mixed reactions.

Oh, I didn't expect you to actually answer that! And so detailed too. Good info, thanks!
 
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I didn't know whether or not you were joking or serious, especially because it was obviously a child's archery set. And because other Hams had also suggested it, and the fact that you've provided me with all kinds of great advice and suggestions, you deserved to know that I had considered it because I really appreciate your help and you're usually spot on.
 
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Thanks Jerry. We need a system that will auto-identify humor/sarcasm, like BB code!

[SARCASM]Let that be a lesson to you![/SARCASM]

I thought that laser sight was way cool though! That would actually be useful for your purpose.
 
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A SARCASM system? What a cool idea! (Especially for those of us who seem to be less perceptive, which makes up a large contingent of the male gender, especially us engineers.)

Yeah, I did think the laser sight was cool. I don't know if it would work well for my application. To be specific, laser sights work well on reflective targets to let the shooter see the red dot. Would wit work well reflecting off green leaves and other foliage? I don't know the answer to that, but if so, it'd be great.

It took four shots yesterday to get the line over the high branch - I'd never used the launcher before. But after that, I could do it almost every time, certainly within two shots. As a result, I think it's a winner for placing antennas into trees and other high places.

I think it'll be equally useful for retrieving tree-stuck drones, though they still may break upon hitting the ground, but beggars can't be choosers. The onus is for us pilots to be especially careful around trees.
 
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I hate sarcasm!

Or, do I..? :cool:
 
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It took four shots yesterday to get the line over the high branch - I'd never used the launcher before. But after that, I could do it almost every time, certainly within two shots. As a result, I think it's a winner for placing antennas into trees and other high places.

Excellent!
 
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Got another antenna story....

One spring morning the station called me. They couldn't get on the air. The transmitter kept shutting down after they turned it on several times with the remote control from the studio. I drove to the transmitter site which was about 10 mins from my home.

I got inside the transmitter building and checked things out. The transmitter appeared to be in perfect working order but there were some alarms lit. My guess was that there was something going on at the ATU in the doghouse at the tower base. So I went out to look.

As I opened the door, I was greeted by a burning smell and the site of a stunned raccoon! He was sitting on a junction and basically was bridging the hot feed to the tower and also the ground system. When they started up the transmitter he had apparently taken the full 1kW RF across his body, several times. He wasn't dead but he wasn't too happy. He demonstrated total indifference to me. I don't blame him.

I called the Animal Squad and let them know what happened. They said they would dispatch someone to come get him and check him out. In the meantime I looked things over. It looked like nothing had happened to any of the components.

With the door open and the light on, he began to come around. Imagine my reaction as he reached up and grabbed the hardline and shimmied hand over hand while hanging off the hardline, and right out the hole in the side of the doghouse (which I now realized was much too large) where the hardline came in. Once he got outside he dropped off the hardline and slowly made his way back into the brush. I called the Animal Squad and told them not to bother coming over.

I fired up the transmitter and all was well. Later that day, I patched the hole.
 
HA! A good story - thanks for sharing!

We have that problem all the time in the utility business. Squirrels are enemy number one and are guilty for the great majority of animal caused power failures. Finding effective ways to keep them from killing the power and themselves is a real challenge. They have great dexterity, jumping powers, phenomenal aim and balance, and can get into and out of some of the smallest spaces through the smallest holes - truly a fantastic animal, if also a pain.

The chief engineer of one of my clients has a "WANTED" poster in his office for the apprehension of this dangerous criminal. I just tried to upload an image of it, but it appears this forum only accepts Web addresses and not image uploads. If there's a way, please let me know.
 
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You'll have to use a 3rd party image host and post the URL. Google Photos works too.
 
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Ahhh. Thanks MJ - that explains why it didn't work. The tool tip when placing the mouse pointer over the image icon just says "image", so I had thought it works the same way it does in Windows.
 
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Some time ago it did work, but DJ disabled it. He says that every night the entire forum database is backed up and images really add to that overhead and file size.
 
Ah, that makes sense - thanks for explaining. I'm sure the database would grow to massive proportions if it also had to include all the images posted. BTW, who is DJ? Is he/she the owner of this site? For all the time I've been here, I don't think I've ever seen a post from them.
 
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