[Elecraft] Portable Wire Antenna Weight

[Tom Boucher]

A warning.........be careful using a golf ball to put your antenna over a tree. I did the same thing about 15 years ago, except I drilled the golf ball and tied braided nylon cord through it. Inevitably the ball got stuck in the 'V' of a branch so I heaved on it, winding the cord round a piece of wood to give me more grip on it. 

That cord must have had a breaking strain of more than 300lbs and when the ball broke free, I literally shot myself in the foot, breaking several bones. It could have been even nastier if it had hit me about 3' higher! I can still hear the staff at the Accident & Emergency Department sniggering when I told them I had been shot by a golf ball. My XYL had to drive me to work for the next 6 weeks while my foot was plastered up, bless her!

These days I use a catapult and a lead weight which could be even more dangerous, but I use monofilament and am very, very careful if I have to pull the line back. Do it slowly and, with luck, the weight won't wind the line round a branch.

73
Tom G3OLB