[Elecraft] Elecraft Demo at hamfests - antenna hint

[wb4jfi at knology.net]

Coming from a broadcast television/news background, I have used a LOT of 
"gaffers tape", most often made by Permacel, now Shurtape.  It is NOT cheap, 
but does not leave any residue, as long as you don't leave it in place for a 
long time.  The P-665 "Professional Grade" 2-inch width gaffers tape is the 
most familiar to me, in gray or black.

If used sparingly, one roll should last quite a while.  It usually costs 
between $15 and $20 per roll, and should be available at most tape, 
broadcast, or film places.  B&H, 47th Street, Markertek are a few places. 
NEVER use "duct tape" or "duck tape", especially on any cabling that you 
want to use ever again.  You need kerosene or gasoline to remove that sticky 
mess!  Blue/green painters tape has almost sticking value, when stepped on 
or other pressure is applied to the cable.  Gaffers tape is designed to hold 
strong, but not leave a nasty residue.  If left on something for a few 
months or more, the adhesive DOES stay attached to whatever it's put on, 
however.

I just used some gaffers tape last night, to temporarily hold a coax line up 
along a doorway to prevent tripping on it on the floor.  Putting it on 
cement, carpeting, even walls, seems to be OK for short periods.  Unless the 
wall has cheap paint on it!
73, Terry, WB4JFI


-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim Sheldon
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 5:39 PM
To: Elecraft Mailing List
Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft Demo at hamfests - antenna hint

Having done demos of my Elecraft equipment at a number of hamfests in the 
KS/Oklahoma area over the last couple of years, I try to get table space 
near an exit or other outside access so I can set up a vertical antenna 
external to the building.  Live, on-air demo's work lots better than just 
having the equipment sitting there with the lights on, especially if the 
antenna can be placed outside the building for good reception.

The major problem we usually run into is safely running the coax from your 
table out to the antenna.  In the past we usually routed it along a wall, 
and any where that people had to cross it, we first tried duct tape, but 
that turned out to be difficult to remove without damaging something or 
leaving a sticky residue.  Next came the "blue" painter's masking tape. 
This worked great when time came for removal, but didn't stick to floors or 
wall surfaces well enough to either support or keep the cable from loosening 
and becoming a trip hazard.

At the Kansas State ARRL Convention this past weekend, we were in a really 
nice venue with the tables just inside the entrance to the flea market area. 
This gave reasonably close access to the main entry doors to the building, 
one of which was off to the side and allow cable access but not be used for 
normal in/out traffic.  There was a nice grassy area about 20 feet out and 
clear of the concrete walkway with an aluminum bleacher being stored up 
against the building so it wasn't necessary to tape down the cables after 
getting out of the door.

The major problem was running coax from the table to the door in the first 
place.  Since the lobby area we had to string the coax through had an 8 
foot, gridded acoustical tile ceiling, I got the bright idea to use some 
nylon mason's twine I had and make up a bunch of "sling" loops over the grid 
members and under the tiles.  Ran the coax up the steel door jamb from the 
flea market room, taped it down with painter's tape, ran it through the 
loops hung from the ceiling grid well above the heads of anyone walking 
under it and over the top of the one door marked "do not use except in 
emergency".  Outside, it was then easy to rout it along the building wall 
out of the way and connect up the antennas.

This won't work for every situation but it's something to consider if a 
dropped ceiling presents itself.  If you get a chance to scope out the venue 
before hand, you could even take some aluminum strap (available at hardware 
stores) and bend yourself some strips with a big hook on one end and a small 
straight flat on the other that could be slipped under a ceiling tile 
without having to lift the tiles up to tie a string loop over the grid. 
Keeps the coax up out of the way where the foot traffic can't trip over it.

Jim - W0EB
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