[K3CAL] Hanging antennas in trees

[N3AE]

I've had good success using 3/16 Dacron covered nylon rope from Synthetic Textiles and galvanized pulleys with a brass sheave purchased at Lusby Hardware.  I use pulleys on BOTH sides of the antennas with a cinder block as a counterweight on one side and a gallon jug filled with sand on the other.   The jug is a few feet off the ground and tensions the antenna.  The cinder block rests on the ground and never leaves the ground unless we have a big event like a tropical storm.

But part of the trick is to avoid having the rope from the antenna rub on any branches.  I can avoid this in most cases by putting a heavy weight like an old window sash weight on the pulley rope (opposite end of the rope tied to the antenna insulator), pulling that weight right up to the pulley and then letting it drop straight down through the tree.

So far (21 years at this QTH) I've only had one antenna end fail and that was due to rubbing on branches of the rope that held the pulley.   It draped itself across two branches a few feet apart, and those branches moved in different ways in the wind.

One nice thing about the black Dacron sheathed rope is that you can visually see if it is fraying and do something about it before it breaks.   The black sheath will fray and expose the white nylon interior....easy to see.

Shawn - N3AE
----- Original Message -----
From: David Hardy via K3CAL <k3cal at mailman.qth.net>
To: k3cal at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 18:39:10 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: [K3CAL] Hanging antennas in trees

 One end of my Carolina Windom came down in July.? I strung it up temporarily.? Now the other end has worn through and has come down.? I used nylon rope, I think.? And fairly small pulleys.? Lasted about a year.? 
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I'm wondering what you use to hold your wires up in the trees that works well and lasts a bit longer.? Would like to get the materials ready for an antenna raising party later this month.

David Hardy???     davehardy0101 at aol.com
        KB3RAN
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