[Lowfer] Question

[John Davis]

>but the part that worries me is that pine trees have nasty bark and a
>jumble of limbs and I dont want to snag and tear open my cable


Based on the Y2K lightning strike to a pine that was (formerly) near one
corner of my house, and which guided the current right to the laundry room
where a bunch of cables enter the building, and vaporized great chunks of
same...I'd have to say pine trees' bite can be worse than their bark.

But bad jokes aside, the ex-pine in question was one I used in the late
Nineties to suspend the tophat for a vertical.  I was using nylon rope
between the trees, and was fearful of damage from snagging and abrasion.
Turns out that wasn't a big problem, given the way I'd allowed for some
slack in the design.  However, I was surprised next season to find I
couldn't lower all the lines because the bark had grown around a couple of
the ropes far enough that I couldn't dislodge them.

That antenna, by the way, was one I described in The LOWDOWN, including how
a bow and arrows were used to raise it.  Raised a few eyebrows, too, just as
Bill's description did.  (Keys to not killing the neighbor's cat: Use
aluminum arrows and don't put hunting OR target points on them; then, don't
shoot until you confirm what lies on the other side of the tree.)

73,
John