[Lowfer] 2200m-vention and close down

Tue, 13 Jan 2004 19:50:23 -0600

Very wise words John. Bill used 20lb mono line and we pulled chalk line back
over the top and then pulled a 1/4th inch rope over and finally the #8 that
Jay so kindly donated. He uses a compound bow. I forgot the draw, but it was
healthy pulling it back. Bill has a method of using loops and telephone wire
to wind around the doubled back rope or wire to make a very secure
connection between the two to pull over the tree without fear of it coming
untied. In fact I seen Bill really cranking on the chalk line and seriously
giving her hell on the rope when things decided to get stuck for a moment up
there. Nothing untied or failed. My sons black cat was even playing with the
chalk line as Bill was winding it up on the other side. Of course he had an
audience of the two dogs also. I wished I had a video camera to record the
day. Words just can't describe how damn fun it was to have the Loop Master
himself demonstrating his fine art of loop wire installation.

I am definitely going to buy a bow for future installations. The fishing
pole is grossly inaccurate and the darn slingshot sends too many weights
sailing across the neighborhood with the broken fish line trailing behind.

Now wouldn't it be a blast to have all of us guys grouped together at some
famous farm and spend a few days brewing up this and that and installing
antennas and eating food and just having one heck of a good time?

Mike>WE0H

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of John Davis
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 7:51 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Lowfer] 2200m-vention and close down

I, for one, heartily endorse Bill's method, as described by Mike R below.
It's one I've used for years, too, to elevate antenna supports, holiday
decorations, and such.

You ought to do regular target archery for a while to get comfortable with
aiming consistently and to gain a sense of how much power you are
transfering to the arrow when you draw the bow and release.  After that,
"going vertical" is no big deal.  But it's something one has to practice a
bit before doing it in the 'hood, though--out in a partially wooded field,
preferably, and over enough of a time frame so that you get experience with
different zephyr and lighting conditions.  Note the word zephyr, not wind or
even breeze.  Take no chances with anything that introduces unpredictable
variables into the process!  Don't do it in tight quarters until you've had
PLENTY of practice, and have enough helpers watching from safe positions to
confirm that there are no people or critters on the other side of the tree
of interest before you shoot.

I like to wrap a couple of turns of monofilament around the arrow and secure
it with a strip of...ta-da!...electrical tape.  Once I get it over the
desired branch, I detach the monofilament from the arrow, tie the
monofilament and a sturdy nylon strong together, and carefully smooth out
the knot with...ahem, more electrical tape, and pull the string back over to
the side of the tree I started from.  Then I clip the string loose from the
monofilament, tie a rope to the string, and pull it over from the other side
of the tree, and hoist anything else I may need.  (It's possible to use
heavier monofilament and skip the string step, but I find that spending the
extra time seems to make the process work smoother and more consistently for
me.  Better coordinated and/or luckier people may not need to do that.)

Then, of course, Mike Staines' method has its advantages too.  :-)

As Bill notes, getting archery supplies is not the easiest thing to do at
Wal-Mart after hunting season.  In fact, it's impossible.  That's the joy of
being dependent on a mass marketer--you get product if or when they, in
their infinite wisdom, determine that it is mass-marketable.  Praised be the
name of Sam!

If one noses around, it's sometimes possible to find local archery shops, or
hunting supply places that stock a certain amount of archery stuff
year-round.  The latter seldom have medium power target bows, though.

John D

>Bill shot the line nearly vertical so it came down about 4" on the
>neighbor's side of my fence. It was so perfectly placed. I have a picture
of
>the angle and will get them to Dex this week so you guys can see how it is
>done. It didn't even take 5 minutes to get the line/arrow right where it
>needed to be and back on the ground in the perfect place. My trees are darn
>close to 80' or at least 70 something feet tall and the arrow went what
>appeared about a hundred feet high and stalled out and came back down.
>
>Mike>WE0H
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>On Behalf Of [email protected]
>Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 2:26 PM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Lowfer] 2200m-vention and close down
>
>OK I got to ask this
>
>for those of us with big pine trees and close neighbors ,, How do you
>keep the
>shot arrow in toe. I Would guess you shoot it with a limited amount of
>starter
>mono as to keep the arrows flight path in check. So just enough to clear
>the top of the
>tree ,, a well mounted tether ( hole drilled through the arrow )?? and a
>weighted tip
>to allow it to fall back close to the tree
>
>its that or really really irritated neighbors ??
>
>Bob
>
>
>On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 15:09:58 -0500 "Bill Ashlock" <[email protected]>
>writes:
>> >Bill where did you get your bow again - ?
>>
>> Laurence, it come from a K-mart in southern New Hampshire, believe
>> it or
>> not. It's a Bear (I mean the company <G>) I think it was on sale for
>>
>> something like $80. One of the problems with discount store shopping
>> for
>> these is that they only show up only during the opening of hunting
>> season.
>> I'm not a hunter or an archer (except I'm told I can set a mean
>> leader line
>> between two twigs at 60ft) so I don't know where one would buy a
>> compound
>> bow at a good price this time of year. Perhaps there are some
>> hunters or
>> archers out there?
>>
>> Bill
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