Trees are my best option so I have a bit of experience in this. I also do back country hiking so I've been doing this for other things as well. I like to use the arborist throw line. The bag is setup to not snag on limbs and the line is strong and also of a type to not snag. With a little practice you can get a line up about 75 feet. The bags don't go far so no issues with long range safety. As for how to rig up I have found the following works well. 1. Plan for two lines in the tree, both twice as long as the height the antenna will be in the tree. A. A line to pull up that has a pulley B. The line that hoists up the antenna 2. Using whatever method works for you, hoist up the pulley. But here's the thing to remember, you need to have your antenna hoist line pulled through the pulley before you hoist up the pulley. Be sure to have the antenna line pulled half way through when you do this. Also note that I have pulley attached to the end of the line but also have a small loop 3. On the antenna line, attach your tension line (bungee cord like you see in tent poles, or whatever, but I like the bungee cord) then attach you antenna to the tension line. 4. I also like to have the antenna hoisting line setup as a loop so I can easily take it down etc if I need to work on the antenna or whatever. 5. If you need to take the pulley down you simply pull both sides of the antenna line down and it should pull the pulley down. I know I'm skipping some details but if you have questions just post and I'll be glad to explain further. This system works well and covers the main issues of tensioning, being able to maintain the antenna over time, and having a good system to attach with. Hope it helps.
I use the exact brand of launcher( E.Z. Hang ) and it works incredibly well. I did upgrade the reel that came with it to a decent 20.00 USD spin cast reel and it now works just about flawlessly.👍 73 everyone! De N1XV
I have a smallish residential city lot. From the way the house is laid out and where my station is, I have space for a 60’ EFHW antenna suspended about 15’ up. My question is this: If a folded dipole is an acceptible antenna and works well as long as each leg is of a resonant length, then will a longer EFHW antenna that is folded work just as well as a single leg of a folded dipole? And if so, should the wire be oriented over/under or horizontally side by side? And how far should the sections be separated? Thanks, Chuck, KC0OLH, Dallas.
There are arrows out there for birds. They have special curly feathers that limit their range and speed. Break the tip off and poke the tip into a tennis ball or superball.
Find someone with a drone. They love showing off their "skills", and you can get a line up as high as you like. I fasten a clothes peg to the bottom of the drone and fasten my feeder line into that, with a fishing sinker hanging off the bottom in order to keep the line clear of the rotors on the drone. When the drone gets close to the ground, I pull the fishing line free from the peg and the drone can fly off freely, without getting tangled.
I've seen people split playing cards. I can hit a killshot on squirrel at 20 yards. Wrist rockets are effective small game tools. And I like it for shoting line in trees.
A friend uses a Retriever Launcher, and ties braided (twisted) nylon survey line to it. They will easily go 50' + vertical feet The dummies are replaceable but unfortunately close to $20 if they get stuck in the tree. If you can figure out a way to get them high enough for your application, I have used stainless lag screws to secure marine grade pulleys to two tree trunks and fed my *Dacron* guy lines through them. That keeps wear and tear on the guy lines to an absolute minimum. I use counterweights to secure the ends that allow the system to flex when trees sway in the wind.
I use the same set up and built mine in 1990 so 30+ years ago I😊 used it just the other day. mine uses a zebco 33 and a deluxe Wrist Rocket. be sure to use at least a 1oz weight and it will not get tangled in branches.
Recurve bow, heavy fishing reel on lower section of fishing pole with 30lb line, an arrow with 5 or 6 weights to give the arrow weight to drop to the ground. I can hit a 150' oak no problem.
A surf fishing rod and reel and a 3 ounce lead egg sinker. Cast it over the tree and then tie on a nylon chord and pull your wire up. I find the winter time is best to do this when there's no leaves on the tree.
On the cheap, I’ve had success with the cheap dollar store dog tennis balls launchers. Just make a small slit in the tennis ball and insert a sinker with a fish line attached. There are also arborist throw lines and weights. Seems a lot of POTA guys are using these now. The line is slicker than paracord and heavy enough you can often use it for temporary antenna deployments. If you really want to go crazy, get a potato gun 🤣
Thank you. I let the grandchildren help. They are very creative. N0QFT Examples: Toy water/compressed air toy rocket. Fourth of July rocket. A ladder truck, or cherry picker. # 10 can with an M80 beneath- best done during 4th of July.
The only success I've had is with a fishing line and sinker. When using an arrow the fishing line weighed the thing down so much it couldn't clear the nearly 20m high tree we have. It's tricky to let them go at the right time.
...or as I've done for years, find a small angled rock, tie some string around it & throw it over the tree; then attach a heavier string or cord & pull it thru; alternatively, as my preferred method, I grasp the string a few feet from the rock & fling it UNDERHANDED over the tree (or limb); with a little practice, u'll become an expert at placement; I can easily lay a line over a tree or limb at 50', my best being, after a number of tries, at just under 70' (per my laser pointer)😃🇺🇸
DX Engineering has a blog post about this, which I found helpful. I used an EZHang, I'm not sure it is worth the money. If you search RUclips, there are many good videos about how to do this. Bob Heil has a good video about the retriever practice dummies that could be a good option. Also, when pulling the line through the tree, I recommend a counterweight. Kevin KQ4ED
love that you compare adding elasticity to capacitors and inductors
Trees are my best option so I have a bit of experience in this. I also do back country hiking so I've been doing this for other things as well. I like to use the arborist throw line. The bag is setup to not snag on limbs and the line is strong and also of a type to not snag. With a little practice you can get a line up about 75 feet. The bags don't go far so no issues with long range safety.
As for how to rig up I have found the following works well.
1. Plan for two lines in the tree, both twice as long as the height the antenna will be in the tree.
A. A line to pull up that has a pulley
B. The line that hoists up the antenna
2. Using whatever method works for you, hoist up the pulley. But here's the thing to remember, you need to have your antenna hoist line pulled through the pulley before you hoist up the pulley. Be sure to have the antenna line pulled half way through when you do this. Also note that I have pulley attached to the end of the line but also have a small loop
3. On the antenna line, attach your tension line (bungee cord like you see in tent poles, or whatever, but I like the bungee cord) then attach you antenna to the tension line.
4. I also like to have the antenna hoisting line setup as a loop so I can easily take it down etc if I need to work on the antenna or whatever.
5. If you need to take the pulley down you simply pull both sides of the antenna line down and it should pull the pulley down.
I know I'm skipping some details but if you have questions just post and I'll be glad to explain further. This system works well and covers the main issues of tensioning, being able to maintain the antenna over time, and having a good system to attach with. Hope it helps.
The slingshot fired member that had the arm brace called wrist rockets.
I use the exact brand of launcher( E.Z. Hang ) and it works incredibly well.
I did upgrade the reel that came with it to a decent 20.00 USD spin cast reel and it now works just about flawlessly.👍
73 everyone!
De N1XV
We use the station of a good friend who has long wires hung from tall trees. It works very well.
What about an arborist throw line with matching weight seems like the professional way to do it?
Did this last week: top of the tree was 50' up. Just grabbed my fishing pole with a 1oz. Weight and cast it over the tree... no problem 😉
I have a smallish residential city lot. From the way the house is laid out and where my station is, I have space for a 60’ EFHW antenna suspended about 15’ up. My question is this: If a folded dipole is an acceptible antenna and works well as long as each leg is of a resonant length, then will a longer EFHW antenna that is folded work just as well as a single leg of a folded dipole? And if so, should the wire be oriented over/under or horizontally side by side? And how far should the sections be separated? Thanks, Chuck, KC0OLH, Dallas.
There are arrows out there for birds. They have special curly feathers that limit their range and speed. Break the tip off and poke the tip into a tennis ball or superball.
Find someone with a drone. They love showing off their "skills", and you can get a line up as high as you like. I fasten a clothes peg to the bottom of the drone and fasten my feeder line into that, with a fishing sinker hanging off the bottom in order to keep the line clear of the rotors on the drone. When the drone gets close to the ground, I pull the fishing line free from the peg and the drone can fly off freely, without getting tangled.
Aim is not a problem with a high quality slingshot and practice.
I've seen people split playing cards. I can hit a killshot on squirrel at 20 yards. Wrist rockets are effective small game tools. And I like it for shoting line in trees.
A friend uses a Retriever Launcher, and ties braided (twisted) nylon survey line to it. They will easily go 50' + vertical feet The dummies are replaceable but unfortunately close to $20 if they get stuck in the tree. If you can figure out a way to get them high enough for your application, I have used stainless lag screws to secure marine grade pulleys to two tree trunks and fed my *Dacron* guy lines through them. That keeps wear and tear on the guy lines to an absolute minimum. I use counterweights to secure the ends that allow the system to flex when trees sway in the wind.
For any permanent installations, I would recommend polyester line instead of nylon, as polyester has much better UV degredation properties.
Tennis ball! If there are dogs in the area, things could get... festive.😂
I use catfish line to support antennas in trees it lasts 3 to 5 years.
I use the same set up and built mine in 1990 so 30+ years ago I😊 used it just the other day. mine uses a zebco 33 and a deluxe Wrist Rocket. be sure to use at least a 1oz weight and it will not get tangled in branches.
Recurve bow, heavy fishing reel on lower section of fishing pole with 30lb line, an arrow with 5 or 6 weights to give the arrow weight to drop to the ground. I can hit a 150' oak no problem.
A surf fishing rod and reel and a 3 ounce lead egg sinker. Cast it over the tree and then tie on a nylon chord and pull your wire up. I find the winter time is best to do this when there's no leaves on the tree.
I had a lot of practice throwing a fishing line into the trees when I was a little kid. My dad would get mad then laugh. Good memories!
I just did a G5-RV through trees. I had no other option available. (I erected 35 feet of top rail first).
sprung bottom and bungy cord too
i use a spring at the bottom and bungy rope tied off for that movement
On the cheap, I’ve had success with the cheap dollar store dog tennis balls launchers. Just make a small slit in the tennis ball and insert a sinker with a fish line attached.
There are also arborist throw lines and weights. Seems a lot of POTA guys are using these now. The line is slicker than paracord and heavy enough you can often use it for temporary antenna deployments.
If you really want to go crazy, get a potato gun 🤣
Bow and arrow. Works great.
Thank you.
I let the grandchildren help. They are very creative. N0QFT
Examples:
Toy water/compressed air toy rocket.
Fourth of July rocket.
A ladder truck, or cherry picker.
# 10 can with an M80 beneath- best done during 4th of July.
The only success I've had is with a fishing line and sinker. When using an arrow the fishing line weighed the thing down so much it couldn't clear the nearly 20m high tree we have. It's tricky to let them go at the right time.
I use my drone to drop a weighted line over the tops of trees and/or branches.
1956? I was only 1 years old, I’m now 68 years of age. Yep, technology has changed!
...or as I've done for years, find a small angled rock, tie some string around it & throw it over the tree; then attach a heavier string or cord & pull it thru; alternatively, as my preferred method, I grasp the string a few feet from the rock & fling it UNDERHANDED over the tree (or limb); with a little practice, u'll become an expert at placement; I can easily lay a line over a tree or limb at 50', my best being, after a number of tries, at just under 70' (per my laser pointer)😃🇺🇸
i screw a hook into a golf ball and cast it up and over its clear to see and control the cast as you can see it in flight
DX Engineering has a blog post about this, which I found helpful. I used an EZHang, I'm not sure it is worth the money. If you search RUclips, there are many good videos about how to do this. Bob Heil has a good video about the retriever practice dummies that could be a good option. Also, when pulling the line through the tree, I recommend a counterweight. Kevin KQ4ED
You need a slingshot and line that is made for arborists. You'll find a few vendors on the Internet. Good luck. Al K3ZE
I have an EFHW over a tree in my back yard. Hadn’t thought of how it’s a threat to my tree. Yikes. Maybe I need a tower to save my tree.
Be careful with slingshots because what goes up must come down
What about a tall slim pine tree ?
In Taxachusetts slingshorts are not legal to use. Check with your sheriff.
Yeah, that pad that stabilizes the slingshot against your arm (or the option to have such a addon) makes it an illegal item in Germany, too.
Google arborist blogs and get great help in throwing up lines. They know great tricks.