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Re: [TowerTalk] Lead-Shot Counterweight

To: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Lead-Shot Counterweight
From: "ve4xt@mymts.net" <ve4xt@mymts.net>
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2016 18:28:38 -0500
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Hi Jim,

Do you weatherproof your split-bolt or u-clamp connections? 

73, kelly, ve4xt 

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 24, 2016, at 2:32 PM, Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Sat,9/24/2016 9:45 AM, Steve Jones wrote:
>> My full-sized 80M dipole is strung between two Douglas firs.  At the end of
>> the rope over the pulley at one end I use a gallon paint thinner can with
>> the top cut off and filled with concrete.  It rides up and down in the wind
>> and keeps the dipole taught.  Maybe it could use a little more weight, like
>> a second such paint can.
> 
> My 80/40 fan dipoles are up about 140 ft and fed with RG11. Trees supporting 
> one of the dipoles are about 200 ft apart, the other about 145 ft. It takes a 
> lot of weight to avoid excessive droop. Ropes at both ends go through a 
> pulley, one end is tied off, the other end has the weight, which is a 13 
> gallon water jug filled with dry sand. Weight is about 90#
> 
> The 80M element, which carries the tension, is #10 stranded THHN on one 
> antenna and #9 hard drawn copper on the other. The 40M element is #12 THHN. 
> The support rope on the longer run is 7/16-in Synthetic Textiles, the rope on 
> the shorter run is 5/16-in.
> 
> These antennas have been up about 9 years. Mechanical connections and the 
> rope are the weak spots. I've had no failures on the main support, but did 
> have one side of the 40M element break loose from it's connection at the 
> center. When I dropped that antenna to repair it, I rebuilt it to replace the 
> #10 THHN with the hard drawn copper. The other antenna still has #10 THHN for 
> 80M.
> 
> As to mechanical connections. Solder is a VERY BAD idea for wires outside, 
> especially if the soldered segment of the wire can flex or vibrate. My 
> electrical and mechanical connections are made using split-bolt copper 
> connectors. I loop the wire through the mechanical support at the center 
> insulator, strip enough that it 3-4 inches is exposed, and use two split 
> bolts to secure it. The split bolt closest to the center has the wire going 
> to the feedline. At the far end, I use either two split bolts or two U-clamps 
> (with an egg insulator).
> 
> 73, Jim K9YC
> 
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