"Bruce Wilson" wrote in message
. ..
I have in my yard two 60 foot steel poles about 120 feet apart, placed
there 40 years ago by a previous ham owner. The old halyards, about 3/4
inch diameter cotton-covered wire (wire core was about 1/8 inch) are long
gone, and I need to find new rope to haul up my wire. I can't find anything
like the old stuff.

I was thinking about using wire rope, the flexible 7x19 kind, maybe
stainless steel, at maybe 3/8 inch diameter. I think that will roll over
the pulleys (which I think are less than 1 inch radius). Given that my
longest wire will have maybe 8-10 feet of poly lines supporting each end,
will wire rope present appreciably more metal at the ends than the poles
themselves will?

Is there a synthetic rope up to the task? Keep in mind that the rope I
need will be running vertically, and when the antenna load is placed
perpendicularly, the loads on the halyard will be in the several hundred-
to thousand-pound load range. Of course it needs to last for decades or
more in the sun.

As always, if you have suggestions that haven't occurred to me I'll gladly
listen to them.

--
Bruce Wilson KF7K
http://science.uvsc.edu/wilson
I am using two lengths of 3/16 th black Dacron covered rope from
CableXperts, or maybe Texas Towers. It has been holding up 280 feet of 75
meter loop ( #14 wire) for at least 6 years. (It makes a 90 degree bend at
75 feet). I once used 3/8 inch Poly something rope. It rotted so badly that
after 6 months I could pull it apart between my two hands. BTW, you can do a
LOT worse than plastic covered clothesline; after all, it is meant for
outdoor use.

Tam/WB2TT