Jim Lux wrote:
SWLer wrote:
Hi Al W6LX, et. al. --

I bought a 'real' EZ HANG from Dennis (KG4ETM) at Dayton,
(http://ezhang.com) and after taking a few trial shots
I had *no* problem shooting the one ounce weight over a
135+ foot Tulip Poplar tree in my back yard in northern
Virginia.

The tree was so tall that I used -all- 300 feet of the
monofilament line and the weight ended up about three feet
off the ground.

How far back do you pull, and how hard?

With elbow locked and arm fully extended, I pulled the
rubbers back to my ear. *!Remember to always wear eye
protection!*

On May 23, 4:21 pm, SWLer wrote:
Jim Lux wrote:
SWLer wrote:
Hi Al W6LX, et. al. --

I bought a 'real' EZ HANG from Dennis (KG4ETM) at Dayton,
(http://ezhang.com) and after taking a few trial shots
I had *no* problem shooting the one ounce weight over a
135+ foot Tulip Poplar tree in my back yard in northern
Virginia.

The tree was so tall that I used -all- 300 feet of the
monofilament line and the weight ended up about three feet
off the ground.

How far back do you pull, and how hard?

With elbow locked and arm fully extended, I pulled the
rubbers back to my ear. *!Remember to always wear eye
protection!*

So.. about 30 inches (based on the wrist rocket I have).. care to
guestimate how hard you're pulling? (maybe I can make some
measurements on my old wrist rocket..)

wrote:
On May 23, 4:21 pm, SWLer wrote:
Jim Lux wrote:
SWLer wrote:
Hi Al W6LX, et. al. --
I bought a 'real' EZ HANG from Dennis (KG4ETM) at Dayton,
(http://ezhang.com) and after taking a few trial shots
I had *no* problem shooting the one ounce weight over a
135+ foot Tulip Poplar tree in my back yard in northern
Virginia.
The tree was so tall that I used -all- 300 feet of the
monofilament line and the weight ended up about three feet
off the ground.
How far back do you pull, and how hard?
With elbow locked and arm fully extended, I pulled the
rubbers back to my ear. *!Remember to always wear eye
protection!*

So.. about 30 inches (based on the wrist rocket I have).. care to
guestimate how hard you're pulling? (maybe I can make some
measurements on my old wrist rocket..)


Again, *Remember I used safety glasses* in case a rubber
snapped. You need to do that.

I didn't measure anything. But, 30 inches sounds about right.
All I did was pull *really* hard on the rubbers and (using a
one-ounce weight as I described) the darned thing went up
like a rocket, up and over the tree.

It amazed me.

So, don't be afraid to pull the rubber bands 30+ inches.
Unless they're old, they won't snap.

73, Fred

Lumpy wrote:
Jim Lux wrote:
... The tennis ball launcher (avoid the "cannon"
term..) looks less "weapon-y"

Not that shoulder fired one that everyone's
been looking at..:-)
http://www.antennalaunchers.com/antlaunching.html

It looks like an RPG. Wander around aiming that
thing at the top of your trees while the
gendarmerie rides past and I'll bet you'll
be asked to "DO IT NOW".

Just for added effect, when I made my tennis ball launcher I spray-
painted it yellow and then added black stencils with BIOHAZARD and
FALLOUT SHELTER symbology on. And then I stenciled BUTTERCUP on for
the opposite impression :-).

I'm sure that some people are comfortable with lead weights flying
through the air, or with crossbows. Me, I just happen (perhaps through
lack of ability with the other two - I tried, but failed with
slingshot and crossbow, but the tennis ball cannon worked the first
time!) to be pefectly comfortable with the tennis ball cannon. And it
worked, man it worked. I am so so so happy with the resulting antenna,
100 feet up between two trees.

Tim N3QE

Well I finally got the rope cut, I Duct Taped my Tree trimmer
extended to 2 10 foot Rat Shack Mast pieces I had, that and getting
on the ladder a bit I was able to get up into the rope enough to cut
it.

Now the Good News is

I changed Reels in the wrist rocket, I was using Open Faced but
noticed all the ones on the net had a Zebco. So I grabbed a spare
zebco, walked out and zinngg right to the top of the tree, and then
it slid down slick as can be. Sent up the messenger string (small
nylon) and pulled the main cable back over and up went the antenna.
All is well now, I got frustrated cause the open faced would let it
spool out proper it was either short or hung up. Zebco worked peach.


Thanks for all the help folks

Scotty W7PSK.

Tim Shoppa wrote:
On May 15, 12:46 pm, "R.Scott" wrote:
I'm trying to restring my Dipole up in a Pine (the tree has grown
about 10 ft, and the rope needs replacing) so I got out my trusty
Surgical tubing wrist rocket and a 1oz egg weight tied to my 15# test
fishing rod/reel (only using the bottom eye).

No matter how far I pulled back I got about 2/3s of the way up. Im
estimating that is about the 35 ft level.

Shouldn't a wrister go farther ???? need bigger weight ?

How high are you trying to go? With everything in my favor (wind,
etc.) I could get over about a 50 foot branch with a wrist-slingshot
and a 1oz weight. And I think I was standing on a 12 foot ladder to do
it, and this was a "best ever" shot.

Having the line catch on anything - grass, leaves, etc., is a major
downer. If there's no brush on the ground you might get a little more
height by spooling some line out in front of you.

Others here regularly claim being able to get 100+ feet with a
slingshot. I never said out loud that they're exaggerating, but I know
I could just barely do half that. To get to 100feet I went straight to
a tennis ball cannon.

Tim.
A little late to this thread so may be redundant.

I have used a compound bow and arrow attached to a fishing reel and the
problem I had was firing TOO high and overshooting the target.

you could give it a try.


John
AB8O

On Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:07:34 -0400, john Wiener
wrote:

Tim Shoppa wrote:
On May 15, 12:46 pm, "R.Scott" wrote:
I'm trying to restring my Dipole up in a Pine (the tree has grown
about 10 ft, and the rope needs replacing) so I got out my trusty
Surgical tubing wrist rocket and a 1oz egg weight tied to my 15# test
fishing rod/reel (only using the bottom eye).

No matter how far I pulled back I got about 2/3s of the way up. Im
estimating that is about the 35 ft level.

Shouldn't a wrister go farther ???? need bigger weight ?

How high are you trying to go? With everything in my favor (wind,
etc.) I could get over about a 50 foot branch with a wrist-slingshot
and a 1oz weight. And I think I was standing on a 12 foot ladder to do
it, and this was a "best ever" shot.

Having the line catch on anything - grass, leaves, etc., is a major
downer. If there's no brush on the ground you might get a little more
height by spooling some line out in front of you.

Others here regularly claim being able to get 100+ feet with a
slingshot. I never said out loud that they're exaggerating, but I know
I could just barely do half that. To get to 100feet I went straight to
a tennis ball cannon.

The guys at FD were putting the weight over the top of the athletic
field lights and those are about a 100. I can't but several of them
could. One it took about 5 tries. :-))

Roger (K8RI) ARRL Life Member
N833R (World's oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com