On 7/3/2012 6:15 PM, Sal M. O'Nella wrote:
"NM5K" wrote in message
...


But I really don't care for contest/field day type of
operating all that much.
snip

But generally, my idea of "field day" is kicking back in
one of my lawn chairs, sipping on a cold adult beverage,
and talking to all those good ole buoys on 75 or 40... :/

I'm headed that way, myself. This FD was no fun. I used to look forward to
it.

I was so busy making sure that I met all my responsibilities, I found only a
few hours to actually operate. This came after all the prep work, worry and
concern, including getting an all-electronic network log running. (That our
network logging worked perfectly in no way makes up for my having had
trouble sleeping for weeks leading up to FD.)

Next year, this job goes to somebody else.

"Sal"
(KD6VKW)



FD can be a lot of work. I know dragging a tower and beam
out there got to be a tad strenuous.
And I rarely used the thing myself..
I string up dipoles for me, which is pretty easy to deal with.
But even with an easy setup, I still don't care for contest
type operating all that much. Just not really my cup of java..
I skipped this year again. Too busy with work, even if I wanted
to go.
If I do any more in the future, like I say, I'll probably just
hang out on my own property. That way I can operate at a leisurely
pace, and if I get burned out, I can just quit and go do something
else for a while.

"NM5K" wrote in message
...



FD can be a lot of work. I know dragging a tower and beam
out there got to be a tad strenuous.
And I rarely used the thing myself..
I string up dipoles for me, which is pretty easy to deal with.
But even with an easy setup, I still don't care for contest
type operating all that much. Just not really my cup of java..
I skipped this year again. Too busy with work, even if I wanted
to go.
If I do any more in the future, like I say, I'll probably just
hang out on my own property. That way I can operate at a leisurely
pace, and if I get burned out, I can just quit and go do something
else for a while.


Amen to that!

Last year, I put up three 30-foot poles to support a 20m dipole at its
optimum height. This year, I thought I was gettting off easy with just one
pole. Maybe so, but with the top section having a crossarm and the extra
weight of the elements and tethers, getting that sucker up the same 30 feet
was still an adventure. I'm thinking of something simpler next year and not
ruling out being a home station for the first time ever.

"Sal"

On Wednesday, July 4, 2012 2:55:03 PM UTC-7, Sal M. O'Nella wrote:
"NM5K" wrote in message

...







FD can be a lot of work. I know dragging a tower and beam

out there got to be a tad strenuous.

And I rarely used the thing myself..

I string up dipoles for me, which is pretty easy to deal with.

But even with an easy setup, I still don't care for contest

type operating all that much. Just not really my cup of java..

I skipped this year again. Too busy with work, even if I wanted

to go.

If I do any more in the future, like I say, I'll probably just

hang out on my own property. That way I can operate at a leisurely

pace, and if I get burned out, I can just quit and go do something

else for a while.





Amen to that!



Last year, I put up three 30-foot poles to support a 20m dipole at its

optimum height. This year, I thought I was gettting off easy with just one

pole. Maybe so, but with the top section having a crossarm and the extra

weight of the elements and tethers, getting that sucker up the same 30 feet

was still an adventure. I'm thinking of something simpler next year and not

ruling out being a home station for the first time ever.



"Sal"

This is Sal again. I don't know where my login data went.

I dropped out as club FD Chairman. It wasn't fun any more. I was so happy when I assembled the last of the material I needed to report to ARRL.

"Sal"

On 9/10/2012 12:14 AM, wrote:


This is Sal again. I don't know where my login data went.

I dropped out as club FD Chairman. It wasn't fun any more. I was so happy when I assembled the last of the material I needed to report to ARRL.

"Sal"


A man has to know his limitations.. :| chortle...

I was up at the dirt patch a couple of weeks ago, and my 80/40 antenna
is pretty much trashed.. And the coax was pretty much gone..
It started raining, so I left before I could do more investigating..
At first I thought someone stole it.. But then I noticed random
pieces of coax laying on the ground.. I think critters, probably
squirrels, must have ate it.. I'll have to look more when I'm
back up there later..
But I know I'm going to have to redo everything, including new
coax if I want to continue to jibber jabber on the radio when I'm
there.
I plan to go back up there around the end of October.
One reason I think it was squirrels, is they had been eating off
areas of coax jacket in the past.. I'd have to wrap chewed up areas
with electrical tape to keep the water out.
I may have to coat my coax with something squirrels don't like.

On 9/10/2012 1:25 AM, NM5K wrote:

I plan to go back up there around the end of October.
One reason I think it was squirrels, is they had been eating off
areas of coax jacket in the past.. I'd have to wrap chewed up areas
with electrical tape to keep the water out.
I may have to coat my coax with something squirrels don't like.


Coat it with dead squirrels.

"NM5K" wrote in message
...
On 9/10/2012 12:14 AM, wrote:

... the coax was pretty much gone..
It started raining, so I left before I could do more investigating..
At first I thought someone stole it.. But then I noticed random
pieces of coax laying on the ground.. I think critters, probably
squirrels, must have ate it.. I'll have to look more when I'm
back up there later..
But I know I'm going to have to redo everything, including new
coax if I want to continue to jibber jabber on the radio when I'm
there.
I plan to go back up there around the end of October.
One reason I think it was squirrels, is they had been eating off
areas of coax jacket in the past.. I'd have to wrap chewed up areas
with electrical tape to keep the water out.
I may have to coat my coax with something squirrels don't like.

Depending on the distance (which might mean an unacceptable
added expense), you could run PVC. I put in a 10 ft satellite dish
in the mid 1980's, running all the cables in PVC because they
needed to be buried for appearance. (The stuff was called "direct
burial, but ... I'm a skeptic.) The point is that it was still fine after
about two decades when I decommissioned it about five years
ago in favor of digital cable. Both ends opened down to keep
moisture from dribbling in but yet letting the inside "breathe" with
temperature changes.

One caution: Just because the cable fits into the coax, you may
not be able to pull the whole length due to internal drag friction.
I had to cut my PVC and thread the cables throught the first
section, then a PVC union and then the second section. Finally,
I glued the cut ends into to the union. If you use big enough
PVC, you won't have my problem.

"Sal"
(KD6VKW)
"Vicious Killer Weasel"

On 9/12/2012 6:54 PM, Sal M. O'Nella wrote:

Depending on the distance (which might mean an unacceptable
added expense), you could run PVC.

I don't think that would work.. The coax is not running to
a building or anything. I was feeding 80/40 dipoles, with
the feed point between two oak trees, and the coax led over
to one of the trees. I'd just run it out to wherever I was
operating, usually my stone bench. I had about 100 feet of
RG-58..
When I left, I'd just roll the coax up and hang it on a tree
branch. I got about 5 years out of that setup before the
coax went kaput.
One thing I might consider is installing a box or something
to store the bulk of the rolled up coax away from critters.
They still would be able to eat on the part leading to the
antenna, but at least the bulk of it would be fairly safe.
What was weird this time was none of the rolled up coax
was hanging on the tree, and it was broke or unconnected from
the antenna, and only a few little pieces on the ground.
Some varmint might have dragged it off into the woods, but
like I say, it started raining. So I left, and will have to
look for other pieces when I go back up there.
Someone may have stolen the bulk of it..

But I expect it's all basically ruined, so I will be needing
to replace it all. Luckily I use only the thin stuff there,
so cheaper than buying the usual 213 that I use here at the
house. 213 is direct burial.. But it's too heavy for what I'm
doing up there. Too pricy to leave out also, being it's basically
thief bait hanging on the tree branch.
I haven't bought any coax in a few years, and expect sticker
shock due to the price of copper these days.
I've got lots of spare runs of RG-8, but not sure if I have
any rg-58 left or not.. Like I say, the RG-8/213 is too heavy,
even if I wanted to risk leaving it there.
I'd also have to rewire the antennas with thicker wire to support
that heavy stuff and be able to keep tension on the antenna
wires to avoid the droops.

"NM5K" wrote in message
...
On 9/12/2012 6:54 PM, Sal M. O'Nella wrote:

Depending on the distance (which might mean an unacceptable
added expense), you could run PVC.

I don't think that would work.. The coax is not running to
a building or anything. I was feeding 80/40 dipoles, with
the feed point between two oak trees, and the coax led over
to one of the trees. I'd just run it out to wherever I was
operating, usually my stone bench. I had about 100 feet of
RG-58..
When I left, I'd just roll the coax up and hang it on a tree
branch. I got about 5 years out of that setup before the
coax went kaput.
One thing I might consider is installing a box or something
to store the bulk of the rolled up coax away from critters.
They still would be able to eat on the part leading to the
antenna, but at least the bulk of it would be fairly safe.
What was weird this time was none of the rolled up coax
was hanging on the tree, and it was broke or unconnected from
the antenna, and only a few little pieces on the ground.
Some varmint might have dragged it off into the woods, but
like I say, it started raining. So I left, and will have to
look for other pieces when I go back up there.
Someone may have stolen the bulk of it..

But I expect it's all basically ruined, so I will be needing
to replace it all. Luckily I use only the thin stuff there,
so cheaper than buying the usual 213 that I use here at the
house. 213 is direct burial.. But it's too heavy for what I'm
doing up there. Too pricy to leave out also, being it's basically
thief bait hanging on the tree branch.
I haven't bought any coax in a few years, and expect sticker
shock due to the price of copper these days.
I've got lots of spare runs of RG-8, but not sure if I have
any rg-58 left or not.. Like I say, the RG-8/213 is too heavy,
even if I wanted to risk leaving it there.
I'd also have to rewire the antennas with thicker wire to support
that heavy stuff and be able to keep tension on the antenna
wires to avoid the droops.

I agree. However, you might approach "droop" in other ways.

Depending on the height at which you want to place the feed,
you could potentially add a non-conductive span of nylon line
above, supporting the weight of a heavier coax. (I have several
"quick rigs" for dipoles; one of them includes a span line with
pulleys along the line. One I get the span line up, I can begin to
haul conductors aloft with other line. Reduced element stress.)

The success of this depends on how tall the trees are and how
easy/difficult it is to get into them.

73,
"Sal"