Words of wisdom!

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LtDoc

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An ice storm a few years ago took down all my HF antennas. Only had one, so it wasn't a huge catastrophe, just a little one for me. Also got a tree or two that I hung antennas from, that was a biggy!
I'm naturally lazy, ain't gonna work any more than I have to, so finally got an 'antenna launcher', compressed air, no explosions. Got a line up over a tall tree, already had one over a shorter tree, so pulled a dipole up. Wasn't totally happy with how high I got it by hand so tied it to the car and pulled it up the rest of the way. Uh, hu, tried for that extra 3 feet, you know? Broke the rope over the tree, got to do it all again (@#$% it!). Still not the antenna I wanted but it was close. With a miraculous tuner I could 'stretch' the thing to -work- on a lot of bands, not just one. 'Good'? Of course not, but it 'works'.
So where do them 'words of wisdom' come in? Don't get too ambitious! An extra 6 inches of height from pulling the @#$ thing another 3 feet ain't gonna make no difference at all in most cases. Why did I waste you time to read this? Beats me, maybe so you don't make the same stupid mistakes??
- 'Doc

Oh, about that antenna launcher and explosions. I don't mind loud noises at all, but my neighbors do...
 

AC2OY

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LOL Doc I laughing picturing you out there with a hand held rocket launcher and the neighbors running for cover!!...LOL I think it's a great post!!
 

teufler

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ST PETERS, MISSOURI
THE ANTENNA LAUNCHER I HAD NEARLY TOOK MY LEG. I GOT ONE OF THOSE SLING SHOT DEALS THAT YOU PULL BACK. FIRST THE GRASS WAS WET AND IN LAUNCHING, IT DIDN'T GO TOO HIGH BECAUSE THE LINE WAS WEIGHT. SO I WENT TO MONOFILAMENT FISHING LINE BUT IT TURNS OUT THE WEIGHT ON THE END OF THE LINE WAS NOT HEAVY ENOUGH TO CAUSE THE LINE TO FALL OVER THE BRANCH I WAS ABLE TO SHOOT TOO. THE SHOT OR WEIGHT ON THE LINE WEIGHED ABOUT 240 GRAINS. A STATISTIC THAT WILL HAUNT ME LATER. THE LINE IS JUST OVER THE TREE SO GENTLT I PULL IT BACK AND IT WRAPS ITSELF AROUND THE LIMB. SO I LEAN INTO IT, THE LINE DOES NOT BREAK AND THE LIMB DOES NOT BREAK. LIMB IS ABOUT 150 FEET UP. SO WITH VISE GRIPS, I GRIP THE LINE AND REALLY LEAN INTO IT. SINCE THE LINE IN CLEAR IN COLOR, I DON'T SEE THE LINE RELEASE FROM THE LIMB AND COME STRAIGHT BACK AT ME. HIT ME IN THE SHIN, THE WEIGHT WENT THROUGH THE JEANS I HAD ON AND INTO MY SHIN BONE. 240 GRAINS CAME BACK, AFTER THE LINE WAS STRETCHED, THE WEIGHT CAME BACK ABOUT 500 FEET PER SECOND, OR ABOUT WHAT TARGET LOADS DO WITH A 45, SINCE THE WEIGHT WAS ABOUT WHAT A 45 SLUG WEIGHS. THE 240 GRAINS HAD COME BACK TO HAUNT ME. WELL MY ANTENNA ERECTING WAS DONE FOR THE DAY. HAD A HOLE IN MY SHIN, A HOLE IN MY JEANS AND HAD A SHORT DRIVE TO THE HOSPITAL BEFORE I HAD TO EXPLAIN, HOW i GOT A FISHING WEIGHT IN MY LEG. THE HOSPITAL STAFF HAD A GOOD LAUGH.
 
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