Dipole is Down

I had an 80/40m trap dipole  up in Floyd County since 2011. It was initially about 3m high, and I moved it up to  to 10m in height in the fall of 2012. It had done very well at that height, being an extremely effective antenna on 40m, and not terribly bad on 80m, either.

Well, all good things have to come to an end. During a wind storm in the last month, a very large branch, weighing a few hundred pounds, broke off a tree and fell through the dipole.

Amazingly, all it did was unravel the ends at the insulator. The wire is unharmed. However, I will need to cast a line over the tree again in order to loft it back up. Unfortunately, this late in the spring, that becomes very difficult, since the leaves are all on the trees. It's so much easier for those leaves to tangle or snare fishing line.

I'm still working on a design for an 80/40/30/20m trap dipole. Perhaps that will go up next.

Six Knots Every Ham Should Know

In working with wire antennas, I'm thankful my parents enlisted me in the boy scouts. How else would I have learned all these useful knots? Every amateur radio operator should know how to tie these six knots:

• Bowline - an extraordinarily useful knot. Anywhere you need a knot that won't slip, won't tighten down and is very strong. I use this one everywhere -- when tying ropes off to insulators, bringing wires through insulators, tying ropes to carabeaners, etc. If you learn no other knot, learn this one.
• Square Knot - Got two hanks of rope, neither of them long enough for the job, join them with a square knot. While it won't go though pulleys, it will go over branches with a tug our two. best way to join ropes of roughly the same size.
• Sheet Bend - so, how do you tie your hauling line to the fishing line you've managed to get over that tree? Square knot doesn't work so well when one end is a lot smaller than the other. The Sheet Bend is the answer. Just remember that the larger line gets the "U" and the smaller line is the "X".
• Taut-Line Hitch - need to adjust a rope to a modest tension, but don't want to keep re-tying? The Taunt-Line Hitch is perfect. You can slide this knot considerably to adjust tension. Just don't use it for anything structural, like guy wires, since it can slip down under enough tension.
• Two Half-Hitches - Have a free end of a rope you don't want to flap around loose? Two half-hitches is the choice. I often use it to secure the free end after a Sheet Bend.
• Clove Hitch - Be careful with this one. It works well if you tie to a fixed post that can't rotate. Don't try to use it to raise a mast or left a boom -- with a smooth rope it may turn and then come loose. 

Learn these knots inside, you'll want to have them memorized for when you are ready to use them out in the field or woods. Enjoy.