Saturday, October 4, 2014

Praxis: Spud gun antenna launcher.

You will need a spool of mono-filament fishing line to connect to the puck. Connect a hand pump to the Antenna Launcher and pump up to ~ 40 lbs (we use a hand pump that has a gauge on it). Insert the puck into the launcher with the hook first. Point the launcher at the tree and open the valve quickly. The puck should go through the tree and end towards the ground. Remove the mono- filament line from the puck and connect the line to larger rope. Pull the mono-filament line back through the tree until the rope is reached. Disconnect the mono-filament line and connect the antenna wire and raise to proper height.

8 comments:

Yenta of Sipsey Street said...

I use a Zebco 33 with a Wrist-Rocket. 10# line with a 1 oz sinker. Shoot the monofilament over the tree and pull back with colored twine. Use the twine to pull #550 paracord and there you are. I can do 85' trees with ease. Mount the Zebco and WristRocket on a large corner L.
Works great.

GaryM said...

I'm a ham and generally use a #50 re-curve bow and arrows with bludgeon tips to launch a pull line through the tree. You look foolish with your arrow and line stuck in a branch 60' up a tree. I also use the sliding attachments used on fishing arrows so the line can be in front of the bow when loosed. If you attach the line to the back of the arrow it can get tangled with the bowstring.

Anonymous said...

This might work great in an "ABSOLVED" situation where some Home-Made IED's needed to be hung in some trees. Nifty idea here for launching a pull-up string into the trees or on other tall locations.

drjim said...

Many, many ways to launch an antenna wire into a tree, and most of them are much quieter, cheaper, and sometimes easier than using a spud gun.

Anonymous said...

If you just try to set up your ham station on a hill crest, you hardly need a tree, and you can alter your TX,DX compass coordinates much easier.

Greygrandpa said...

I use a potato gun with hair spray for the propellant. and a replacement igniter from a barbecue grill for the igniter. Best is a small metal drinking glass over the end. I tried a cage made from hardware cloth and got french fries. A couple old socks over the end with the line tied to them over the hardware cloth will work. Licensed ham for over 56 years.

Anonymous said...

Somewhere in a 1945 book on war in
the Philippines* there's a passage
about how none of the shiny brand new
radios would work. The narrator** looked
around and realized that the terrain
was basically a big lump of iron. They
relocated. Better in original

* America Guerilla In the Philippines

** not the author, who was Ira Wolfert
IIRC. the narrator, Iliff Richardson
a USN ensign stranded there after Bataan

Anonymous said...

compound bow with a bow fishing reel attached .. been fine for me for years

K.I.S.S.

people can always muddy up the most simple of tasks with tacticool bullcrap