Antenna Launcher / Slingshot / Tips and Tricks

hi I'm Steve 84 XT and welcome to ham radio portable if you haven't subscribed go ahead and do that now and give it a like if you would today this video is gonna be about answering a couple of questions I've gotten recently on how I get my antenna ropes up in the trees what method do I use to deploy that well it's very simple it's cheap and it's quite the old-fashioned slingshot stick around and I'll show you some things that do how I do it and we'll go launch a few lines up in the tree okay I have laid out on the table here a lot of things I have used in the past and some things I use now but I thought I'd put them all out here on the table and get a glimpse of them and we'll go over them okay I've got my table of goodies here some of it I've used in the past and don't use anymore but somebody do so let's go over some things I don't use real quick used to throw a golf ball like this or a baseball screw you an eyelet in there and yeah that'll get you over some small trees it depends on how far you can throw and abuse the old water bottle trick about 1/3 of the water in it and tie some paracord over and swing it over but uh don't use those anymore I mainly have switched over to a slingshot saves the shoulder a little bit better this is mine I've been using it doesn't have the wrist support but that that makes a little bit smaller pick this one up today at Walmart is just the old cheap Daisy slingshot it's 695 I think it was I needed an extra band I recommend always carry one of these these are not real professional slingshots but you can have fun with them and launches a weight over a tree limb very good and I'll show you right here the weight I use the weight I use is a half ounce egg sinker just like this one I've got some colored Mason twine tied onto it to find it quickly and I can see it going through there also here's the package it doesn't actually say the weight on it it says size 1 PDS 4 couldn't find the package but there half-ounce sinkers and I went through a lot of different trial and error on what pound test line to use and for my use I finally centered on 12 pound test line and I use something that's very bright that helps a lot both of these a 12 pound test line probably for catfish or something lightweight like that and you also use a spinning reel now I know most people probably don't use the spinning reel for simplicity most of the designs I've seen they've used a spin cast reel exactly like this Zebco here and and I've made one with that before too but you're limited on how far you're going to be able to get that to shoot up in the air it generally has higher pound test line on it and lower capacity on the reel and there's more friction on the spinning round you know just if you have any fishing background you you already know that there's nothing nothing like a spinning reel to really cast as far as you possibly can with whatever weight combination you've got so I've paired the half ounce weight with a spinning reel with 12 pound test that combination seems to work I've experimented with a little heavier test and the amount of distance it takes off and may not fall through the canopy it just it's just what works for me so that's what I've kind of stuck with and I've been using it for over a year now just like that another thing I'm gonna test out today is some new courted I've just purchased I think I'm going to make the switch over to Dacron rope over paracord I've got two types of paracord here and this is 3/16 Dacron rope and already I can tell that the Dacron rope feels so much slicker and I think that'll have a big difference going over a limb or down through any canopy neither one of these ropes have been left out for any length of time but they feel very coarse over just just won't use them they're probably a year two years old but but not left outside permanently so let's take it up to the test field up here and demonstrate it okay I'm at my little test site here you got a tree picked out I've used this tree before testing antennas got a first limb that's in a nice clear area by 30 foot good spot for short little test let's give it a shot okay I've got my reel positioned aimed at the target I use a military tent stake and some wire ties to anchor it down in the ground a position the first section of this rod directly a tree or the limb and I'm positioned it behind me a slingshot is right there and my target tree is right in front of me along the first limb right there let's give it a shot open my bail one last look to make sure everything looks good and we fire it away and if you drag it right back just a little technique I've learned over the time that I can take the line and stop at night which is another good safety factor having the real behind you if you see where shots bad you can stop it real quick okay my reel is right here over the tree limb actually went over a couple of limbs I didn't mean to but that's okay and I was able to drop the weight right here probably ten probably ten steps from me so that's good I'm all in the clear ready to tie up let's see how this new Dacron rope pulls over okay I've got the camera positioned on this let's see how it does and it looks like it's bouncing great let's see if 100 foots going to be enough because it went I went way over I'm already liking this this Dacron rope that's a hundred foot okay this is where I'm winding from and my end is already over and I'm already liking this Dacron rope it just slides through the canopy the other end is right here and I went way over the limb that I wanted to go over so I probably up our 50 foot limb so it is ready to tie off on what whatever whatever you want to tie off in fit center connector of a dipole you are ready to go some final thoughts for today well I think the slingshot method is a winner with a spinning reel set it up behind you for safety keep an eye on the bell on the line before you shoot it and you can have lots of fun get your line up real high these slingshots are cheap $6.99 I believe at Walmart get you an extra band for it and I think it's a fun simple way to get your line up high in the tree and the Dacron rope today 3/16 that crine rope I am really pressed with this I think I'm switching over from the standard 550 paracord I know it's more durable long-term at your shack if you're running lots of cord but portable it's it's skinny it's it's slick and it slides through the canopy real well the lime winders I've had them two years and I've never used them worked great you can find them on eBay 3d printed looks like those work good and that's about it oh yeah I promised you a trick on the paracord winding let me show you that real quick this is what it looks like when it's wound up I mean if you've ever had paracord tangles in the field I used to start out spending more time untangling my cord than anything I grab my loop and just pull it this is 50 foot and you can pull it all of it without a tangle complete 50 foot without a tangle and the white what I do for winding let me get a little closer let me show you how I wind this paracord back up and keep it into view just take one end and just put you a any any kind of loop in there just a small or overhand loop something something like that just a loop and what you do is you take it and you put it on your pinky pinky finger there and what you're going to actually use is just your index finger and your thumb and they're going to be kind of your winding tool there so just take it and go over behind your index finger like that and then around your thumb and what you want to do is wrap in a figure eight you're not you're not wrapping around and round like this you want to stay with a figure eight figure eight I'll do it slow to get started and I've learned this I don't know something must be a Boy Scout technique or something you can take a stick and do this but I found that when I was out first deploying you know lines and ropes and string and stuff like that with ham radio I spend more time untangling my paracord then I did getting it up in the air so I come up with a better system it works for me and it'll work for 50-foot very easily on 550 paracord you can go up to 60 75 foot when you get about 4 foot of length out there you want to take it and grip it and pull it off of your thumb and finger but keep it bunched together like that get it off your little finger alright and you're going to have have it just in a bunch like that and you want to start up here where the loop is and wrap a coil and then come back over top of that first call and then from there just go down and make a nice tight wrap and when you get to the very end take it and tuck it under one of the coals and kind of cinch it tight and that makes a really tight so it in your pack is not going to come loose and when you get ready to deploy it it's always there you know the long end with the loop there's one you grab grab it and go [Applause] and that's the method I use works every time tangle-free thank you for watching 84 XT Steve for ham radio portable hope you enjoyed that like and subscribe and we'll catch you again on the next video 73 another tip I use for making those really long shots is real magic it's made for fishing reels and rods and what you do is it's like a lubricant for the line and you just take some wet your line and your guide down and that's soaks in and that won't that will allow really for a good long shot I mean you'll pick up 20 25 foot on an average shot with good lines

Channel: Ham Radio Portable

Views: 10,258

Rating: 4.9735537 out of 5

Keywords: Antenna launcher, portable antenna launcher, slingshot, ham radio, ham radio portable, ad4xt, AD4XT, field day antenna launcher, Portable ham radio, slingshot antenna launcher

Id: LkAdH9W-IO4

Length: 15min 19sec (919 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 02 2020