On 8/27/2010 8:54 AM, Tim Shoppa wrote:
I've had a really nice 130-foot doublet fed by ladder line hanging
between two trees for the past three years.

It's hung using 3/16" black UV-resistant polyester rope in the trees,
and has a pulley and a 15-pound counterweight (plastic jug of sand)
for tensioning at one end.

. . .

But I went ahead and replaced all the rope anyway. With the tennis
ball cannon I actually got the new rope hung a little bit higher than
the old rope.

. . .

For many years I've used a slingshot to put up antennas on Field Day.
Even after just a day or two, they can sometimes be hard to get down,
the twine having dug its way into the tree and gotten gummed up with
sap. After those experiences, I've never been willing to put an antenna
up permanently or semi-permanently by just getting a rope over a branch
-- I've climbed and put a pulley part way up which I've had to replace
every few years as the tree grows out over it.

Of course, larger diameter rope wouldn't cut into the tree as badly as
the heavy twine I use for FD. But I'm sure it would still cut in and get
stuck after even a fairly short period of chafing under tension, and the
tree would grow over and around the rope before long. The result would
be a rope permanently stuck in the tree.

So I'm curious how this ends up working for you. My trees are nearly all
confers -- Douglas Fir, hemlock, sequoia. Are yours hardwood? Are other
folks able to get away with this?

Roy Lewallen, W7EL