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EME with the washing line – maybe?
14 April 2013 | by A few weeks ago, Julie bought a new rotary washing line. Our old one was almost 10 years old and had seen better days. At the time I eyed it up and decided it ought to be good for making into some sort of antenna, although I didn’t work out quite what – so I stored it down at the bottom of the garden.
When this month’s Practical Wireless arrived through the door, I laughed. For there in Bob G3NRT’s Antenna Workshop was the tale of how he’d turned a rotary washing line into an antenna support – and another one into an antenna.
Well, after I’d finished some of my garden work today I decided to take Bob’s lead and fashion it into a tripod. It’s nice to be able to try out antennas in the back garden without too much hassle and I’d always fancied having a tripod.
And here it is!
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EME with the washing line? Maybe not yet, but I have an idea….!!
One Response to “EME with the washing line – maybe?”
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I made a stub mast for an antenna that is ground mounted about a foot away from an existing rotary dryer that is permanently in position but it is covered with a green plastic cover which covers the stub mast from next doors eyes. I use it to erect a Snowdonia X80 vertical antenna which is just over 20 feet tall. I bought a rotary dryer spike on offer at the local Morrisons supermarket and banged it into the ground. I found a steel pipe which slides over the spike going down to ground level. A suitable 5ft length of PVC drain pipe goes over all that down to ground level and the antenna is clamped to that. It is quite sturdy and the antenna stays in position. When not in use, the antenna and PVC pipe rests on fishing rod stays pushed into the grass. But I also have a redundant rotary dryer so may well adapt as per the Practical Wireless article for experimental portable work both in my garden and elsewhere.