Stan:
For what it is worth, I found a piece of 3/16" nylon covered polyester line
removed from my HF vertical after 15 years of outdoor exposure. The line was
dry and some dried mold present on the nylon jacket.
My
electronic megger indicated over 20 Giga-ohms at 2500VDC test voltage,
even at 1 inch separation along the line. Then I wetted the line with tap
water. Resistance fell to 1/2 megaohm at 500VDC test voltage over a 6 inch
span of the line.
Perhaps
if you live in the Arizona desert with low humidity most of the year, it may
not matter much. Would you rather radiate energy, or use it to dry out your
guy lines? For the few extra $, I would stick with the guy line
insulators.
Hello The Net:
For my vertical
antenna guyed in three direction at 4 levels, I am
planning to use
3/16", polyester, braided, of double braid construction.
Original guys
were of the military surplus type, part of a GRA-4 antenna
system and
part number MX-383A/GRA-4, that uses, 1 each, insulator in line.
For
replacement guys, can I remove the insulator and only use the
braided
line ?
With wet guys (after rainstorm) I measure the (~ DC)
resistance from the
vertical to ground as greater than 6 megohms, my
meters capability.
What are your thoughts ?
I can add the
insulators, but I would also need to add crimped
connectors or other
rope clamps, that would reduce the ultimate
reliability of the
guy.
The vertical is constructed of MS-44 aluminum masting sections
stacked
up to 50', (maybe 55 or 60'+ later). Final plan is to add a
capacitive
top hat with 8 each, 20' radials and a center loading coil
for use on
2200M and 630M. Probably a additional switchable base loading
coil for
2200M tuning (TBD).
Stan, W1LE Cape
Cod
FN41sr
ZZZZz
