The original antenna at this location was a G5RV suspended as an inverted-V from a drop-line hung over one of the highest limbs in a 65-ft tall Walnut tree in July of 2003.

The "Walnut Tower" worked well, but having the feed-point near the tree’s foliage during the summer months seemed to drastically effect the antenna’s loading characteristics. That arrangement was later modified by suspending the dipole between the top of the Walnut and a pine tree of similar height; however, doing so resulted in the antenna feed-point sagging in the center from the weight of the G5RV’s feed-line and matching twin-lead section.

To overcome the dipole being lower in the center than at its ends, a suspension line was strung between the two trees where the sagging dipole once hung and the center feed-point insulator was secured approximately mid-point along that line; the entire system was then hoisted into wide-open spaces.  After pulling the suspension line tight and marking the coax feed-line where it touched the ground, and lowering and measuring the distance between the feed-point insulator and the mark on the coax, the exact height of the apex was known.  Nylon rope was then secured to the antenna end-point insulators, and after calculating the correct base line distance based on the now known height of the antenna feed-point, it was a simple matter of driving stakes into the ground and securing the end-point tethers to achieve a target apex angle of 105-degrees.

Having created a more-or-less perfect inverted-V, it was also noted that two lawn mowing obstacles [the stakes] were born.  As the old adage goes, "necessity is the mother of invention", so out came the slingshot and two more tree-tops became part of the final system seen in the above illustration; and the inverted-V G5RV became a text book "flat top" G5RV suspended in "free space".

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First 160-Meter Half-wave Dipole


In November of 2005, the 80-Meter G5RV was replaced with the 160-Meter half-wave dipole system shown above using the same suspension techniques as outlined earlier.

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Revised 160-Meter Half-wave Inverted-V Dipole

In March of 2008 (above), yet another configuration became necessary to accommodate removal of the 70-ft. fir tree which had served as a truss tower in conjunction with the "Walnut Tower"; the 160-Meter half-wave dipole was rotated 90-degrees and different end-point trees were selected.

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Current Fanned Dipole Arrangement

In June of 2017 (above), additional dipoles cut for 80 and 40-meters were suspended from and connected to the same feed point as the original 160-meter dipole. The antenna feed point was raised to 51-ft on October 12, 2017.

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