Dyneema soft shackle as antenna insulator

[Joe Henderson]

Dear Auspicious,

You are quite right about the need for shielded cable, as a little thought on my part would have revealed!

The only example of RF burns from antennae and wires that I have come across was on my old boss, Harry Spencer's legs.

In the late sixties, Harry, as only Harry could, had been contacted by the Dutch support crew for the pirate radio ship, Radio Caroline.

Apparently their first try at staying the radio mast had failed due to a very narrow shroud angle. The radio mast was about 125 feet high and the old ship only about 25 feet wide at the base of the masts.

They had rolled the mast out of her in about two weeks of autumn North Sea weather.

Harry fitted a 50 foot spreader at about 1/3rd height and all was well after that.

Harry was inspecting the installation a few weeks later, via, Harwich, Rotterdam and a dodgy trawler used as a supply vessel.( another story! )

He went aloft after telling them to stop transmitting and, just to be sure, to turn off the very powerful radio transmitter.

Half way up he started to get burns off the shrouds which he was clinging to.

After much bad language from Harry and much mystification from the crew, who had turned off the trannsmitter, Harry realised that the burns were due to Radio London, which was another pirate radio station on an old trawler anchored about 2 miles away, transmitting. Her RF was "lighting up" the steel of Carolines mast!

It was not until Harry bred in the early eighties that he was convinced that he had not been made sterile after all!

But, I digress.

There are three things that I know I know nothing about; wriggly amps; anodic protection and radio comunications. There must be more, but nothing springs readily to mind.

Auspicious, I bow to your superior knowledge.

Regards,

Joe Henderson.