Portable activity in the west of Ireland, Connemara or Burren areas can be limited by the antenna one chooses for the operation. There are no trees to support the antenna and the use of 10 metre fibre-glass poles do not hold the antenna high enough above ground. Antennas such as an Inverted-Vee or a top loaded vertical have been tried and given good results but were very much a compromise. An antenna carried aloft by a kite would give way better results than shortened loaded verticals or antennas located close to the ground.
Kites supplied by toy shops are generally not large enough to be of use for lifting antennas also a single line kite is the only suitable kite for supporting long wires. Of all kites tested the Sled kite was the most stable in flight and flies in light breeze conditions. The Sled 24 kite has a surface area of 242 x 113 cms and has a drogue at the rear which ensures that the kite is held into the wind thereby making it very stable. The Sled 36 has an area of 323 x 150 cms and is capable of lifting even heavier loads. It would be a lot more difficult to manage in stronger winds. Special kite line is used with a specific breaking strain according to the size of the kite. Check the specifications of the kite before ordering kite line.
The next consideration was the type of antenna to be carried by the kite. Typically a resonant quarter wave would spring to mind. This antenna would need a counterpoise or a good radial system underneath to get the best efficiency. A half wave end fed antenna would not need a radial system or a counterpoise system. A length of 135.56 ft would be perfect for 3.6 MHz operation and also would be a multiple of half waves for the harmonically related bands. This antenna will show a high resistance on all bands and will therefore require an ATU to match it to the rig. This length would also be suitable as a quarter wave on Top Band. Whilst the radial system would not be perfect this length would tune well against earth and probably be more than adequate.
The antenna wire cannot be too heavy otherwise the kite will not carry it plus its line aloft under mild breeze conditions. The choice of wire was 1 x 0.75mm PVC coated multi-core copper wire. There are actually 5 strands of copper inside the PVC coating and it is about as light as one can get. There have been suggestions that electric fence wire could be used but this has very fine wire intertwined with light polypropalene “string”. This is not suitable as the fine wire can break very easily if stretched under tension. The sudden pull in a gust of wind would undoubtedly break this wire.
A length of wire is cut to 135.56 ft and insulators fixed to each end. A short length of bungee cord is tied to the insulator and then tied to the point at which the flying line is attached to the kite. It is important to note that one does not fly the kite with the antenna wire as the breaking strain may not be sufficient to cope with the load of the kite. The wire should be allowed to hang vertically from the kite towards the ground. The bottom end of the wire is connected via an anti-static box to an ATU. 
Located on the side of the box is a small wander socket where the box is connectd to earth.
The earthing sytem used in our case was a copper clad earth rod, roughly 3 feet long, driven into the bog. Radials may be connected to this if necessary. In the case of rocky terraine it is best to get as much eaarth rod into the ground and then add radials where necessary.
The antistatic box is connected to earth and its purpose is to bleed off any static electricity from the antenna to earth thus preventing it from damaging the rig or electrocuting the operator.
It should be noted that the anti-static precautions should be in place before the antenna is carried aloft as the action of grabbing the antenna could prove painful if not fatal should a large charge have built up on the antenna wire. The damage to the rig could also prove more than it is worth to be complacent about the necessity to take steps to bleed off the static charge. It should be borne in mind that there is a potential difference between the ground and the air above it. This potential difference rises exponentially with height above ground. The movement of air and even charged water droplets can produce a charge sufficient to jump across the gap of a spark plug. It has even been noted that bringing an 80 metre mobile whip from the horizontal position to vertical in rainy conditions may result in a nasty shock.
The construction of the anti-static box is shown. The resistors are large 5 watt 1 Meg Ohm which will be more than adequate at power levels up to 200 watts. Do not use wire wound resistors as the inductance may cause problems.
A bungee cord it tied to the insulator at the bottom of the antenna wire and this is tied to the ringbolt on the anti-static box. The anti-static box is secured to a dog tether which is screwed into the ground. A small length of wire is taken from the bottom end of the antenna wire and plugged into the centre of the SO239 and a connection is made from the other side of the anti-static box to the ATU. The anti-static box is connected to the earth.
Once the kite is airborne it is manoeuvred to allow the antenna wire to hang down vertically. The purpose of the bungee cord at each end is to take the shock of any sudden movement of the kite thereby preventing the antenna wire from breaking. It should be noted that the kite is flown by the kite line and not the antenna wire. At his point the kite line can be tied off to the roof rack of the car. The only thing that remains is to tune the wire to the desired frequency and operate.
The results from this antenna have been impressive with many contacts made inside and outside of Europe. Both 80 and 40 metres have yielded good contacts into the UK with the beacon on 3.757 MHz being audible during daylight hours. Top band has tuned well on the antenna although at the time of day there was little to no activity heard. This is an easy solution to the problem in an area without trees. With several kites it would be possible to launch a horizontal dipole or even loop antenna into the air. A Delta loop antenna could easily be supported by the top of the triangle and feeding it at one of the bottom corners. It should be possible to support a dipole antenna with a kite at each end and one in the centre to take the weight of the feeder.
