The Antenna Launcher Tennis Ball is just the right weight for Antenna Launching – about 4 ounces. It has a sturdy nylon coated stranded stainless steel wire to attach your launch line to. We make these from new or used tennis balls in good condition.
The Antenna Launcher 3 Launch Ball Set contains three of the Antenna Launcher pre-prepared Tennis Balls. Due to shipping costs it is best to order at least 6 launch balls at a time if not part of a launcher order.
You can prepare your own Launch Balls with the Launch Ball Safety Set which now includes the ball safety holder and a sand scoop for adding weight to the balls as well as a Loop kit for 6 balls. The holder assists by holding the ball while you work on it, and keeps your finger farther away from the sharp tools. We sell the Launch Ball Safety Set and Loop Kits on the catalog page. See the Launcher Manual for instructions.
The Antenna Launcher Zip Reel was designed and assembled by Eric WD6CMU. It included the commercially manufactured Saunders Archery Zip Reel combined with his custom machined mounting collar and aluminum brackets PLUS 150 yards of 50 pound hi-tech Spectra hi-visibility line already spooled on the reel. It was assembled and ready to go! It friction fit on the end of the PVC barrel and could easily be removed for rewinding, transporting and storing the launcher. This was the ultimate in launcher reels. It had a clever pair of ”fingers” that held the line but released it perfectly on every shot. The line fed from the side of the reel and provided minimum resistance to the ball. The circumference was about 21″. There is more info on Eric’s website: Antenna Launcher Zip Reel. Unfortunately the ZIP reel is no longer available (Saunders Archery no longer makes the reel component). Our new Mini Coaxial Reel below replaces it and has a similar feature set… If you have a broken Zip Reel Spool we make a replacement spool, check our online catalog or contact us for details.
The Pressure Safety Relief Valve that is included in the Super Kits is available separately as an add-on. This prevents accidentally exceeding the safe pressure for the launcher. It is factory set to bleed off pressure at 100 psi. This is useful if your pressure source scan exceed 100 psi – especially for electric compressors, HPA or CO2 systems. It threads into a 1/8-27 NPT threaded hole in the pressure chamber. This is already provided with our launchers except for the Basic Kit models.
The CO2/HPA Pressure Regulator includes a high quality pressure regulator with a tire fill chuck pre-installed. The removable refillable CO2 or High Pressure Air bottle is available separately. This is the fastest and most convenient way to fill Antenna Launchers in the field. The CO2 or HPA system is compact and can be carried right to the launch point, and the launcher filled immediately prior to the shot in seconds. You can see a photo of it in the Online Catalog, link below. The high quality CO2/HPA regulator is adjustable and is preset to 100 psi. It will fill the CSV19 launcher in a few seconds and has capacity for about 20 to 30 launches on the CSV19, even more for the smaller CSV17. (Note that HPA makes fewer fills per bottle by about half). CO2 is falling from favor in the paintball business and HPA is taking it’s place. The HPA bottles store air at 3000 psi (some are even higher) and have an integral regulator that brings the pressure down to 800 psi which is compatible with CO2 systems like our regulator. These HPA bottles can be filled at paintball stores or fields, your home compressor probably won’t go to 3000 psi, unless you have a very special one. These HPA compressors are related to SCUBA compressors, but without the air scrubbing filters.
These are high performance tools for launcher filling, and not inexpensive. A good old tire pump works fine as well. We particularly like the Ryobi 18 volt compressor P737, it is similar to a drill (but lighter) and very handy for launchers and bicycle tires. There’s a digital model P737D as well. Home Depot carries Ryobi.
Twine Reels, 270 feet (left) or 500 feet (right)
Small Antenna Twine Reel, loaded with 270 feet of nylon twine. These are excellent quality reels loaded with high-visibility nylon twine. This line is pulled up and over the tree with the launch line. The twine is adequate to support most wire antennas short term and can be used to pull up heavier line when required. The convenient plastic reels hold the line and facilitate both feeding the line and winding it back up. 270 feet is enough to go up and over a 130 foot tree. Antenna trees that tall are not common, so this reel is adequate for almost all uses. The extra room on the spool makes this reel easy to wind up. The best setup is to have one reel for each end of a dipole in your kit. Twine reels ship in a few days to three weeks, depending on stock.
Large Antenna Twine Reel, loaded with 500 feet of nylon twine. Same as above but longer — 500 feet — which is quite a long line. It allows for really tall trees, large spacing between the trees, and cutting some off the end now and then with no worries about running out. It is a bit harder to rewind due to the bulk. Twine reels ship in a few days to three weeks, depending on stock.
New Product – Drill Twine Reels
We designed a new battery drill compatible line of Drill Twine Reels. These reels come in two sizes, one with 275 feet of yellow twine, and a larger spool with 550 feet of yellow twine. The twine is about 140 pound test, we stage this line up with the launch line, and then use this to either support a modest wire antenna short term or to pull up heavier line for long term or heavier antenna use. These spools have a hex stud that fits the chuck of most battery drills and makes short work of retrieving your antenna lines. We like to use these with a 12 volt battery drill, they can be used with the 18 volt drills but at that power level it can be a bit dangerous. Wear gloves and watch your fingers! Don’t allow the line tension to get too high or the spool may be damaged. Wind the line onto the reel with the drill turning in the clockwise screw-driving direction so it tightens the screw in the spool. These come as the spool, hardware and a cardboard spool of twine, minor assembly required.
Hi-tech Launch Line (as shown on reel at the top of the page) is excellent for the greatest launch height. This small diameter 50 pound test high visibility yellow line is the best choice for getting the tennis ball way up there. Virtually no stretch. Teflon impregnated to slide easily over branches. 125 yard spool.
Tennis Ball Barrel (shown on all our launchers) material is just the right diameter for tennis balls. The walls are thinner than Schedule 40 so the Tennis Balls fit snugly whereas in Schedule 40 (which is too small inside) they are very tight. It is also very smooth. I special order it in the proper diameter for Tennis Balls which fits the regular 2.5 inch PVC fittings. It is cemented with the regular PVC cement. This is available in several lengths. Actual length is within approximately 1/4″. NOTE: The SDR21 material varies depending on supply conditions. Note that the CSV17 uses a 14″ barrel, and the CSV19 uses a 16″ barrel. SDR21 color is subject to change as material is procured, but these days we are generally getting only white. We use SDR21 on all our launchers, the only reason to order this is if you are building your own from scratch. It is also lighter than schedule 40 which will shave some weight off your launcher. It is still rated at 200 psi working pressure, with a large safety factor. I don’t believe a barrel has ever broken even from falls, aside from the time the user ran over his launcher in the tall grass with his tractor.
Other Parts are available in our Online Catalog, if some other launcher component or accessory not in the catalog is desired contact us directly via email. Visit the Online Catalog for details and pricing.