In a message dated 96-09-13 00:36:44 EDT, you write:
>>Well... I decided Saturday afternoon to try and lift it up a bit on the
>>tower so that I could check the SWR. I couldn't lift up one foot. The
>>"pully" on my gin pole was less than useless. Another pully I mounted on
>>the side of the tower near the top was better but I still couldn't lift the
>>antenna at all.
Bill --
Usually this situation is caused by too much friction in some part of
your haul rope system. Check that your haul line is free running and is not
dragging over a piece of tower or appurtenance. Also check that your pulley
sheaves will spin freely. Every time you put something more in your haul
line circuit, you potentially add more friction so check everthing out.
Also, if it doesn't go up smoothly, it doesn't go up. That's a sure sign of
a bind or problem in your rigging.
Instead of using your arm strength to pull the haul rope down, use a
snatch block at the bottom of the tower, or in this case below the boom of
the antenna, to change the direction of the haul rope from vertical to
horizontal. Then you can put the rope around your waist and walk backwards
to lift your load. You have more power this way, can watch the load going up
and are also out of the danger area in case something should fall. I doubt
that your 20M antenna is SO heavy that you can't lift it by yourself. An
average person should be able to lift an average antenna with a working haul
rope system. Using a comealong or other brute force method may cause damage
if the fault is in the rigging.
73 and good luck, Steve K7LXC
TOWER TECH -- professional tower supplies and services for amateurs
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