Well, that sure makes sense.. use the CRANE for everything you can! Now,
there is a way to simply raise the aerial(s) up to the top and connect to
the mast after the crane has gone, IF you have the mast installed .. put a
major hook with block into the top of the mast .. (it's a twenty footer,
ain't it?) -- run the raising rope thru it, connect to the mast .. be
creative here .. I know knots, so no prob .. to the tower bottom .. thru the
snatch block (you DID put a snatch block at the bottom of the tower,
n'est-ce-pas?) and the hauling end of that, of course, goes to the beer
bruisers you have for the haul-em-up gang .. if the aerial is on the heavy
side, a truck mounted winch works swell here. NEXT .. on the aerial to be
raised first, you connect a short temporary mast to the TOP two or three
(perhaps one) boom-to-mast bracket, and tighten them securely .. next, you
position the antenna straddling the tower. You pull it up .. if guy lines
are an issue, you loosen and drop the one in the way at the time, replacing
after the load passes..... Once the antenna is at the top, you simply
LOOSELY connect the BOTTOM mast to boom clamps .. you may even need
temporaries here, instead of the "factory" .. even formed -on-the-ground
allthread will work ... judge it by the heftiness of your antenna .. you
ain't dumb, you got a ham license, and earned enuf money for this structure!
Next .. after having secured that rascal on the bottom, with its top still
atilt, you take the top connection to the temporary mast loose.. swing that
stuff aside . and then, force the boom/mast clamp to the correct position,
and install the TOP U-Bolts, washers, etc. to the real mast. Now would be
the time to replace the temporary bottom U-Bolts, if you found that
necessary. OK .. NEXT. "Swiggle" that antenna as high as you can
comfortably reach, up the mast. It is fair dinkum to use the line to the
top of the mast and the beer bruisers for this effort, just temporarily
reconnect the hoisting line to the boom. OK OK OK .. now .. do the same
for the next aerial! Since there is no "going over the top of the tower"
with the elements, there is no problem horizontally hoisting the next one.
Follow the same process. Raise THAT antenna up the mast to a comfortable
height, securing it by slightly tightening the U-Bolts. NOW .. if you have
(you lucky dog).. do the 3rd antenna, same way. etc....... USE the
antennas for stepping up and raising the higher one to the correct height,
take your time...... a "SPEED WRENCH" sure helps here....
"Swiggle" the antennas until you have them all pointed in the desired
directions, tighten all nuts, remove the hook at the top of the mast (you
did remember to pull up a pole with a hook in the end for that purpose, of
course). V O I L A !! Done deal.. but, word of caution, of course..
ALWAYS - WHEN CLIMBING, SAFETY FIRST! No JUNK belts, ropes, etc... IMHO.
Have done this .. way more than once.. with no ill effects! Congratulations
.. NOW it's "Miller Time" ... Mark .. AA6DX
To: "Dave Dunbar, N0RQ" <n0rq@swbell.net>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 8:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Towertalk] Trylon raising questions
> Dave:
>
> I agree with K7LXC - do as much with the crane as you can (tower,
mast,
> antennas, etc.) If for some reason you can't keep the crane after the
tower
> is up ($$), I'd recommend putting the mast into the top bearing and into
the
> rotator before the tower is hauled up. If you still need a gin pole to
> raise the antennas, I can offer some suggestions. (N3RR and I did this
last
> year for my 64-foot Trylon, at K7LXC's suggestion from the year before.)
>
> Once the tower, rotator and mast are in place, you can suspend the
> bottom of the ginpole from near the top of the tower with a five-foot
length
> of heavy chain. I used 1000 pound chain material (according to Home
Despot
> labeling) and a couple of steel S-hooks, found on the store shelves near
the
> chain. I draped the chain over one tower leg above the top bearing plate
> and let it hang down about two and a half feet on either side. I slipped
an
> S-hook into each end of the chain and kept the hooks in place with a wrap
or
> two or three of electrical tape.
>
> Next Bill and I hauled up the ginpole and slipped the open ends of
the
> S-hooks into the bottom of the pipe. I let the ginpole rest on the
> chain/hooks and lashed the pole to the tower at three places along the two
> and a half feet of tower leg. Then Bill threaded the haul rope through
the
> pole's pulleys and we were all set. Worked like a charm.
>
> BTW, before hauling up the 75-pound Yagi, Bill and I used the ginpole
> to haul up the 120-pound mast through the center of the tower. Just make
> sure the lashings are tight, otherwise the ginpole might slip or pivot
when
> you put weight on it. Also, our gin pole was twelve feet long; a longer
> pole may need more than a couple of feet of lashing (longer chain) to make
> it secure.
>
> GL es 73 de
> Gene Smar AD3F
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