[TowerTalk] Dropping guys

[Terry Zivney]

I have done this a number of times (see the photo of previous tower loading on qrz.com
KS9K and/or N4TZ (same tower)....
 
Presently I have 5el 20 on 48' boom and 3el 40 on 48' boom on top of tower, with
three 10/15 26' boom antennas and another 48' boom 20/40 antenna on ring
rotors on the sides of the tower.  ALL were put up with the 'dropping the guys'
method.
 
You start with a pulley at the top of the  tower  (in my case, a large beefy
3" x 3" x 1/4" angle two feet long U-bolted in middle to mast with two pulleys,
one on each side of angle to pass  the pull cable from my hand winch up the
tower and back down again,  to pass over the rings without rubbing on things)
After rigging the tower, you start with the antenna at the bottom of the tower,
hooked to your pull cable; I used a pair of slings to make an inverted Vee
connecting the boom to the pull cable, balanced.  Now, with the antenna
at the bottom, crop TWO of the three guy wires at the lowest level; i.e.,
disconnect them at the  ground anchor.  Walk the  guy wires into the
tower and pass the guys behind the antenna next to the tower.  Then,
winch the beam until the beam is just above the first guy point on the
tower; stop everything and reconnect the two guy wires to their ground
anchors.  Now, drop two of the guys from the next level  the same way,
walking the  guys behind the antenna.  Again, you want the dropped
guys to lie straight down the tower so they don't get in the way of the
antenna.  Now, raise the antenna past the second level of guys on 
the tower, reconnect the guys at the ground level, and repeat as
frequently as  necessary.
 
This can all be done by one person, with everything done on the
ground except the very initial rigging and the  final connections.
 
Terry Zivney, N4TZ