[TowerTalk] Erecting tower sections solo

[john at kk9a.com]

I have used a counterweight to install Heliax up the side of the tower and
it does work well when working solo. For tower sections and antennas, my
XYL pulls them up to me using an SUV.

John KK9A

To:	"towertalk at contesting.com" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject:	Re: [TowerTalk] Erecting tower sections solo
From:	N1BUG <paul at n1bug.com>
Date:	Wed, 2 Dec 2015 16:52:44 -0500
List-post:

I am another solo installer. Please be careful! Erecting towers and
antennas solo can be very hazardous. I don't recommend it. That said...

I have erected 100 foot 25G towers by hanging a weight almost equal to the
weight of a tower section on the rope below the gin pole. I am able to
either climb the tower with the weight hanging from my climbing harness or
pull up the weight using a rope separate from that in the gin pole. For
anything much heavier, I would probably have to use more than one weight
to make it manageable (bringing up one at a time).

While on the ground I pull the section up 10 or 20 feet and tie off the
rope -- enough so that when I climb to the top and hang my weight on the
rope below the gin pole, the tower section will reach the top just before
the weight reaches the ground. If the ratio of tower section weight to
counterweight is correct, the section is very easy to manipulate into
place.

I keep saying I'm going to build a reversible, remote controlled winch for
jobs like this, but I never seem to get around to it.

Paul N1BUG


On 12/02/2015 04:22 PM, Zivney, Terry wrote:
I seem to recall a thread a long time ago about how Bill, KM9P, put up his
towers without any assistance.  But, except for posting where he
stated he did so, I cannot find any details about how he did it.
In particular, once the tower section is hauled up with the gin pole
how is the tower section moved up and down as needed to seat it
on the existing tower?

Terry N4TZ