When putting up or adjusting an antenna, use a comealong tool, two climbing
straps, a carabiner and a tower rope as follows:.
Tie a thick tower rope to the antenna and put through pulley mounted to the
tower about 8' above where the antenna will go - antenna rope then is
dropped to the ground.
Pull out the hook of the comealong tool almost all the way and attach to the
tower about 4 - 5' above where you are mounting the antenna.
Make a "sling" out of two large climbing straps (I suggest 4' lengths), one
on each side of the antenna balance point.
Rotate the straps about 45 degrees to the ground (rather than at the top)
this will elevate the elements slightly nearest the tower and make it easier
to adjust.
Take a (locking) carabiner and put both ends of the climbing straps in it
and lock. Then hook the carabiner to the other end of the comealong.
Gradually ratchet up the comealong one click at a time until the antenna is
roughly in the place where it will be mounted.
Have the ground crew put slight tension on the antenna pull rope.
Between alternately pulling on the pull rope and working the comealong the
antenna can easily be positioned on the tower to either tower leg by only
one person. The best part is that since the antenna is in a sling, the
person on the tower can easily move the antenna laterally as well as
vertically and position on either leg..
By using the antenna pull rope as well (which is positioned OUTSIDE the
sling) the ground crew can create additional leverage on the antenna and
additional slack for lateral antenna movement.
This is especially helpful when mounting the antenna on sidemount arms which
can be 3 - 4' out from the tower.
73
Bob KQ2M
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