I have a somewhat unorthodox approach - I'd be interested to know if anyone
else does this.
I've got a 70' crank-up. When the tower is in its fully lowered position, I
need to get to the antenna's on the mast (15'). Lowering the mast (which
requires removing the rotator) is a big hassle, so I built myself a bit of a
tool.
I took a 15' long aluminium extension ladder. I passed a steel threaded rod
through the top step tread (which is hollow). To the ends of the rod, I
bolted a 1" steel strap, which is shaped like a shallow "U". The ends of
the "U" are attached to either end of the rod. In the center of the "U" are
two high quality screw eyes, bolted on with hardened hardware, 3 inches
apart. A steel cable is permantly attached to one eye, and has a small
mountain climbing clip at the other end.
At the other end of the ladder, I bolted on steel rods just the right size
and spacing to fit into the tops of two of the legs of the tower (which are
hollow steel tube).
So the game goes like this. Lay the ladder down on the roof, with the
center of the "U" leaning on the bottom of the mast. Attach the steel cable
around the mast - this serves to hold the top of the ladder close to the
mast. Now slide the top of the ladder up the mast, until the bottom of the
ladder is high enough to slip the two rods down into the tops of the tower
legs. Now secure the ladder bottom to the tower with a chain, just in case.
I end up with my ladder standing up along the mast, the bottom end secured
by the two rods stuck into the legs of the tower, and the top secured to the
mast by the steel cable.
The win here is that the "steps" are temporary, which pleases my wife and
neighbors. Also, I just trust the ladder more than I would trust angle iron
steps. The only major problem is that I can't slide the ladder+cable past a
lower antenna to get to an upper one, which is not a problem for me because
I don't have a lower antenna :-)
I'm not recommending this - but it works for me.
***dan, N6BZA
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