This is the sixth part of eight in this series. Visit the main article here.
PART 6: RAISING the MAST/ANTENNA
Note: Securing the Coax cable. I attach electrical tape every 2-3 feet down the mast. Make sure you build in a little slack when going around guy rings. You can start this process before the initial raising while you can still reach all the mast. Note: If using a top mount rotator, make sure you have allowed sufficient loose coax to accommodate the 450 degree rotator rotation cycle.
Step 1. Check antenna, connections, swivel, and that the winch strap is tied tightly with a muffler clamp (1 clamp directly on the Reinforcer). See Figure 20. Before initial raising, note that the top section is resting on the 1st (lower) Reinforcer, so it is not fully extended yet. Before the initial raising make sure the top 8′ section is compressed so that the two loose Reinforcers are butting up to the top Reinforcer. See Figure 23. This allows the top 8′ section to be compressed down to the shortest possible length thus making it easier to safely reach and unclamp the winch strap after the initial raise.
Step 2. Cranking it up. Before ‘Cranking it up’, you need to move the top standoff bracket temporarily out of the way. This is easily done. LOOSEN one 5/16″ standoff hold-down bolt from the backing plate (1×12), then REMOVE the other standoff backing plate bolt. Now you can push one side of the standoff up 90 degrees or more so it is out of the way. See Figure 22. You can re-attach the top standoff after the initial raise. Re-attach the standoff before removing the muffler clamp holding the winch strap from overhead.
With the strap tight, start the cranking process. Don’t rush it. It will go up quite easily. When vertical the strap will be taut so the mast isn’t going anywhere. Now you can just push the mast into the standoff by hand. While holding the mast, hand tighten the lower standoff. Then, from the MPL, loosely connect the top standoff, then unhook the winch strap from the Reinforcer.
Step 3. 2nd Guy Ring. If your 2nd guy ring has not passed by the top standoff after the initial raise, you may have to use the procedure to pass guy rings through the top standoff if you can’t maneuver it through by loosening the standoff’s front strap a little to give it the needed room. Read on a little for those instructions.
Your 2nd guy ring is easy to reach from the 6th MPL step just after the guy ring pases the top standoff, so connect all this level’s guy ropes at this time. Also, you can attach the loose ends of level 1’s guy ropes to their anchor points.
Return to Part 5. Other Pre-raising Preparation.
Continue to Part 7: Extending the telescopic sections