I have just done this. Unscrew it fold it flat, hold the base and the base of the aerial in separate hands. Lots of short pulls and dosn't require a huge amount of force. I think there is a washer type thing on the end because there is no thread on the last 5mm or sojust a flared end. Stand at the side of the car and you can get closer too it as well. Not as hard as I thought it was going to be.