I wanted to try a tarp for shade and rain protection over the door of my 177. Not knowing how well it would work, I started with a 8x10 Harbor Freight tarp ($5.99) and a 10' piece of 1/2" (measured 7/16") poly rope.
My wife sewed the rope tight on the overlapped edge and I tried it out.
I had one painters pole that expands so I got one more from Lowes. I screwed a large washer on each of them and then used rope loops in the grommets to attach the tarp to the poles.
This worked well and I could adjust the poles as needed. I expanded and smoothed out the track at the front of the trailer and could easily start the "awning" in the track.
I could start this from the ground and then to pull it the rest of the way I used one of the poles and hooked it to a loop on the tarp and finished pulling it through.
While not tight and smooth it works to provide some shade and rain protection over the door. We usually have afternoon or evening thunder storms and it worked well for that, with slack in the tarp it lets the water run right off.
It takes just minutes to put up, with the most time spent pounding in the two ground stakes. At one point my wife said a gust of wind hit the tarp good enough that she felt the trailer move. No issue with the tarp.