After weeks of planning and fabrication, I finally fitted a 12 V winch to my ham radio antenna mast — and it works beautifully.
This video shows the full process of building a self-lowering tower using a falling-derrick system. From drilling and painting the custom angle-iron bracket to wiring the remote-controlled Winchmax unit, every stage leads up to that magical moment when the 14 m mast lowers itself effortlessly.
🔹 Tower height: 14 metres
🔹 Winch: Winchmax 12 V (1200 kg)
🔹 System: Falling Derrick with shock-absorbing mooring rope
The end result? A tower that can be safely raised and lowered at the touch of a button — no sweat, no strain, just solid engineering.
Stick around for the drone footage — it’s one of the most satisfying builds I’ve ever filmed.
73,
Callum (M0MCX)
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🎥 Next video: Taming the 4-Square!
0:00 The Plan – Building a Self-Lowering Mast
0:34 Preparing the Winch Mount
2:00 Drilling & Fitting the Angle Iron
4:10 My Vintage Pillar Drill (Ajax)
6:05 Cutting & Painting the Bracket
10:22 Stainless Bolts & Final Assembly
12:00 Wiring the Winch & Remote Control
16:38 Day Two – Setting Up the Falling Derrick
18:46 Checking Guy Ropes & Safety Lines
19:48 Mooring Rope Trick for Shock Absorption
22:27 The Big Moment – First Power-Down Test
25:30 Raising the Tower Again
26:46 Drone Footage – Smooth Lowering in Action
30:13 Fixing the Rotator & Camera Mount
30:55 The Big Lift
33:37 Lessons Learned & Improvements
35:11 Tired vs. Exhausted – A Quick Reflection
36:06 What’s Next – Taming the 4-Square
#hamradio #dxcommander #antennamast #engineering #winch #hamradiotower #diyproject #radioengineering
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