I Built a Winch-Powered Self-Raising Antenna Mast for My Ham Radio Field!

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) — 🎥 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