Today’s job: holes, concrete, steel, and planning for two towers!
I unpack a new 12V winch, sort out the scaffold-pole mount at 45°, and dig in proper foundations with concrete and a dead-man anchor. This winch will let me safely lower the big tower and salvage one of the alloy poles.
At the same time, I’m sketching out a second, lightweight tower project — two poles, simple guying, base rotator, and even a budget bearing solution using UHMW washers and split bearings. The aim is to show how you can build a low-cost demonstrator mast that anyone could replicate.
Along the way:
Unboxing and testing the winch (Kevlar rope + remote)
Digging, cutting, concreting, and anchoring
The “dead-man” anchor trick explained
Planning the mini-tower with simple bearings and rotator setup
Updates on the ACOM 2020S amplifier and station progress
This is a proper “hands-on” day in the field — concrete dust, angle-iron, scaffold poles, and all!
👉 Have you ever pushed up your own mini-mast on three guys? Drop your stories in the comments — I’d love to hear how you tackled it.
Enjoy your radio, see you next time. 73,
Callum, M0XXT
0:00 – Winch unboxing & first look
0:28 – Scaffold pole mount idea (45°)
1:26 – Plan to recover alloy pole & use CB/10m Yagi
2:44 – Positioning the winch & anchor point
3:21 – Call to steel stockholder (angle iron sorted)
4:00 – Thinking ahead: lightweight tower plan
6:10 – Measuring guy triangle layout
6:43 – Digging the first foundation hole
7:28 – Cutting scaffold pole & mixing concrete
8:50 – Setting the winch mount pole
10:25 – Concrete mix going in
11:00 – Load calculations & safety margin
12:00 – Dead-man anchor explanation
13:05 – Laying out tower two with guy points
14:20 – Side quest: lawn mower service (spider included!)
14:25 – ACOM 2020S update
16:22 – Using scaffold elbow for base hinge
17:14 – Cheap & cheerful mini-tower design philosophy
18:00 – Rotator bearing plan with UHMW washers
19:30 – Bargain split-shaft bearings (£9 for two)
20:06 – Second hole and concrete base for mini-mast
22:50 – Checking alignment & straightness
24:09 – Cabinet and battery mount thoughts
25:30 – Big tower plans (20m Yagi coming soon)
26:30 – Spray painting poles (yellow → black & white)
27:26 – Wrap up & call for viewer experiences