Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The mast came down… but not for the reason I expected. In ~50 mph winds I was convinced something structural would fail - aluminium, couplers, shackles. No. Instead, everything survived. The real issue? Rope stretch!
It turns out poly rope can elongate far more than you think under load (22%). Once the top guy stretched far enough, the geometry flipped and the mast effectively pulled itself over. No snap, no bang - just a slow, graceful failure.
In this video I strip it back, work out what actually happened, and start the rebuild properly. We look at guy tension, stretch vs stability, and why temporary rope is useful for prototyping before moving to Dyneema.
A great reminder that in antenna building, the weak point isn’t always where you expect — and sometimes failure is the best teacher.
One final thought... The first two guys are on the steel pole. This is effectively the "ground" and well within spec for angle of guys and will of course end up being Dyneema rope (which we already have). The top guy is not supposed to be banjo-tight; consider this top alloy pole section part of the antenna, the 64 degree angle is plenty enough to hold this top section vertical.
Rebuild Part 2 coming next week. Stay tuned!
The mast came down… but not for the reason I expected. In ~50 mph winds I was convinced something structural would fail - aluminium, couplers, shackles. No. Instead, everything survived. The real issue? Rope stretch!
It turns out poly rope can elongate far more than you think under load (22%). Once the top guy stretched far enough, the geometry flipped and the mast effectively pulled itself over. No snap, no bang - just a slow, graceful failure.
In this video I strip it back, work out what actually happened, and start the rebuild properly. We look at guy tension, stretch vs stability, and why temporary rope is useful for prototyping before moving to Dyneema.
A great reminder that in antenna building, the weak point isn’t always where you expect — and sometimes failure is the best teacher.
One final thought... The first two guys are on the steel pole. This is effectively the "ground" and well within spec for angle of guys and will of course end up being Dyneema rope (which we already have). The top guy is not supposed to be banjo-tight; consider this top alloy pole section part of the antenna, the 64 degree angle is plenty enough to hold this top section vertical.
Rebuild Part 2 coming next week. Stay tuned!
