Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Last night, Mast #1 taught me another expensive lesson! I was checking the remote camera during some rough weather when I noticed one of the top guys flailing around in the wind. At first I thought a rope had snapped, or another shackle pin had worked loose. By the time I got up to the field, the weather had gone absolutely wild.

Turns out the culprit was a turnbuckle that had gradually undone itself under load.

This is exactly why I test things properly. You don’t learn much lowering towers every time the forecast looks a bit lively. You learn by discovering the weak points, fixing them properly, and improving the design.

In this video:

- Remote camera footage of the storm
- The moment I realised something was wrong
- Why the mast survived
- What failed
- Why the prototype 160m top section probably increased the wind loading
- What I’ll be changing next

Sometimes experience comes from books. Sometimes it comes from nearly losing a tower at night in a storm.

Enjoy the video guys.

#hamradio #amateurradio #tower #antenna #yagi #engineering #dxcommander