Why I Didn’t Buy an Antenna Tower

Why didn’t I just buy a lattice tower? It’s a question I get all the time. In this video, I explain exactly why I built my own 60ft tilt-over mast using scaffold poles instead of going down the traditional tower route. Having used lattice towers before, I know how good they can be. But there’s a side to them people don’t always talk about - transport, foundations, maintenance, cost, and what happens when things go wrong. This build solves a lot of those problems in a surprisingly simple way. This mast is fully single-handed. I can raise and lower it in minutes, it’s built from readily available materials, and if something breaks, I fix it the same day. No waiting for parts, no specialist sections, no heavy machinery required beyond the initial setup. I also walk through the basic geometry behind the system - a falling derrick design. Once you understand that, the whole thing becomes much less mysterious than it looks at first glance. Cost-wise, the entire system comes in at under £1,000 (excluding the rotator), spread over time. Everything can be transported and handled by one person, and the installation is completely reversible - important when you’re working in a field that may one day return to its original use. The final sequence shows the mast being raised - something I never get tired of watching. There’s something quite special about seeing it go up smoothly and quietly at the press of a button. If you’ve ever considered putting up a tower, or thought it was out of reach, this might give you another option. DX Commander products: https://dxcommander.com Chapters 00:00 Why not a lattice tower? 01:30 Real-world downsides of towers 03:00 Why this mast works better for me 05:30 How the falling derrick system works 07:30 Cost breakdown 09:01 Raising the mast