[TowerTalk] 'falling derrick' tower erection

[Jim Jarvis]

Gerry Mathis, W3GM, used a slightly more formal version of 
this system with multiple 100' rohn 25 towers at his station.
The towers were guyed 4 way instead of 3, and the "back" guyset
was attached to a horizontal run of 25G which was 3 or 4 sections
long.  

He fabricated a mating, hinged section for the tower base, such
that the main tower and the derrick tower were tied together and
the assembly tilted over.  

A dead man and winch was installed at the point where the derrick
tower came to ground.  Gerry drove this winch with a 1/2" electric
drill.  It took him about a half hour to raise or lower the tower,
given the gearing, but it was amazing to watch a guy almost 80 years
old singlehandedly repair his 40m beam by laying it over.  

There is a published design to keep the beams horizontal during layover, 
by the way.  

At least two members of the Frankford Radio Club use Gerry's scheme
on their 100' towers today.  

N2EA
jimjarvis at ieee.org