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I am considering getting a 100-ft antenna tower for mounting a weather station. However, the problem is how to erect it. It needs to be easily to lower in case I need to service the weather station.

I assume I can put a heavy duty hinge or roller bearing at the bottom attached to a steel plate, perhaps 6 feet x 1 foot which in turn is attached to the tower. But then I need to apply force to the plate. One obvious way is to use a cable and winch, but the cable would have to go around a pulley mounted higher than the plate attachment point, so the pulley would have to be 12 feet up or something like that.

The other option might be to use a hydraulic cylinder to push the plate up, but the right arrangement for this is not obvious to me, hence my question.

I found this video that illustrates the winch method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXskgubgrss&ab_channel=MikeGlass

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    $\begingroup$ Check out gin pole. $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 12:49
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    $\begingroup$ I'm pretty sure there are COTS towers which use telescopic mechs exactly for this $\endgroup$
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 13:23
  • $\begingroup$ Are you considering a pole supported by 4 wires or are you considering a truss-like tower? $\endgroup$
    – NMech
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 14:04
  • $\begingroup$ In the video you linked to the guys have erected a 35 foot telegraph-style pole to winch up the tower. How did they get the pole up? $\endgroup$
    – Transistor
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 14:20

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The forces to lift a 100 ft tower from horizontal are going to be enormous. So you will have to build the tower stronger, which will make the forces even larger.

For a 100 ft tower erect it once, and climb it to make repairs, or put the weather station on a deployable mechanism.

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enter image description here

Figure 1. This video shows a gin pole arrangement. Source: YouTube.

enter image description here

Figure 2. Same arrangement with pull-rope highlighted in blue and recommended guy-ropes on gin pole in yellow.

I would be very nervous that the gin pole could fall to one side and wreck the operation. For that reason I would recommend the side stays or guy ropes to ensure that the gin pole stays in line between the winch and the load.

I've never done or seen this operation but it seems to me that the ideal arrangement would be that the gin pole continuously bisects the angle between the the tower and the ground. If it starts off perpendicular to the ground then you have to arrange to pull it to the horizontal position to get the tower vertical.

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  • $\begingroup$ Would it just make the operation more challenging to have to continuously "bisect" the angle? Why are some gin poles at a fixed angle to the tower? $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 15:41
  • $\begingroup$ Found the video of this particular one in action youtu.be/0F9aShi-PsU?t=335 $\endgroup$
    – Tofandel
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 22:21
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks, @Tofandel. I actually have the link in the caption of Figure 1 already. $\endgroup$
    – Transistor
    Commented Dec 13, 2021 at 23:26

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