I'm no Orion expert, but at least the 2300 and 2800 do not have a
directional pot. They use a reed switch and magnet on a flywheel approach
to count turns. Some ferrite beads at intervals around your control cables
might knock down a lot of that RF on your rotator cables.
73, Tyler K3MM
CQK8DO@aol.com on 05/10/97 08:40:59 AM
To: Tyler G Stewart/BENN/CEC
cc:
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion rotors
I am taking a position based on my experience at 250 feet, and looking at
the diagram for the controller... The motor leads are 60 cycle... The
directional pots are dc, and are heavily bypassed for ac... I have not
heard of any rotator, Orion included, requiring shielded leads... If
someone does have a problem, then their ground at the shack end is not a
good rf ground.. I had paroblems at my new shack the first contest season
when I tried to use a
temporary ground... Had to make it right, real fast!
In my installation the Orion (and Tic, Ham M) wire harness runs down a
tower leg which is hot with rf when we are on 160... The harness is close
enough to a half wave that the wire ends will instantly blow a hole in your
flesh if you are touching them when the 160 array is keyed... I know that
from direct experience when relocating the controllers from one bench to
another during a contest... The lights on all of the rotators on that tower
blink a bit when we are contesting on 160 with the amp running full war
emergency power, and the indicator needle on the Tic rotor wiggles with the
keying rate (I only do cw)... This is only on 160 and only on the tower
that supports the 160 elevated array... The rotors on the other towers
don't even notice we are on the air on any band... Based on this, I do not
believe that you need shielded wiring for 60 cycle pickup... and if you are
having a problem, then your ground in the shack is not at ground for rf,
and you need to do your homework and bring it up to snuff..
CHeers ... Denny
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