Hi, Ken,
Thanks for the reply. No, there was no noticeable wind. Good point, but
unfortunatelly it is not the case. I tested the rotor in my garage and the
problem was the same.
73, Roger - PY1OL
At 22:01 4/11/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Roger, is the wind blowing when it won't work? I had this happen with a
>different brand of rotor. I had a bronze bushing instead of a thrust
>bearing at the top of the tower. When the wind blew, it put enough force
>on the mast against the bushing, that the friction kept the rotor from
>turning? Maybe it is something similar.
>73,
>Ken W7TS
>
>-------------------
>Kenneth E. Kinyon
>34 Princeton Circle
>Longmont, CO 80503-2106
>Voice: (303) 684-0037
>Fax: (303) 776-5088
>E-mail: W7TS@attbi.com
> W7TS@qsl.net
> W7TS@arrl.net
>ALPCA #8339
>ARRL-LM
>-------------------
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
>[mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Roger
>Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 21:31
>To: TowerTalk
>Subject: [Towertalk] HAM IV strange defect
>
>
>My HAM IV rotator has a strange failure.
>One night I turned on the control box and tried to turn the beam (a single
>Force 12 C-3, nothing more). It did not turn (the needle did not move and
>the antenna really did not move too). I tried to rotate to the other
>direction. No operation. I gave up. A month later, without touching
>anything, it worked again. It kept OK for, say, two months. On a given
>night it stoped working again. One week later it came back to life. Then
>after a month it stoped working again. This cycle repeated several times.
>
>When I had the chance, during a "stop", I took it from the tower.
>Before disassembling it, I connected it (in my garage) to the control box
>using a short piece of cable. It worked perfectly... I left everything
>assembled in the garage and some days later I tested it again. The rotor
>did not turn. I disassembled it, but I did not find any signs of damage.
>Even the break wedge seems to work perfectly. In resume, the rotor simply
>keeps this strange behaviour but, inside it, every piece seems brand new.
>
>Has anybody already experienced this kind of failure? Assuming that the
>cable is not the problem, may I suspect of a problem in the control box?
>What components should I investigate?
>
>Your advice will be much appreciated.
>73 de Roger, PY1OL
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