I recently bought a tower + rotor + beams from a local ham who also had a
T2X (Hi-Gain Tail-twister). He had a TH7DX 7el HF beam, a 3 el WARC beam
(A3W Cushcraft I think) and a 2m 13 el (13B2 Cushcraft also) at the top of a
50' tower. The total was in excess of 15 sq.ft. The tower has a nice thrust
bearing (not to be confused with a sleeve bearing) above the rotor.
We are on the North West Florida Gulf coast, and we had 2 cat 3 hurricanes
go within 10 to 25 miles in 1995. The tower is a folding design, but he told
me he was not home and was unable to fold the tower for one of the
hurricanes.
I live 10 miles from him and I lost 16 trees that day, but the tower,
antennas and rotator fared very well. The antennas are rated 80 mph, and
that's about what we got that day.
I now have the same setup, except that the WARC beam has been replaced with
a 4 el 6m beam (I am planning to get a D3W, 30, 17 and 12m dipole Cuscraft
for WARC bands for the occasional DXpedition)
I took the rotator completely apart for an overhaul. It was 10 years old,
and apart from rust in the lower bearing (which was easily cleaned, I
replaced the bearings themselves, the whole set costs less than $20), the
rotator was in extremely good shape. High Gain is very accomodating with
information and spare parts, which are reasonably priced and available. I
believe the rust was due to the fact that when the tower is folded, water
tends to enter the rotor, so I would not recommend leaving the tower folded
very long in the rain, or protect the rotor with a plastic sheet wrapped
around the tower. In the normal upright position, it would be very difficult
for rain to enter the rotor.
I cannot compare to other make or models, but I can only recommend the T2X.
It is very well made and obviously holds well.
I upgraded the rotor controller with the RotorEZ microprocessor based
controller. It makes it so much more convenient that I strongly recommend
that upgrade too. The RotorEZ people will install the kit for you for a
reasonable fee if you don't have a soldering iron :-)
see the setup at http://ko4bb.freeservers.com/ham_radio/
(that was before the 6m beam was installed, and yes, the 2m boomer is
missing the last director)
73,
Didier/KO4BB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd and Sandy Sprinkmann" <sprinkies@excel.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:59 AM
Subject: [allowed] [TowerTalk] Asking for rotator recommendations
I am looking for rotator recommendations for a tower and long beams that
will be going up in the next few months. I ask for your patience, as I am a
newer ham who wants to start out doing things the right way. Also, I am not
any kind of do-it-yourselfer. Fortunately, I have the right guy to help me.
The tower is 100' of Rohn SSV. The beams will be longish ones for 50,
144, 222 and 432. I think I'm going to use C3i as my supplier. That could
be a whole other topic, (to go with M2 or C3i beams) but I believe that TT
is devoted to HF issues. I am planning on a 7 el for 50, a 19 el for 144, a
22 el for 222 and a 33 el for 432. The stated wind loads for those 4
antennas add up to 13.75 sq ft.
The commercial antenna guy who will be doing my job is talking about using
a 3" mast pipe. Didn't know that size was available, but since it sounds
very, very stout, I am all in favor of it. So I would assume that about
15-17' of that pipe will be sticking out the top of the Rohn SSV and the
VHF/UHF beams will be OK in that amount of stacking space. The tower guy
(32 years experience and a ham) assures me it'll all work out. (I tend to
ask lots of questions, hi)
So with those parameters, I ask, how heavy duty a rotor should I use?
The tower guy says that a Tailtwister will be plenty. I wonder if it will.
The antennas are going to be 100-115' up on a windy, exposed area with a 360
degree view of the horizon. I've looked at the Champion website and
apparently, I'm in a 90mph zone.
I want this antenna installation *overbuilt*. Reliability is very key
for me.
I entered "rotators" into the TT search engine. It only spit back about
700 entries. I have scanned the day-by-day archives for the past several
months. I didn't see any thorough rotator comparisons in that time. So I
am asking all of you to load me up with good info. If you had to turn 13-15
sq. ft. of VHF/UHF beams on top of a 100' tower, what would you do it with?
Thanks and 73,
Todd Sprinkmann KC9BQA EN63/ Wisconsin side
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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