[TowerTalk] Re: [CQ-Contest] TIC Ring Potentiometer Failure?

["Tyler Stewart" <k3mm@comcast.net>]

Yeah, what Barry said!

I've had lightning get them as well.  You can order replacement pots from 
Mouser for about $8 last time I checked.  It's a 500 ohm 1/4" shaft 10 turn 
pot.  Also get a fist ful of 11 V MOV's or something fairly low to put 
across the  pot wires at both ends and some 50 V ones for the motor wires at 
both ends.  They also have the indicator back light lamps if you need those, 
but you might want to replace them with something a bit less expensive.

If water is getting your pots, do what you can to seal off the top of the 
motor assembly using tape and/or caulk.

Other than the indicator pots and lightning hits, my rings (old 1022's) have 
been extremely reliable.

Ty K3MM

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry " <w2up@mindspring.com>
To: "Jim Idelson" <k1ir@designet.com>; "TowerTalk Post" 
<towertalk@contesting.com>; "CQ-Contest Post" <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] TIC Ring Potentiometer Failure?


> Jim,
> Could be one of two things.  In the earlier rotors, there was a
> suspected problem of RF burns on the pot coil.  This seems to have
> been cured putting a few bypass caps on the pot.  This was added to
> their production models 3-4 years ago, if I recall correctly.
>
> Another possibility, which has also happened to me, is water getting
> into the pot and rusting it inside.  I don't recall all the details,
> but Carl at TIC made some changes to help prevent this as well.  One
> thing I did in additionis drill a few small holes in the bottom of
> the motor box, for drainage.  If water gets in, there's no way for it
> to get out.  Now there is.
>
> The only solution is replacing the pot.  There is (was?) an informal
> TIC reflector run by K4RO.  I don't know if any archives are
> available, but this problem was discussed in the past, so you may
> want to contact him.
>
> My TIC rings worked fine this weekend.  However, my T2X froze up
> pointing west (40m Yagi and top TH7) on Saturday afternoon, when I
> was ready to move from working some JAs and Pac on 15m, back to 40m
> to work EU.  So much for this contest :.(
>
> 73,
> Barry W2UP
>
>
>
> On 28 Nov 2004 Jim Idelson wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Not far into the contest this weekend, we began to have trouble with
> > the TIC 1022E [a 2003 unit]. It exhibits erratic readout and rotation
> > behavior. The load is an Optibeam 4-el 40m yagi. I recently tightened
> > the drive motor to eliminate slippage of the ring gear. I suspect
> > something has happened to the potentiometer that feeds back rotor
> > position back to the controller. A search of the towertalk archives
> > shows that there have been problems like this in the past [1996/1997].
> > I went up the tower to have a look this afternoon, but did not see
> > enything suspicious. There were no bad external wiring connections,
> > etc. I sprayed the drive shaft and what looks like the position pot
> > shaft with contact cleaner from the outside. That did nothing, but I
> > suspect I would have to disassemble the motor to get the spray into
> > the right places.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jim Idelson K1IR
> > email    k1ir at designet.com
> > web    http://www.designet.com/k1ir
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
> --
> Barry Kutner, W2UP              Internet: w2up@mindspring.com
> Newtown, PA                     Frankford Radio Club
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CQ-Contest mailing list
> CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest


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