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Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotator

To: "'towertalk'" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotator
From: "Marc Wullaert ON4MA" <marc.wullaert3@pandora.be>
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 16:27:47 -0000
List-post: <mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Let you give me my advice about my orion rotator showing degrees off .I have
one installed 75m away from my shack.
A long run of cable turning a KT34XA.It was installed last year before CQWW
contest.It always turned ok ,no slippery mast
but always some degrees of about 30° -40°.Someone told to replace the wire
with coax but never did it.Last week
my homebrew worm/worm rotator was installed in my other tower and I got a
spare RC2800P-A BOX. The only thing
to build was the counter kit (reedswitch and magnet spinner).Al went ok but
the problem was also no correct degrees.
Now if you have the RC2800P-A or PX  you can change the gearratio explained
in the manual.The big rototor controlled
with  the old box is working now with a gearratio 3925.Yesterday I did some
testing with the orion  and moving up the gearratio to 4185 gives me now a
correct
degrees where the antenne is pointed.I'm using the RC2800PX with the orion
and if you change the gearratio you al have to do is
a callibration in menu P0.
The only thing I always had is a big qrm while turning the orion rotator on
HF bands.
Now wheater is changing that will be fixed next spring !!

Marc ON4MA



----- Original Message -----
From: "Al Williams" <alwilliams@olywa.net>
To: "'towertalk'" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2006 3:42 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotator


> It depends on what is meant by "failed".  The Orion rotator is prone to
> having the readout direction not agreeing to where the antenna is
pointing.
> This is caused by two reasons.  One is that the current driving the
rotator
> motor may cross couple to the sense leads for the readout.  The other
reason
> is that the mast may slip in the rotator/mast clamp.  When I changed from
a
> separate pair of wires for the 200' readout sense lines to an rg58 coax
that
> seemed to cure the problem when I had the Cushcraft A4S beam installed.
> When I changed the A4S to the MonstIR, the readout has become about 90
> degrees offset from the antenna position.
>
>  I don't yet know if this was due to a return of cross coupling or the
mast
> clamp slipping.  The weatherman says that the winds never got above 45mph
> during that time.  There have been a number of postings that describe that
> several antennas being turned by the Orion and it seems to be ok.
However,
> as I mentioned in a previous posting, the inertial torque of a rotating
the
> MonstIR may cause the slipping.  No one responded to that posting.
>
> Also, another local had his MonstIR slip that k7lxc installed.  k7lxc was
in
> the process of having a different mast clamp designed for the Orion.  Some
> pin the mast to the clamp but Orion voids the warranty if done and even
> promotes the slipping as a good feature in that it protects the rotator!
>
> I have been wondering if a 3 inch diameter mast would be held better by
the
> clamp.  If so a short 3 inch mast section could be pinned to the 2 inch
mast
> that must be used to go through the top collar of my crankup.  Any
comments
> from mechanical genius's?
>



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