On 4/2/21 4:10 PM, CEPitts wrote:
I would like to hear from those in regards to ideas for the following.
I know there are those who have long runs of control cabling for
rotation, switching, etc. so I seek your ideas and advice.
I have a need for a temporary set up of a run that is 300 feet from
the operating position shack/controller to the top of the tower
controlling a Ham 4 rotator. The final set up with be a run of 700
feet from tower to the operating position shack/controller
Would it be best to provide a disconnect near the connection point at
the top of the tower with a short pigtail to the Ham 4, as well as a
disconnect/splice point at the bottom of the tower, and a final run to
the shack/controller?
Based on previous discussions/ideas tossed around here within the last
2-3 weeks I would most likely take some ideas from the group in
regards to utlizing trailer type connects/disconnects and also splices
within the entire run.
A primary point/concern of my post is the length of the run on the
temporary 300 ft and to the final goal of 700 ft. What size of the
conductors/wire/cable to utilize for the effort. Some part being heavy
duty 8 conductor rotor cabling in conjuction with splices and/or runs
of UF solid wire cabling from 14 gauge to 10 gauge such as 14/3, etc.
or other such ideas on conductor size. A reasonable cost/maintenance
perspective would be ideal keeping in mind going from the 300 ft to
the 700 ft in the future and ease of said transistion. None of this
will be buried, I have that part taken care of.
*(tower/rotor)*****short pigtail/run-->>>---*****(pigtail/connect
splice)*****run to bottom of tower -->>>-->>>-----*** **(bottom of
tower/connect splice) *****--->>>---->>>---*-****temp
run*****>>---->>>>>>>---->>>>>>----->>>>>>>------>>>>>------->>>>> 300
ft expanding to 700 ft>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(later to be the permanent run)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>*** **to connect/splice
back to 8 conductor rotor cable ham 4 controller in shack.****
Besides possibly utilizing trailer type connects/disconnects I was
also considering utilizing 8-10 conductor terminal blocks for
splices/junctions etc. and I could possibly place those in weather
resistant boxes at those points where required....What is the thought
on that approach?**
Thank you for all the input/ideas and73! Ed K5OF in NC
_______________________________________________
I'm moving to an RF link (WiFi or long range serial) and just sending
raw power out. You can run pretty small wire and use a boost transformer
to overcome the voltage loss. Put your rotator controller in a
weatherproof box at the tower.
The brake draws 5A @ 24V according to the manual. You probably need 20V
or so minimum, so for 1400 ft (out and back), to keep the voltage drop
at 6V from the usual 26V transformer, the resistance has to be less than
about an ohm. AWG10 is 1 ohm/1000 ft. So you'd need what, AWG 8?
That's a pretty substantial expense.
The manual calls for AWG14 for 300 ft. You're running more than twice
that, so to keep the resistance the same, you need to go down 3 gauges
(3 gauges is twice the area/half the resistance). They call out AWG16
for most of the other wires than the common and brake. (The motor draws
2.25A)
Someone probably makes a suitable interface (Green Heron?).
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|