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[Towertalk] AR-22 Rotor Control Box Question

To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: [Towertalk] AR-22 Rotor Control Box Question
From: n4kg@juno.com (n4kg@juno.com)
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2003 12:54:28 -0600
One more note about the AR-22.
As I recall from decades ago,
it only has 4 (yes, FOUR) ball bearings
per race, held on place by a plastic ring
of some sort.  Definitely LIGHT  DUTY !

Tom  N4KG

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003 07:42:52 -0800 Steve Katz <stevek@jmr.com> writes:
> Jon,
> 
> It does sound as though the rotor is binding in one direction.  Make 
> sure
> the load above the rotor is very balanced; any amount of imbalance 
> when an
> AR-22 is used without a thrust bearing will make it practically stop 
> -- it
> doesn't have nearly the torque of a CD-45 or HAM-M type.
> 
> Also, the AR-22 servo control system does not work well if the rotor 
> is used
> for small incremental changes in direction.  Remember, these were
> inexpensive rotors (I bought several brand new in 1966-67 for 
> $39/each,
> complete with the control box) intended to turn TV antennas that 
> were not
> highly directional; it was normal to crank the rotor 45 degrees or 
> more at a
> time, to favor TV signals from another city.  It would have been 
> extremely
> rare for anyone to need to turn their TV antenna only two or three 
> "clicks"
> (12-18 degrees) at a time, as from practically nowhere are cities 
> this close
> together.
> 
> If you need to turn the rotor only 12 degrees (two "clicks" worth of
> rotation), it is best to crank it ten clicks forward, then eight 
> clicks
> back.  That accomplishes the 12 degrees of desired rotation without
> stressing the sytem beyond what it can handle.
> 
> It was very common, even with brand new AR-22's, that if you used 
> the rotor
> to make 1-2-3 "click" adjustments, after doing so the indicator 
> would be
> quite far off.  That was normal, and I don't recall any known fix 
> for this
> -- it's inherant in the design.
> 
> The AR-22 is not the greatest choice for highly directional 
> antennas, no
> matter how lightweight they may be.
> 
> WB2WIK/6
> 
> "If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast 
> enough." -
> Mario Andretti
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:       Jon Ogden [SMTP:na9d@speakeasy.net]
> > Sent:       Wednesday, January 01, 2003 4:17 PM
> > To: Randy Wing; towertalk@contesting.com
> > Subject:    Re: [Towertalk] AR-22 Rotor Control Box Question
> > 
> > on 1/1/03 4:30 PM, Randy Wing at rwing@southwind.net wrote:
> > 
> > > Jon,
> > > 
> > > I oversimplified.  What I meant to add to this was that there is 
> an
> > > adjustment on the CDE for correcting for incorrect amounts of 
> slew.
> > > 
> > 
> > No, I've not done that.  I have no instruction manual.  How do you 
> do
> > that?
> > 
> > Also, the rotor seems to turn faster in one direction (clockwise) 
> than in
> > the other (CCW).  The "clicks" come a lot slower.  Is it possible 
> that I
> > am
> > binding a little bit in one direction?
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Jon
> > 
> > -------------------------------------
> > Jon Ogden
> > NA9D (ex: KE9NA)
> > 
> > Citizen of the People's Democratic Republik of Illinois
> > 
> > Life Member: ARRL, NRA
> > Member:  AMSAT, DXCC
> > 
> > http://www.qsl.net/na9d
> > 
> > "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
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> 
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