At 10:09 PM 7/1/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Here's one of those really radical ideas that strikes from time to time.
>
>The biggest problem with beam slippage on the mast is you simply don't
>know which way you are pointing.
>
>What if you had a way to determine where the beam was pointed, regardless
>of how the rotator was turned?
>
>How about:
>
>a) install a flux-gate compass at the end of a beam, run the wires
>through the boom and down to the shack to an indicator.
>
>b) mount a tiny b&w camera on the tower looking "up" at the beam. Run the
>video to a screen in the shack. Calibrate the screen with points for N,
>E, S, W.
>
>Perhaps there's other methods to remotely sense the position of the beam.
>
>Once the beam no longer needs to be tightly coupled to the mast for
>positioning, maybe there's room for a fluid coupling between the rotating
>motor and the mast, which would take care of some of the torque problems.
>
>Just a brainstorm....
>
>
>
>Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@radio.org
Why not take some duct tape and strap on a GPS device on the boom. The duct
tape will stick for a year and weather coat the device to boot. Use a GPS
that has an RS232 interface and hook it to a Windows program.
Just an idea!
Lee
k0wa@southwind.net
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