Thanks for all the suggestions. I climbed up today and
looked things over. Did not see any missing teeth
on either the drive gear or the ring.
Turned the antenna back to the proper direction and
reseated the motor. Hopefully, it will hold calibration
for a while. With the weight of the antenna (250 lb+)
it was difficult to turn the ring by hand and see
how well contact was made with the drive gear
throughout the rotation. When warmer weather
arrives, if the problem persists, I'll lift the boom
off of the ring and then turn the ring by hand
and see if I can find the farthest distance between
the ring and motor gear, and seat them at that point.
The spring on the eyebolt is still ok.
I noticed that the 6 bearings that the ring rests on
are warn about 1/8" on all of my rings, even the
ones with the smaller antennas which don't
have any problems.
Terry N4TZ
________________________________________
From: Zivney, Terry
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 2:03 PM
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: TIC ring slipping
I have 3 TIC rings on my Rohn 45 tower. THey have been up for 10 or more
years, and give good service. Always turn.
But, I have had a problem from time-to-time with the one holding
the largest antenna - 48 foot boom 5 el 20m and 2 el Cushcraft 40m. The ring
(single motor) seems to turn every time. It holds its position even in the
strongest winds.
BUT, from time to time, generally during a contest, it seems to slip position.
That is, when I start the contest I turn it
SE to use for the Caribbean multipliers. Then next morning,
I turn it NE for Europe to stack with the top 20m beam.
Repeat the second day. When I go out Monday morning
after the contest, I find the antenna, instead of pointing NE,
is pointing roughly East. That is, it has moved somewhere
between 45 and 60 degrees! I can't see the antenna
tower from the shack, and of course, generally the
time I need to turn it is dark, so probably couldn't
see anything anyway.
I can leave the antenna parked there for months, and it
never moves. The antenna NEVER moves (slips) in the other
direction. The TIC ring uses a pot to keep track of direction.
Any ideas?
Terry N4TZ
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