On Fri, 29 Nov 2002 16:20:28 -0700 "Steve/n0tu" <n0tu@codenet.net>
writes:
> I think Ham IV brake is munched?
>
> Recently notice the wind was drifting my kt34 out of sync w/rotor
> control
> box. So I reset/twisted the beam on the mast and really cinched the
> mast to
> boom clamps this time. All seemed good and secure!
It's hard to tell for sure but I agree with KK9A's assessment
that if the antenna and indicator are out of sync, there's
more than just a brake problem. Here's what may have happened:
The four self-tapping screws that hold the two halves of the
rotator together may have sheared off or fallen out. These
are steel self-tapping screws, tapped into aluminum. They are a
weak link in the Ham-IV.
When the four screws fail, the bottom half of the housing falls
off and just sits on the rotor shelf. If you look up with
binoculars, you can see the antenna and top half of the rotor
spinning in the breeze, and the bottom housing just sitting
motionless. The top half of the rotator usually cocks slightly,
allowing the ears inside the upper housing to disengage from the
feedback pot, making the indicator meaningless. The bottom half of
the housing has the splines for the brake, so the brake doesn't
work either.
There are other explanations, but the above scenario has happened to
me twice, so I switched to T2X's, which have real nuts and bolts
holding the two halves together.
Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ
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