There are several after market mods for a setable delay on the brake =
two I can think of are form Idiom Press and the D-Lay 5 which I think
was from the KC Keyer folks... don't reinvent the wheel someone already
has written these up in QST years ago...
I installed one of the brake delay kits in one of the rotor boxes...
have not felt any great relief at having it there... yes when I am on
the air it is usually during a contest and I need my hands to type so
less touching of the control box was viewed as a plus - to tell you the
truth though I really haven't even kept track of it - think the box is
on the same antenna but I have several similar boxes so it might not be!
As far as the two different switches to rotate this in my opinion is one
of the better features... the right finger switch intuitively is
clockwise rotation and the left for ccw... looking at the pointer on the
meter you push the one you need - no stopping to check if it is set for
cw or ccw rotation - besides why the heck would you want to push both at
the same time anyhow?
Having a lot of antennas and rotators (though I cannot hold a candle to
K4XS) I can say that the designs that keep on impressing me are the ones
that do not break frequently - provided you do not have any monster long
3" boom HF yagis the CDE/HyGain/MFJ approach is jus' fine and works for
years and years...
Mechanically I couldn't push this rotor versus one with a good worm gear
drive box but until such a time as another good one comes along without
bells and whistles I will stick with the Ham series "bells"
The rotor is the most breakable thing up in the air on your tower - once
again the best rule rules - KISS: keep it simple stupid!
I would not overcomplicate a proven design - it performs well - spend
time instead working on other radio projects!
Jim, K4OJ
David Cook wrote:1
> I've inherited a CDE Ham-II rotator and after playing with the thing to
> verify that it's still operational, I have a few ideas for improving the
> operation of the control box. It's interesting to see that Hy-Gain has,
> apparently, made no changes to the controller box after all these years, so
> I'm wondering if my ideas are at all reasonable. And I'm sure that many hams
> have tinkered with these controllers over the years. So, I have a few
> questions for you folks about the whys and wherefores of the controller
> operation, and also would like to ask for pointers to sites on the Web or
> QST articles on this subject.
>
> My first question is why is the brake control a separate switch from the
> rotation controls? Reading the manual, it states that you need to disengage
> the brake, depress one of the rotations switches, let up on the rotation and
> let the inertia of the whole assemble wind down, then leggo of the brake
> switch. Why didn't they just couple the rotation switch to the brake switch
> and put a delay in the circuit so that the brake re-engagement is delayed a
> second or two after the rotation switch is released?
>
> The next question is why do they provide two switches for CW and CCW
> rotation? Not that I would ever do this, but looking at the schematic I see
> that if I were to depress both rotation switches at the same time, the motor
> would be totally stalled. Seems to me the smart thing to do would be to have
> a toggle switch to set the direction, then another switch to actually start
> the rotation.
>
> So you can see where this is leading. I can design my own replacement
> rotator controller box, but as I said, I'm sure many hams have already done
> this before, and probably thought of a lot of other ideas I haven't thought
> of yet. Thanks for any suggestions and/or pointers for more info on this.
>
> 73, Dave, WA0TTN
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
> questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
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