[TowerTalk] Question on Hygain Rotor Problem

[Ed Gray W0SD <w0sd@triotel.net>]

Need information on gears in TX2 rotors/Ham IV Please!

The final spur gears Item #112 or part number 5010700 are two gears that 
fit on a bushing and they drive the "ring gear" that  is mated into the 
top bell housing that the antenna mast is clamped to.

The teeth on these two final spur gears have a very noticeable slant or 
angle, they definitely are not straight across.  However the ring gear 
teeth appear to be straight.  Definitely not the angle of the two final 
spur gears. I suspect they use two gears rather than one to permit more 
flexing but still maintain teeth meshing but would like to find out why 
from someone who really KNOWS.

My question is which way should the angle be on the spur gears?   As the 
gears lay flat should they angle UP to the left or right.  If I remember 
correctly I have them angling to the right.

I notice some "ring gears" have a little flange, maybe 1/32" on the top 
which would hold these final spur gears from going above the teeth in 
the "ring gear"  I think these are the newer ring gears.

Now for the rest of the story!

With  5 tailtwistes and 5 Ham III and IV ( six in use right now) I have 
had some dealings with them but my recent two day episode reached new 
heights of frustration.  A couple of years ago I got a used TX2.  
Rotating CW  I could not hold the TX2 but rotating CCW I could stop it, 
not easily but I could stop it. After working on it a day and tearing it 
apart and putting it together several times I could not find the problem 
and I gave up without fixing it.

I decided a couple of days ago to tackle it again after fixing another 
TX2 that had broken spur gears. I replaced them but there still was a 
problem which I found to be a piece of  a broken gear teeth in  Item 
#108 which is the gear and pinion gear as one.  It worked fine after 
that.  So a tip is to check each the gear teeth for a piece of gear 
tooth left in it covered by grease.

Next I tackled the TX2 that has a lack of power going CCW that I had 
given up on a couple of years ago..

I suspected a problem with the CCW  motor wiring or resistance in the 
wiring on the CCW side; however careful ohm meter checks showed 
everything to be fine.  My next theory was that the gear train was 
binding one way but not the other; although I had a hard time believing 
that..  I had the gears apart and could find absolutely nothing wrong 
but that is when I noticed the pitch thing. I turned them over but it 
seemed to definitely lessen the torque CW and CCW.  I suspect the pitch 
is to help keep the spur gear teeth to stay lined up in the ring  gear 
but only a guess on my part. Can anyone tell me for sure what the deal 
is and which way the pitch should be?

Anyway I turned the gears back over and installed them the way they had 
been(the problem is that two years ago when I had it apart I did not 
notice this and might have turned them over then by accident so I don't 
really know how they came from the factory)  I  have not noticed this 
before but IF it makes a difference I probably always managed to put 
them back on the way I took them off.  

I then decide to put in a different ring gear, one with the little bit 
of lip on it and low and behold I now have great torque both ways.  I 
swear after 2 days of working on this thing and taking it apart and 
putting it together at least 15 times this is the only
thing I did that gave it good torque both CW and CCW.

My theory is that the spur gears were riding up on the ring gear and 
binding a bit dragging the torque down (May of  been exaggerated by 
wear) so this small 1/32" flange prevented this.   For some reason this 
was not happening going CW with the ring gear that did not have a flange.

Can anyone shed any light on this pitch thing on the spur gears???

Thanks,

73 Ed W0SD

--
Ed Gray
43804 257 St
Salem, South Dakota 57058 USA
Home phone 605 425 2354
Cell Phone 605 421 1918
web site www.w0sd.com


_______________________________________________

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.

_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk