I sometimes wonders if antenna rotors don't acclimatize to their
surroundings..... I am amazed at how high a temperature I have heard people
comment on that their rotor is froze up. Up here a balky rotator at the
temperature (11F) that Roger mentions would be usable only about 4 months of
year .... well maybe a stretch but some years it feels that way. And many
rotors up here do work well into the minus many degrees F range, altho that
often depends on the line length and grease used. All my normal sized
rotors (except Yaesu 400) work fine at -44F, the coldest I've seen here.
Some places see even colder temps. I worry more about cracking the jacket
on the coax at these temps, but I now have most of the coaxes fed thru the
center of the rotor and come out the bottom, so much easier on the cable.
The bigger, home brew gear box stuff uses kerosene in the gear box to dilute
the heavy gear oil they normally use. I usually take out as much of that oil
as I can and then cut it with kerosene. And no I don't put a cloth in it
and light the wick in winter.... they usually need a kick in the winter to
start which I accomplish by giving them a burst of 220 vac and the drop back
to 110 once they start. They are 4 or 500 feet away so I know there is a
lot of line loss as they try to start, this was the simplest (and cheapest)
way to allow them to start reliably at all temperatures.
73 Don
VE6JY
----- Original Message -----
From: "K8RI on Tower talk" <k8ri-tower@charter.net>
To: <TOWERTALK@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 06:05
Subject: [TowerTalk] It's still moving
> Maybe a few remember my rotator froze up last winter.
>
> The temp is currently down to 11 and the rotator is still working fine.
It
> sometimes starts a little sluggish, but is up to speed in just a few
> degrees. Last winter it wouldn't budge any where near the current
> temperature.
>
> The forecast keeps getting bumped a bit lower each time I check, but they
> are now forecasting -1 F for the low. I would be surprised if it keeps
> turning when it gets that cold.
>
> I didn't get a chance to change the gear lube to the artic version, but I
> found that exercising the rotator from stop to stop a few times a day put
> new life into it. It seems I had been using between 0 and 90 degrees for
so
> long that the thing just didn't want to go beyond that.
>
> I guess if it gets cold and stays cold I can go out in the shop and fire
up
> the old Hallicrafters HT32, SX101, and HT-33B to stay warm. OTOH I have
that
> old Henry 2K-4 and that thing throws out more heat than any amp I've ever
> run.
>
>
> Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL 40 year Life Member)
> N833R - World's oldest Debonair CD-2
> www.rogerhalstead.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.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
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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