Well, We had another good "blow" a couple of weeks ago and I found my 3 el
Steppir/40 freely windmilling. I was able to rotate the antenna with the
HamIV, but the brake no longer held for long. Luckily I found one position
(NE) that kept the antenna in place and I thought my troubles were minor.
Unfortunately, when the weather abated this week I found the bolts holding the
upper and lower castings together had all fallen out and the two castings had
separated. I now have the mast fix-clamped with angle iron/U-bolts tied to the
tower legs until I can get a replacement rotator. It was too cold for fine
work when I went up yesterday.
I rebuilt this rotator a couple of years ago - new upper casting and I used
blue Locktite on the bolts joining the two castings - torqued to 85 in/lbs per
the manual. The rotator had been up for years and I needed to replace the
direction pot; thought I would do a general overhaul while I had it apart.
a) It is hard for me to believe a 3 ele Steppir is too much for a HamIV. Have
any other Steppir owners had a similar problem? Perhaps the mass of the
steppir motors at the end of the boom is too much for the Hygain design under
really heavy wind.
b) The real question - does anyone know if a Yaesu 2800 will fit in Rohn 25?
Any ideas what is the largest/toughest rotator that will? I am getting sick
of fiddling with rotators in the winter every couple of years.
Thanks much for your input / experience.
Keith
AC9S
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