There are probably no two TIC General rings alike so I have no idea what you
have. I have a number of their older models, most are three+ decades old.
I have not seen the newer models but I suspect that the older ones were a
better design. In my opinion, there are certainly ways that the design could
have been greatly improved but I doubt they were ever done. My rings had
plenty of torque, for example I had no problem turning a homebrew 60 ft boom
20m OWA with an interlaced shortened 40m beam on the boom, probably a 150
pound antenna. 20 years ago I used a ring rotator connected to my mast and
I turned a 2el full sized 40m beam along with a 90+ foot 80m dipole. Other
than some mast connection slippage issues, this work well, certainly much
better than the Hy-Gain HDR-300's I had previously used. The rotating
torque is actually surprising since the motor on most of my TIC ring
rotators is just a German windshield wiper motor with a gear box consisting
of plastic gears. All of my TIC ring rotators been extremely reliable,
probably because I have a manufacturing background and I made sure
everything on the tower fit together well for smooth turning. I also
refurbished all of the motors myself trying my best to keep moisture out
which is difficult with the shaft pointing up. I especially tried to shield
the potentiometer from water ingress using a rubber washer and I was extra
careful to ensure that the plastic potentiometer gear had a tight engagement
and the bracket was secure and even reinforced. I use MOVs to protect the
motor and indicator from lightning damage.
John KK9A
Fred KG9X wrote:
The reason I'm asking is that I have been dealing with a TIC ring
that can't seem to handle this antenna in the wind. I have been in
contact with Carl at TIC for nearly a year now asking for a solution.
The motor he uses is too wimpy and the motor and direction indicator
gears keep losing contact with the ring making it go out of calibration
or give a "no motion" indication on the controller. He says he has a
solution for both issues but nothing has been sent my way. It's always
excuses that he needs a bit more time. The RR55 looks like a good
option. How responsive is ProSistel to issues and delivery?
TNX es 73,
Fred KG9X
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