Al,
If you can see your antenna from your hamshack try this:
Put your RT-21 in DBG mode (Debug, it will ignore the absence of the reed
switch pulses and provide voltage to operate the motor).
Use the manual buttons to turn the antenna either way. Be careful as the
OR2800 will ruin your coax if you turn it too far, this is just a way to test
if the reed switch or the two sensor wires are the problem.
If the OR2800 turns the antenna both ways you have a reed switch or sensor
wire problem. If there is a mechanical binding problem you will also be able
to see that.
If the OR2800 does not turn the antenna measure the voltage at the RT-21
terminals to check if the internal power supply is producing the correct
voltage. This probably isn’t your problem if the M2 controller is also giving
you an error message.
You can also connect an 18-24 volt DC power supply to the OR2800 motor wires
after disconnecting them from the RT-21. If the antenna turns swap the
polarity to test turning in the opposite direction. I’m assuming you have the
DC version of the OR2800.
If the OR2800 turns the antenna with the external power supply something is
wrong with the power supply in your RT-21 and your reed switch / sensor wires
(and probably the M2 controller as well which makes this unlikely but possible).
I will stress again to make sure you are able to see your antenna while doing
these tests, the OR2800 has a lot of torque and you don’t want to make your
problems worse if there is mechanical binding or an internal OR2800 gear
problem.
I had the reed switch fail on my OR2800 a couple of times…. I used the RT-21
in debug mode while aiming my antennas by eye for a couple of contests a few
years ago…
——-
There is also a possibility that the 250 foot wire is too long for the two
sensor wires. If you read the OR2800 manual it mentions the square wave signal
can get distorted with long runs. Try using some cheap RG-6 between your shack
and the base of the tower (just for the two sensor wires). Connect it to the
rotor cable sensor wires at the base of the tower…
This was a problem I had at my current QTH when I had a temporary hamshack 250
feet from my tower base. The RG-6 solved that problem until I moved my
hamshack closer to the tower.
This may also explain why your problem is intermittent.
Either way I hope this helps you diagnose and solve your problem…
Good Luck!
George / W7GES
Sent from my iPad
> On Dec 11, 2023, at 9:20 PM, john@kk9a.com wrote:
>
> From your post is sounds like your rotator is either stuck or does not have
> enough voltage to turn. I would not say 13 AWG wire is beefy but I do not
> know the Orion's amperage and acceptable voltage loss. You can try
> different GH ramp settings. I assume that the SteppIR is reasonably
> balanced. Do you have any MOVs in line that could be failing? I know the
> Green Heron indicator can be sensitive to leaking MOVs but it seems like you
> have a motor or friction problem. Can you crank down the tower to check for
> binding or bearing issues without tipping it over and changing everything?
> I suppose a bad rotator is also possible. Regarding the Green Heron screen
> going dark, I have never seen that. W2FU is typically extremely helpful and
> responsive but you might have press him a little more on this issue. If the
> power cord was temporarily disconnected and the screen would come back on
> when power was restored. I have had power failures during contests and the
> Green Heron controllers all came back on by themselves when power was
> restored.
>
> GL
> John KK9A
>
>
> Al N6TA wrote:
> I find myself in a bind in that my DB36 is not turning when commanded. I
> have a 5 year old GH RT21 driving a year old M2 Orion OR2800. I am using
> beefy cable due to the 250' run to the positioner. The DX-70 tower, Yagi
> and 2800 are new and installed a year ago. It has been working fine until
> the problem started.
>
>
>
> When I command the R21 to turn to a heading, I get the 'no motion error'.
> That means that the controller is looking for reed switch feedback and that
> feedback is missing so the voltage to the rotor is turned off. Since I have
> had some concern about this RT21, I decided to swap in the backup M2
> controller. I got the same basic response: Error 1.
>
>
>
> I have been able to pulse the rotator from the M2 box enough times to see
> the reed switch open and close, but each test returns the error. But it
> seems that the motor shaft is turning or the reed switch would not toggle.
> It also indicates the motor voltage is getting to the rotator and the
> feedback is getting back. After taking a break from worrying about it, the
> rotator suddenly began to respond again, and I could turn it CW and CCW
> though it is not calibrated. I used it a couple days, but it has now
> stopped responding again. I cannot rule out an intermittent in the cable,
> but it would be surprising. It is a long run, broken at the tower base with
> easy to inspect connections. The run up the tower is strain relieved at the
> top and is tied off to the tower so it cannot wag in the wind. This s very,
> very stiff rotor cable. I think it has #13 wires for the motor.
>
>
>
> I am left to assume that there is friction in the mast that is too much for
> the rotator to overcome. That could be a bad assumption and I would love
> that not to be the case. The tower is a DX-70 Tash crank up tilt over with
> a tilt plate. The DB36 is about 1.5' above the top of the tower. The 2"
> mast goes through a bearing in the tower top plate and down to a K7NV clamp
> on the OR2800. The rotor is about 7' down the tower. I think the antenna
> weight is on the rotator, not being partially hele by the bearing. I may be
> lucky that it is currently stuck such that if I crank down and tilt, the
> tilt plate will work and I should get the tower mostly horizontal and the
> Yagi boom parallel to the ground. It would get me access to the rotor in
> the tower, I hope.
>
>
>
> I will add that this same thing happened last May, 6 months into my new
> system. I did what I described above, and it suddenly started working so I
> just hooked the RT21 back up and have happy until last week, 6 months later.
> Before I am asked, the RT21 screen goes dark every week or so. Cycling the
> power switch brings it back on for another few days or couple weeks before
> it happens again. Jeff at GH thinks I have an intermitted AC issue, but I
> doubt it. I changed the AC cord and plugged it into a different socket in
> the power strip. Nothing else on the strip had showed an issue so I have
> just ignored this for now. It has been happening for months. I do not
> believe this relates to the rotor stuck issue since the M2 box does not fix
> the stick issue.
>
>
>
> So, have I committed a tower sin in the way I mounted the DB36 to the
> rotator that could cause a binding or some kind of friction that the
> motor/controller cannot overcome?
>
> Any comments welcome!
>
> Al N6TA
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|