[TowerTalk] "K" factor gets sillier

Pete Smith n4zr@contesting.com
Fri, 21 Jul 2000 17:37:22 +0000


I just received a new Yaesu G-800SA rotator (the A denotes the six-wire
cable apparently required by CE standards).

Imagine my amusement to discover that Yaesu now defines the K factor to
mean the product of the antenna weight and turning radius, PLUS the weight
of the mast (or a share of the mast in the case of multiple antennas) times
the turning radius!

Then just to gild the lily, they recommend that you not exceed 60 percent
of the allowable K factor for a given rotator, and they caution that even
if you use a thrust bearing, you still have to count the mast weight in
your calculation!

This K factor thing gets further and further from physical reality, and
looks more and more like CYA/marketing of bigger rotators! 

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



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