[TowerTalk] Tailtwister rotor problem

[K7LXC@aol.com]

In a message dated 06/04/2000 8:50:03 PM Pacific Daylight Time, K3AIR@aol.com 
writes:

> My T2X stopped working, so I took down the antenna (KT34XA), removed
>  the rotor, and brought it inside for testing.  There is a loud buzzing 
noise
>  coming from the rotor itself whenever I release the brake on the control 
box.
>  The rotor does not turn.  When I let go of the brake release button, the 
>  buzzing stops.  Before I really get into this thing, anyone care to comment
>  what might be causing this?

     The buzzing is normal. It's the solenoid that releases the brake wedge. 
Along with the buzzing you should hear a loud 'clack' as the brake is 
retracted or released. If you don't hear the clack, you might have a stuck 
brake wedge. If it's an older T2X, it might have the old brake design that 
was prone to hang up (that might be your problem). Craig at Rotor Doc and 
Hy-Gain have both used an improved design for years.

      Hint: put the rotator in a box when you split the cases. If you don't 
you'll be chasing dropped ballbearings all over the place.
>  
>  Also, I'm thinking of replacing the KT34XA with a Force 12 C31XR due to
>  the KLM antenna needing a lot of "attention".  Any comments from C31XR
>  users?

        Mechanically the F12 C31 is much simpler than the XA due to 
dramatically less parts and mechanical/electrical connections. While there 
are a bunch of these mechanical/electrical connections in the XA, I don't 
know of many outright failures of the antennas (maybe outside of the plastic 
capacitor tube caps) so IMO they don't need a lot of "attention". That said, 
I would NEVER personally rebuild one. That's a job for a real masochist. (I 
suspect it takes longer to rebuild one than it does to build a new one.)

     As far as relative gain/performance, going to the C31 does have some 
benefits. All the answers are in our tribander comparison report available 
from http://www.championradio.com. Over 80 pages of protocol, data sets and 
summaries. 

Cheers,   Steve    K7LXC
Champion Radio Products

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com