[TowerTalk] Bigboy rotors

Wed, 11 Oct 2000 22:16:28 MDT

I installed the model 61 here last month - it is in a 45G
tower with a C49XR and several other smaller antennas. It
replaced a T2X when I went to the C49XR. The 61 is their
mid-sized product.

The main initial gotcha is that the rotator is not compatible
with the stock Rohn accessory plate for 45G (I presume you're
using 45G???), and once the hole pattern is established, the
rohn accessory plate (in my case) needed to be mounted in an
unusual location (very high in one of the cross-brace segments)
which required some additional grinding on the accessory plate.
I had discussed first call (the reseller) developing a customized
accessory plate for 45G several times during the course of this
year but they never opted to do that, and the prosistel advice
on motor positioning (below) was not satisfactory option for me.

The advice from prosistel regarding 45G compatibility (turn the
motor part on it's side, 90 degrees) I opted not to do because
it seemed that would allow water into the motor (whose ventilation
cover is not watertight.) All in all it seems getting it into 45G
is an excercise in re-inventing the wheel.

The "model c" control box (the one with RS-232 controls, etc.)
was forthcoming only 8 or 9 months after order (a "model a"
box was supplied in the interim.) Plugging the model c box into
the control line resulted in "north" being way off (many degrees)
with no clear way to adjust short of physically repositioning
the mast on the tower so I have not made this a permanent change.

Also, the model c box microprocessor evidently has it's firmware
in CMOS RAM (or something like that - shades of the old ICOM
751/471/271/1271 era) - they tell you don't leave the box unused
for more than 6 months at a time or it will become useless. This
I think is really atrocious "feature" (I suspect it's related to
their attempt to secure their firmware, which seems meaningless
as it's tied directly to the hardware). In any event I would
suggest if you're interested in the model C control box to verify
this "feature" and see if that's OK with you.

When my rotator was first tested it was VERY VERY noisy - turns out
the cooling fan of the motor was hitting the housing (housing in
this area made of very very thin sheet metal). Minor bending
took care of the noise but it seemed a poor place to save a few
cents on materials.

The documentation is adequate (save for the 45G issues); the
controller (I'm using the "A" box) is very solid; the rotator itself
seems very solid and well up to the task of my particular antenna
setup.

Summary - I think the rotator and "a" box will last a long time and
be a good solution, but it was a pain to install in a 45G tower
section and the "c" box with it's magic disappearing firmware
is bad news in my opinion. First call (the distributor from whom
I purchased the rotator) was generally helpful save for failing to
handle the backorder of the "c" series control box in a timely
fashion (which as noted before was a disappointment when it finally
got here) and a wish that they'd take a more active role in 45G
integration/engineering.

73 Dave WB0GAZ wb0gaz@hotmail.com

>From: "Frank Ayers" <w2fca@qsl.net>
>To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Bigboy rotors
>Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 22:30:04 -0400
>
>
>Anybody have any experience pro or con with sales/service on the BigBoy
>rotors?
>
>
>Frank
>W2FCA
>
>
>
>
>
>--
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>

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