[Towertalk] Ameritron RCS-4 and grounding

[Bill Ralston]

>Has anyone come up with a scheme to make use of the RCS-4 and still have a
>descent grounding situation?  Since the unit passes control voltages up the
>coax from the control unit to the remote unit, I'm having a hard time
>figuring out a way to provide descent protection.

(1) Go with the RCS-8 which has a separate control cable, use a separate
protector (e.g. the Polyphaser IS-RCT rotor protector or IS-CL6P current
loop protector). This costs $$ for the new switch, if you already have the
RCS-4.

(2) Modify the RCS-4 control unit to bring the control voltage out
separately, run it through a separate protector, and then recombine on other
side of grounding panel (or just run separate control cable all the way up
to switching unit, also modified appropriately). This takes some tinkering.

(3) Use a non DC-blocked protector like the Alpha Delta ATT-3G50 or the
Cushcraft LAC-4 (because I think I've got one in the line between my RCS-4
control box and switching unit...but I'd have to go up on the roof to check
for sure...my Cushcraft catalog doesn't say).  DC-blocked protectors are
(according to Polyphaser) far superior, so this approach would compromise
some of protective capability.

Money versus design time versus performance: the usual parameters in most
design trades.  Good luck.

- Bill N7VM