[TowerTalk] rotor repair

[K8RI on TowerTalk]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Thompson" <thompson at mindspring.com>
To: <TOWERTALK at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 12:32 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] rotor repair


> On any rotor repair especially if its the rotor itself call Brad at W9FX

If not familiar with the mechanics or electronics by all means call some one 
who is.

> rotor works.  He will also talk about the control box.  Bear in mind some 
> of
> the companies that sell rotors
> are not very interested in letting someone else repair their rotors.

In all these years I've not run into any of them yet. All I've talked with 
were very helpful and were quite interested in my methods as well, even when 
we were talking about "in warranty" work.

Then again I have my own shop for my own projects. I was raised on a farm 
working with the big machinery. I spent 26 years working in industrial 
instrumentation, I taught the skilled trades program from introductory 
electricity through digital logic.  I quite work, went to college, earned a 
Bachelors in CS with minors in art and Math, and was picked up on a full 
ride for my masters. I went back to work half way through the first term and 
retired seven years later. I am not imtimidated by taking something big and 
expensive apart. I've had my own computers since 1979. I now have four 
state-of-the-art on a gigabit network and over five Terabytes of storage. (I 
built the whole system)   If I have a $2,000 rotator (I do) and it's going 
to take six weeks for warranty work while I can repair it for $100 worth of 
parts in one week, I'll forget the warranty and spend the $100. Usually 
though the company is happy to send the parts, I'm out of their hair, they 
don't have to spend money on labor (which is usually more than the parts) to 
fix the thing and if I screw it up it doesn't come out of their pocket. OTOH 
they do like to hear back as to whether I had success and if I ran into any 
problems.

Mechanically, most rotators are quite simple IF they use standard parts. 
Most of the rotators used by hams use cheap, stamped gears (which can be 
hard to find) and use a wedge for a brake. Generally the most complicated 
thing in a rotator and particularly the big heavy duty rotators is the 
direction sensining unit. Some use pots which may not be quite as simple to 
align as they sound. Others use a pulse generator like the sensors in 
satellite dish positioners or similar to the frequency control knob on many 
of todays rigs.   Like anything else they are not something to be tackled by 
those who are not mechanically inclined. The same is true with electronics 
and control boxes.

OTOH the majority of work on most rotators used by hams involves the wire 
wound pot on top, a whole bunch of ball bearings (don't lose any) that are 
either "grease and clean" or just put in a new batch, or the terminal strip 
on the bottom. Unless of course they were hit by lightning. 9 times out of 
10 control problems are the big cap in the control box.

Once the rotator is out of warranty I doubt many if any care much who works 
on it.

In warranty you have to balance the time you will be without a rotator 
versus the value of the rotator. Sometimes it's to your advantage to forget 
the warranty and do it yourself.  OTOH It can be a steep learning curve and 
knowledge can be expensive.  If turn around time would be over a week I'd 
call the manufacturer about parts and whether it was something I could do my 
self.  They are usually quite happy to sent the parts if you sound like you 
know what you are doing.  Taking the PST-61 and others of that series apart 
takes a press and it takes a press to put them back together although the 
pressure required *usually* isn't much. That is where penetrating oil and 
time are your friend and haste makes waste.

Control boxes can be a simple thing or a mystery that only the company has 
the answer to.

I'm fortunate in I have the background and equipment to fix most of my 
stuff.
>
> Dave K4JRB
>

Roger Halstead (K8RI and ARRL 40 year Life Member)
N833R - World's oldest Debonair CD-2
www.rogerhalstead.com (Use return address from home page)
>
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