[TowerTalk] Protecting screw contacts on rotor

[K7LXC at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/20/2006 4:20:24 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:

>  I'm getting ready to install the rotor on my tower, but  wanted to 
protect the contacts from corrosion and oxidation.  I'm  using an older 
style Ham-IV rotor, which has the screw contacts, not the  plug.    I've 
still got to clean up the housing, which shows  some oxidation, but that 
should be pretty easily done.  The screws  are rusted, and could probably 
stand to be replaced.  The rotor works  just fine on the bench, and will 
probably work just as well on the tower  (fortunately it's at the base of 
this tower and not the top), but I want  to ensure it's continued 
operation.  I don't really want to have to  work on the rotor each and 
every season.  The previous owner used a  tuna can duct-taped to the 
bottom of the rotor, but that looked sort of  "rigged" to me, and I'd 
like to avoid that, especially considering the  extent of the engineering 
that I've done on this installation.  Short  of rebuilding the rotor 
completely and replacing the screw terminal strip  with the plug, does 
anyone have a suggestion on how best to protect the  screw contacts on 
the bottom of the rotor? 
 
    The current rotators have a pigtail on them which  is a definite 
improvement. 
 
    Do not put Coaxseal on the terminal strip or RTV  or anything like that 
if you want to reuse them. It's a one-time application  and it'll be pretty 
tough to reuse it. OTOH if you attach a foot-long wire to  the TS and coat it 
with the aforementioned materials, you can then make your  own pigtail with a 
couple of 4-conductor trailer plugs. Since you don't have  to get to the TS 
again, it's a long-term option. 



         Other than that or  having one of the rotator repair guys putting 
one in for you, I'd just leave it  in the open. It may need to be replaced in 
the future but you'll need to refurb  at some point anyway. 
 
Cheers,
Steve       K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for  hams