[TowerTalk] Rotator cable length

donovanf at starpower.net donovanf at starpower.net
Fri Sep 1 19:51:57 EDT 2006


Tom,

I have only one Tailtwister currently in my station, using a 350 foot control cable.  I did several things to obtain completely reliable operation:
  - I relocated the capacitor to the tower base (you could place it next to the rotator, but I prefer to locate it where I can get easy access),
  - I use #12 wire for the brake and motor wires,
  - I added a voltage boosting transformer to the back of the control box to increase the brake voltage.

It's operated reliably for 20 years in this configuration, except for rotor rebuilds every 4 or 5 years due to the large antenna load (7 elements on 10 meters on a 48 foot boom).

I originally had four additional Tailtwisters in my station, all using the same scheme described above, with the longest cable run of nearly 600 feet.  They turned two large 5 element 20 meter Yagis, and two large 6 element 15 meter Yagis, all on 48 foot booms.  Those four Tailtwister rotators were removed from service when the original two towers were replaced with two new 150 foot rotating towers.  The original fixed towers and the four Tailtwister rotators were a whole lot more cost effective than the rotating towers!

Good luck, this same arrangement will work fine for you.

73!
Frank
W3LPL

---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 18:00:53 -0500
>From: "Tom Hellem" <tomhellem at czo.net>  
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Rotator cable length  
>To: "Towertalk submit" <towertalk at contesting.com>
>
>Hi All:
>The Hy-Gain manual specifies maximum length of 300' for Tailtwister cable using #14 conductors for the power leads. Has anyone successfully used a longer one? Can I just up the conductor size to #12, or, any better ideas? My run looks like it will be around 350 feet.
>
>Tom K0SN
>Porterfield, WI
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