[TowerTalk] Green Heron Controller Performs Miracles

[john at kk9a.com]

That is quite a claim.  Either the potentiometer or the drive gear is 
slipping,  If it is the drive gear you may not have a tight enough fit with 
the motor.  The main gear is not round and setting it can be tricky.  I just 
don't see how a controller can solve this problem, even with soft starts and 
stops, heavy winds will also cause slipping.

John KK9A / P40A



To: TowerTalk Post <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Green Heron Controller Performs Miracles
From: Jim Idelson <k1ir at designet.com>
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:01:32 -0500
List-post: <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>

Yes. It is true. The Green Heron Controller does perform miracles.

For several years, I've been turning my big Optibeam OB4-40 4-element 40m 
yagi
with a TIC Ring Rotor. The rotor uses a single drive motor. With this setup,
I've continually experienced the same problems of 'slipping' and losing
calibration reported by many others. While some have been able to tame the
rotor by getting it tweaked 'just rght', I have never been able to achieve a
stable installation. We have never made it through a major DX contest here
without my having to climb the tower and reposition the antenna and 
recalibrate
the TIC Ring and controller.

About two months ago, I spoke to Carl at TIC General about this problem
[again]. Although he insisted that a single drive motor should be enough, I
insisted that I wanted to try the solution that others have found 
effective - a
second drive motor. He didn't have any motors in stock, though, so I would 
have
to wait. Well I waited and never heard from TIC. But, in the weeks leading 
up
to the ARRL DX CW COntest, I was talking to Jeff W2FU about his plans for 
the
contest. I mentioned the 40m rotor problem and he suggested that his 
controller
could very likely be a solution to the problem. He insisted that I try one 
of
my RT-20's on that rotor and see if things got better. I put a Green Heron 
in
and took the TIC controller out of the station setup.

The results have been nothing short of a miracle. The Green Heron controller
uses PWM, ramps the motor up to speed slowly, and ramps it down to a gentle
stop as it reaches its destination heading. These advanced rotor control
features have completely resolved the rotation issues I've experienced with 
my
40m installation. The rotor operated perfectly throughout the CW weekend. I 
am
convinced that I don't need to buy that second drive motor for the TIC Ring.

73,

Jim Idelson K1IR
email    k1ir at designet.com
web    http://www.k1ir.com