[TowerTalk] Orion Rotor Indication Trouble

[john at kk9a.com]

I'm not sure how long your cable is, but this may not work for longer runs.

John  KK9A




To: "'TOWERTALK'" <towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotor Indication Trouble
From: "wa5zup" <wa5zup at msn.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:03:27 -0600
List-post: <towertalk at contesting.com">mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>

I agree on the urban legend.
I used a single cable on mine.  2c/#12 and 2c/#18 shielded in one cable.  It
is the same as the pigtail that comes out of the rotor (recent).  The
Wireman sells it.  It has worked with no issues.
73 John wa5zup


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
donovanf at starpower.net
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 6:49 AM
To: 'TOWERTALK'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotor Indication Trouble

Yes, it likely that the reed switch is sticking intermittently.

Its an urban legend that RG-59 is needed on the sensor lines.  All thats
needed is separate cables for the motor lines and the sensor lines.  The
inaccurate indicator problem arises when all four wires are bundled in the
same cable.

73
Frank
W3LPL



---- Original message ----
>Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:30:10 -0600
>From: "wa5zup" <wa5zup at msn.com>
>Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotor Indication Trouble
>To: "'TOWERTALK'" <towertalk at contesting.com>
>
>I suspect that you have a bad reed switch in the rotor.
>M2 sells them for $25.
>I am pretty sure you can not replace it on the tower, I might be wrong.
>Getting the rotor out and down to replace it will be the hard part.
>If you do that, I suggest testing it completely on the ground, before
>putting it back up.
>73 John wa5zup
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
>[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Harvey
>Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 9:27 PM
>To: 'TOWERTALK'
>Subject: [TowerTalk] Orion Rotor Indication Trouble
>
>After a tower rebuild this summer my Orion rotor began giving me
>intermittent direction indication readings. The unit will quit turning
>normally and will only turn in very small increments and not indicate
>direction correctly. When it does come back to life the controller must be
>reprogrammed and then it will be fine for awhile only to start the cycle
>over again. M2 recommended using shielded cable for the sensor lines so I
>used some RG59 for each lead and thought that the problem had been fixed.
>Unfortunately this past week the trouble has appeared again. In addition to
>the change to shielded cable I have also tried another control box with the
>same results. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a fix?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jim N0AV