[TowerTalk] Stepir Repair

[john at kk9a.com]

I had two Yaesu G-2800DXA rotators at my Aruba station where it is almost
always windy and they held up very well. I never had a rotator failure. I
had a 2 1/2 inch diameter aluminum masts so maybe the clamp bit into it
better than yours. Still, I would check the clamp for damage and made sure
that it is reasonably tight so you do not have to rely on the shear bolt.

John KK9A


To: "towertalk at contesting.com"
Subject:	Re: [TowerTalk] Stepir Repair
From:	Kimberly Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net>
Reply-to:	Kimberly Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net>
Date:	Mon, 5 Dec 2016 17:20:05 +0000 (UTC)

That's a possibility. It's not a cover for DXing, though it *is* a pretty
good
location for it! We've had other problems that we haven't yet diagnosed.
We use
a Yeasu 2800DXA rotor. Earlier (before my name was associated with it) we
suffered a shear bolt failure, which allowed the antenna to freewheel and
destroy the cabling. The shear bolt was found to be too soft a grade, so
it was
replaced with a grade 8 bolt. Something has failed again, because it's
freewheeling once more. According to the guys that set this up 10 y ago,
everything is supposed to be over-engineered by a factor of 50%. When we
get up
there, we'll find out of the rotor has failed or if it's the shear bolt
again.
Either way, we need to solve that problem, too. It's at the top of a large
building (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Weather_Center has a
picture)
and we're not sure what sort of shock loads the winds can create on the
antennas at the top of the spire. When I've watched it on windy days, I've
never seen anything out of the ordinary.
Kim N5OP