[TowerTalk] homebrew rotator

[Roger (K8RI) on TT]

Here's a home built, chain drive that might turn your whole house.  He 
used it to tun the top section of a massive tower that could be seen 
from  10 to 12 miles.Top two photos on 
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/ham_files/skyhook.htm  the whole drive is 
not shown, but what is shown should give a good idea as to the size. 
Definitely not a bicycle chain!  I think he used two heavy chains.

John's station looks dated, but the photo was shot around 2001.

Industrial chain, gears and idlers can be found at on-line auctions. I 
purchase a chain and gears for a planned, but much smaller scale drive 
that has never materialized...as of yet and probably never will. The 
cost was surprisingly little.

There is "no slack" in this system so be sure to use a heavy (strong) 
spring loaded idler to protect the system and particularly the chain.
OTOH if the chain is not "tight" to allow some slack, the shock to the 
antennas, chain and motor gear reduction can be substantial.

John built that entire tower with the help of his brother-in-law and it 
was on a city lot.
IIRC John died just two years after getting the system operational.  His 
family put the tower up for sale, then on e-bay. It could be had for 
taking it down, but they eventually gave it to a power company for 
taking it down.

The cost?  In the Year 2000, you could have purchased  a new Corvette 
for just the cost of the materials..

73

Roger (K8RI)


On 6/1/2016 Wednesday 3:22 PM, Danny Pease wrote:
> I have been intrigued with putting together my own antenna mast rotation
> system and wondered if anyone has any info on using a rack and pinion gear
> type system in conjunction with a linear actuator. If the rack and pinion
> turns out to be too expensive, my second choice would be a chain drive with
> the linear actuator.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Danny NG9R
>
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-- 

73

Roger (K8RI)


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