[TowerTalk] homebrew rotator

[Bob K6UJ]

wow Roger,

Reminds me of the movie Crocodile Dundy.

"You call that a knife (rotator)  now here's a knife (rotator)"


Bob
K6UJ




On 6/1/16 4:11 PM, Roger (K8RI) on TT wrote:
> 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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>
>