[TowerTalk] Ham Antenna Rotator: The Teardown

[Steve Bookout]

Bob,

This is what I've used for years on rotators and the slow speed section 
of prop pitch gearboxes.  ( I use Amsoil 'Arctic Grease' for the high 
speed gearing.)

73 de Steve, NR4M

On 12/3/2018 5:46 PM, Bob K6UJ wrote:
>   What grease should I use for the ball bearings ?  Anyone use synthetic grease ?
> BobK6UJ
>      On Monday, December 3, 2018, 12:39:53 PM PST, terry burge <ki7m at comcast.net> wrote:
>   
>   Concerning the hygain rotors. If you ever take one apart it can create a real mess and you can have ball bearings from here till dooms day. I use a large plastic tub of some kind about 2 1/2' square and 1' deep. Anything like this will do. Once the bearings start falling out it can be 'fun and games' getting them to stay in the races. A good amount of lithium grease or similar sticky stuff is a must. My tail twisters have some kind of plastic or (some) a metal device that is to hold the bearings in. But once they start failing out all bets are off.
>
> A weak spot of these rotors is the reastat (however it's spelled) loses electrical contact with the copper direction wiper. It can be cleaned up with cleaner and emery cloth. I think emery cloth would be better than steel wool but you need good contact with wiper and reasts for the direction meter to work. Be gentile and don't bend things much. An almost simpler method is to order a new copper wiper and reastat from HyGain/MFJ if you can understand the on line catalog. I find it kind of a pain and once ordering relays ended up with two metal plates for my remote switch. Relays they weren't. Some emails or phone calls and another order and I had replacement relays. Half my antenna ports failed so I figured it was one of two relays.
>
>
> Anyway, the big things with is that working with these rotors aren't too bad and with some precautions they can be cleaned up and made to work. Just use a tub of some kind unless you like chasing the cat around on hands and knees to get the bearings back. What a mess. And you don't want any rolling around inside the bell housings during operation. Putting the rotor back together the bell has to be aligned properly to work in the slots. If I recall the problem shows up as the motor runs but the bell does not turn or only turns part way. Kind of a funky looking setup and can take awhile to say 'Ah-Hah', that's how it works'. Of course in the mean time bearing can be failing out of the races!
>
>   With the wedge break models (larger models) the wedge slips into the gear like slots around the lower bell housing. Pretty much the whole things should be greased well with some quality product that will stand up to wet and freezing conditions. Bearings, wedge, gears, etc. There maybe some product that will work well to keep the direction indicator lubed and functioning right but I don't recall what it might be. Got to conduct the current to work the meter. Meters not indicating are a weak point and it always seem to be because of poor contact of the reastat and wiper.
>
> If you take on the challenge of opening one of these or any rotor...do it slowly noting the position of things like bell housing and their matching slots, meter/restat, wedge break, etc. And use the large tub because it seem like you always end up chasing bearings. A good parts store or bearing dealer may be able to supply replacement missing bearings if you can find one. I once added bearings to one of the lesser earlier models just because I thought the idea of more bearings in the races made a lot of sense. Not sure if it helped but I was always building bigger and bigger antennas for that Ham 2 or whatever way back when.
>
> Hope this will help someone with this doable but challenging task. And ALWAYS test the rotor thoroughly before reinstalling it on the mast or tower. An ounce of prevention....
>
> Terry
> KI7M
>
>> On December 3, 2018 at 9:14 AM Bryan Swadener via TowerTalk <towertalk at contesting.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi Ed,
>> That good info but, not ALL Hy-Gain rotators are the general "bell" style. The HDR-300 that came w/ my TX-472 tower is Hy-Gain's "red headed step child" and is completely different. With some info from Craig Henderson "The Rotor Doc" and a couple others, I've resolved MOST of their design errors.
>> vy 73,Bryan WA7PRC
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2018 07:35:06 -0800
>> From: Ed AG6CX
>> Subject: [TowerTalk] Ham Antenna Rotator: The Teardown
>>
>> Interesting article recently noted
>>
>> https://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/ham-antenna-rotator-teardown
>>
>> Ed McCann
>> AG6CX
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