[UK-CONTEST] rotating guy rings

[John Lemay]

Steve

I agree that the commercial (Kenpro or Yaesu) type bearings are not cheap,
and the ball races that are used are well OTT for our purposes - slow speeds
and occasional use. Mind you, I've yet to break one !

I use an aluminium sleeve on an aluminium pole, with the bearing surfaces
sleeved with ptfe. Unfortunately, to make these you need the services of
someone who can turn and weld aluminium (no, not me Hi). I've not managed to
break one of these either.

Beware suggestions of metal bearing on metal, it'll probably bind just when
you don't want it to.

Don't drill or weaken the pole in any way. I was once close to a 60ft pole
which came down in an unplanned manner. Just imagine - a windy night in your
operating tent and you just begin to get an inkling that signal levels have
fallen, when the top 10ft section of pole slices vertically through the tent
fabric, its sharp broken edge punches straight through the operating table
and it spears the ground so deep it doesn't fall over ......... Oh dear,
have I put you off /P ? (see March 1993 Radcom, front cover).

I thoroughly support your idea of putting the rotator at the bottom of the
pole. That's just where a lump of 5kg or so should be - not waving around
50ft in the air !

Sorry, not much help, good luck,

John G4ZTR

-----Original Message-----
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Steve Bunting
Sent: 14 February 2005 18:46
To: uk-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] rotating guy rings


Hi Folks,

To make my portable 50ft scaffold pole mast easier to put up, I am
looking to relocate the rotator to the base of the mast. To do this I
need to employ rotating guy rings. I know many people use commercial
rotator bearings, but  these are not cheap. Are there any suitable
homebrew alternatives that I should be considering? I was going to use
fiberglass rings similar to the ones wimo sell, but G3SEKs recent
reference to pipe fittings made me wonder what I have missed. I would be
grateful for any advice from all you seasoned portable operators.

73
Steve
M0BPQ


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