| Author |
Message |
    
Ajm1571
Intermediate Member
Username: Ajm1571
Post Number: 109
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 6:39 pm: | 
|
Well I finally got my beams up yesterday. They are only 20 ft off tjhe ground an I have no rotor to turn them but i can do it by hand  . just a set of maco 103's but I have a good match all the way around so i cannot complain. Less than 1.5 on all channels . Still have the a99 up on the tower so i can switch back an forth if needed. hopefully i can make some contacts with them this week an or this sundays net
Allen CEF565 |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 7079
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 7:01 pm: |
|
Ajm1571,
GOOD DEAL! 
YOU DONT NEED A ROTOR!
Now you may laugh at this but IT WORKED GREAT AND NEVER BROKE in over 30 years.
I had a friend who used a set of Gizmotchy Beams for YEARS at 36' and NEVER BOUGHT A ROTOR for his Tower.
He cut 2-1" holes thru his wall and put 2-1" pieces of pipe thru the wall right under his window in front of his radio bench and took his kids old bike apart and cut 1 pedal off on the Main Sprocket and mounted the Main Sprocket to his bench on a 2" pipe thru the bench and then took the Rear Sprocket and sild it over his mast pipe and welded it on and used the bike chain ran thru 2 small pipes thru the wall to turn it where he wanted.
And you know he never had to worry about re-building it like I did every 3 or 4 years with my rotors. 
He just oiled the chain & sprocket on the mast pipe every now and then.
IT WORKED GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9OSN |
Road_warrior
Advanced Member
Username: Road_warrior
Post Number: 839
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 12:54 pm: |
|
Hey Lon, never heard that one before. But,
it would work and is a neat idea.
JIM/ CEF 375 |
Ajm1571
Intermediate Member
Username: Ajm1571
Post Number: 111
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 2:16 pm: |
|
TY Lon. I have heard of someone doin that ann the thought did cross my mind...lol. i'm lookin for a 10 or 20 ft tower as we speak so I can get em a little higher. They seem to work like they are but I do want em higher. the one thing I cant figure out is, is when i have my switch flipped there is NO difference in signal. My father in law lives north of me an i have my beams pointed south an he can hear me just fine when the switch is flipped on but when i flip it off it drops like it is supposed to. Cant not understand..lol.. But oh well they seem to wurk fer now .
Allen CEF565 |
Kb9umt_don_123
Member
Username: Kb9umt_don_123
Post Number: 54
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 10:12 pm: |
|
Lon,
Nice story about the rotor but those wanting to do this 'manual rotor' process....just buy a rotor! The M103 is a light weight 3 element beam and can be turned with most any rotor that would not cost much new and even less used. I like the story about the pedal rotor but I can't imagine drilling a hole in my house wall for that and all the effort to turn something outside the house a direction unknown inside the house...good story but it would be like riding your bike blind to work in the winter when your car is sitting in the driveway full of gas with a heater...buy a rotor.
de kb9umt Don/123
|
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 7359
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 10:37 pm: |
|
Kb9umt,
Sorry but it was not a story but fact.
Unknown Direction?
Bucky had NO PROBLEMS at all telling him which way his antenna was pointing.
(maybe because he was not a ham?)
I guess he thought Long and Hard as he SIMPLY marked N / W / E / S on the mast pipe that he could see through his window. 
I guess he was smarter than most other people to find a solution to this very difficult problem of telling him which way his antenna was pointing.
His chain and coax took up LESS Space going thru the wall than my 4 runs of RG-213, the Rotor Cable, and 2 runs of Mini 8 going thru a 4" piece of PVC.
And it SURE cost him a whole lot less than my rotor and rotor cable.
I have found since starting in radio back in the early 60's that some people will always try to make things hard and spend hundreds or thousands to have the best while others can always generally find a much easier and cheaper way to do things that will work just as well and last just as long or longer.
OHHHHHHHHHH and when my Rotor was Frozen up in the winter with ice and snow and would NOT TURN he would just open the window WHACK the sprocket with a piece of wood and turn his beams any way he wanted.
Lon
Tech808
CEF808
N9OSN |
Kb9umt_don_123
Member
Username: Kb9umt_don_123
Post Number: 56
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 11:13 pm: |
|
Lon,
I didn't mean 'story' as it wasn't real, and if this guy wanted extra holes in his walls that is his choice and if he wanted to get up to go look out his window to see little markings on the mast pipe that is great (if you can't see out the window then also use the piece of wood and whack the window), my point was that rotors are not all that much money but sure homebrew your rotor is FB with me...you are right...it's a great idea, I hope you will use it in your next installation. Lon, really you are right and I cracked up at reading it...neat idea....but buy a rotor.
de kb9umt Don/123
http://www.HamRadioHelp.com |
