In article ,
Sniff ma Diff! wrote:
To make things even lighter I wondered if I could use pvc conduit with
alloy tape as the elements? Either way I think ist worth a go.
In my experience, PVC conduit tends to sag if used for horizontal
elements... it needs to be supported every few feet or it will
"droop".
My problem is my rotator, it has twin core cable from its little
remote, so theres no way to determine where Im pointing.
So thats my query, anyone any ideas how I can show something
downstairs, while this is turning in the loft?
That depends a lot on just what sort of rotator it is, whether the
remote is intended to have any sort of display, etc.
Some old-style TV rotators were intended to be "self-aligning" by
means of a clutch... turn the knob all the way clockwise, wait until
the antenna stops rotating, turn the knob all the way
counter-clockwise, wait until it stops, and you now know that the
antenna is certain to be all the way at one end of its travel (e.g.
due northwards, if that's the way you originally mounted it) and you
can rotate it back to any desired direction.
If worse comes to worst you may need to add some sort of extra readout
sensors - e.g. a multi-turn potentiometer, linked to the rotating part
of the mast through a belt or idler-pulley arrangement - and run an
extra set of sensing wires down to your shack.
Best I could come up with is to use some sort of lighweight
motor/gears arrangement to work a pointer, by splitting the feed cable
in two and using one as a feed for that,perhaps that would work?
Depends if the feed cable has a separate ground (braid) or is just the
two leads.
I think we need more details on just how your rotator works (and is
wired) and how the antenna is wired up, to offer good advice.
--
Dave Platt AE6EO
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