Im a new ham setting up a tower in my backyard. Eventually, when I
can afford it, I will buy a rotor and a directional antenna. I
wanted to run the rotor cable while I have the PVC above ground, and
im not sure what kind of cable I would need. Would any 8 conducter
cable work? cat cable? telephone cable size okay? I dont want to get
something too cheap, but im running 300 ft.



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wrote:
Im a new ham setting up a tower in my backyard. Eventually, when I
can afford it, I will buy a rotor and a directional antenna. I
wanted to run the rotor cable while I have the PVC above ground, and
im not sure what kind of cable I would need. Would any 8 conducter
cable work? cat cable? telephone cable size okay? I dont want to get
something too cheap, but im running 300 ft.

For a typical Ham-IV rotator, total resistance for Terminals 1 & 2
should be 0.8 ohms
and 2.0 ohms for the other 6. Hy-Gain's manual says:

http://www.hy-gain.com/man/pdf/HAM-IV.pdf (page 4)

Maximum Gauge for Gauge for
Length Terminals 1 & 2 Terminals 3-8

300' (91 m) #14 (1.75 mm) #16 (1.42 mm)

You can mount the motor capacitor at the rotator instead of inside the
control box and eliminate the need for two #16 wires (terminals 3 and
4). In this case you could parallel two of the smaller wires with the
two larger wires for Terminals 1 & 2.

A 300' run of rotor cable is not cheap! Think $360 ($1.19/ft).

http://www.texastowers.com/rotcable.htm

73, Bill W4ZV

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:01:02 -0500, Nevermind ) wrote:
Im a new ham setting up a tower in my backyard. Eventually, when I
can afford it, I will buy a rotor and a directional antenna. I
wanted to run the rotor cable while I have the PVC above ground, and
im not sure what kind of cable I would need. Would any 8 conducter
cable work? cat cable? telephone cable size okay? I dont want to get
something too cheap, but im running 300 ft.

Hmmmm... 300 feet!
There'll be voltage drops.

Do you already know the rotator you'll be using? "Would any 8 conducter
cable work?" makes it sound so.

My current rotator use a 5-wire set-up. The one before that was a
6-wire lash-up. What I've always used is loss-leader, 100' 14 ga.
extension cords. You'll see these from time-to-time at a Real Good
price at the chain and/or Big Box hardware stores. Since I've never
needed more than about 70-80 feet, they serve me well. (And, if I cut
Just Right, I can make up some 8-10-12 foot extension cords and/or
replacement cords for power tools.) For the 5-wire configuration, I
parallel the 2 ground ("green") wires of the two cords to serve as the
common return for the motor windings and the position pot.

I don't know where you're located, but eliminating the voltage drop will
be a Big Plus when you want to swing your collectionairy at midnight on
a cold Winter's night. I used to live in Gunnison, Colorado and getting
that sucker to wave around at 20-25 below zero after the sun went down
was always dicey.

HTH
Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | jonz | W3DHJ | linux
38.24N 104.55W | @ config.com | Jonesy | OS/2
*** Killfiling google posts: http//jonz.net/ng.htm

"Nevermind" wrote in message
...
Im a new ham setting up a tower in my backyard. Eventually, when I
can afford it, I will buy a rotor and a directional antenna. I
wanted to run the rotor cable while I have the PVC above ground, and
im not sure what kind of cable I would need. Would any 8 conducter
cable work? cat cable? telephone cable size okay? I dont want to get
something too cheap, but im running 300 ft.



--
--------------------------------- --- -- -
Posted with NewsLeecher v3.7 Final
Web @ http://www.newsleecher.com/?usenet
------------------- ----- ---- -- -

You need rotor cable. The Belden 9405 has 8 wires: 2 x #16 and 6 x #18.
Sells for 94 cents a foot at AES. Probably cheaper elsewhere. You would
probably be best off with a Yaesu rotator for these reasons:

1) About 1/3 cheaper up front.

2) Uses a DC motor. These won't stall at low voltage, just run slower.

3) Require 6 wires, instead of 8. Only 5 of the 6 are actually used. What I
did was to use 8 conductor cable, and connect 2 wires in parallel for the 2
motor wires.

What you should do for any rotor installation is to first connect the
control box to the rotator on the kitchen table, or wherever, using the
actual whole piece of cable you plan to use.

Tam/WB2TT

Buy 300 feet of regular cable. The kind made for 100 foot runs. Do a
quick check on the kitchen table. Measure the voltage at the motor,
note the voltage drop in the cable.
Rig up a transformer in series with the line to the rotor such that it
kicks up the voltage. I did this successfully a while back. Yes it
takes a little effort but works perfectly. As I remember I kicked up
the 24 volts on a CDE rotor to about 30.
The other wires in the cable are used for detecting the position of
the rotor and can tolerate the long run.
The other thing you can do if you have enough scrap romex or other
copper wire is to parallel it with the rotor cable. Not necessary to
have enough to go the entire 300 feet. For example, if you have
enough of say #12 romex cable to go from the shack to the base of the
tower, use it to parrallel the rotor cable and make your measurements.
Use your head, experiment. It is just ohms law we are dealing with
here, not rocket science. Good luck.

Rick K2XT