Rotator system details

    The rotator was built from a gearbox out of an old coal stoker. It has a worm gear input and a gear ratio of 1125:1. The gearbox is belt driven by a 1/3hp reversible motor. After some testing with different sizes of pulleys I was able to get about 3/4 rpm on the output. I felt this was a good compromise between EME and tropo. I also had to weld a coupler on the output shaft to match the 1-3/4inch solid shaft mast.

  The AZ indicator is a gear driven potentiometer. I was able to find two identical gears at the local recycling center. I cut the center out of one and welded it to the mast. The other was shimmed and mounted to the 1/4 inch pot shaft.

  The pot itself was mounted inside of an empty film canister and sealed with RTV. It is held on the tower by a short inch wide piece bolted to the tower.