I have never purchased a rotator before and I have one question.

You look at the specs for a given rotator, and it says that it will handle
say up to 10 square feet wind load area. You then look at the antenna
specs, and if the Wind Surface Area for it is less than 10 square feet, then
you have a match? Is this correct?

Thanks for the help.

Rod KI7CQ

"Rod Maupin" wrote in message
...
I have never purchased a rotator before and I have one question.

You look at the specs for a given rotator, and it says that it will handle
say up to 10 square feet wind load area. You then look at the antenna
specs, and if the Wind Surface Area for it is less than 10 square feet,
then
you have a match? Is this correct?

Thanks for the help.

Rod KI7CQ

That is mostly correct. The rotator sqft rateing is the maximum of the
rotator. The antenna will also have a specification of the sqft rateing.
If you have two or more antennas on teh rotator then you have to add the
sqft of each antenna and come up with less than the rotator rating. The
bigger the differance, the more safety factor you have.
It is not usually a problem but also check for the weight the rotator will
support. Also if the rotator is inside the tower it will handle a bigger
load than if it is mounted to a pipe on top of the tower.

"Rod Maupin" wrote in message
...
I have never purchased a rotator before and I have one question.

You look at the specs for a given rotator, and it says that it will handle
say up to 10 square feet wind load area. You then look at the antenna
specs, and if the Wind Surface Area for it is less than 10 square feet,
then you have a match? Is this correct?

Thanks for the help.

Rod KI7CQ


Keep in mind that the 10 sq. foot rating is for a mast with a thrust
bearing, or for an antenna installed a few inches above the rotor. Put a 10
foot mast on top of the rotor (w/o thrust bearing), and the rating becomes
something like 1 - 2 sq. ft. Check out the Yaesu rotors. At the 10 sq. ft.
level, the price is not much more than 1/2 that of the Hygain.

Tam/WB2TT

Tam,

I see what you mean. I was leaning towards the Yaesu G-450A rotator instead
of the Hy-Gain AR-40. I read a less than favorable review on that one.
However, I also read some unfavorable reviews on the Yaesu G-450A. People's
main complaint was about the buttons on the control box not being very good.

Actually, the VHF/UHF antenna I was thinking of putting up is only 1 sq.ft.,
I was just using 10 sq.ft. as an example. I did read about the thrust
bearing and agree with you on that.

Rod KI7CQ

"Rod Maupin" wrote in message
...
Tam,

I see what you mean. I was leaning towards the Yaesu G-450A rotator
instead
of the Hy-Gain AR-40. I read a less than favorable review on that one.
However, I also read some unfavorable reviews on the Yaesu G-450A.
People's
main complaint was about the buttons on the control box not being very
good.

Actually, the VHF/UHF antenna I was thinking of putting up is only 1
sq.ft.,
I was just using 10 sq.ft. as an example. I did read about the thrust
bearing and agree with you on that.

Rod KI7CQ



The probably make things with less quality now than they did about 40 years
ago. I had an 11 element 2 meter CC beam ( please no comments about that
antenna) on a AR 33 that was even less heavy duty than the ar40 was at that
time. The rotator has been turning a big TV antenna for the last 30 years.
For a small vhf antenna I would look around for a used (doubt you could find
a new) Alliance U-100. It should be about $ 150 or more less than the
ar40. I have one mounted in a tower (no thrust bearing) but the mast goes
through 2 plates about 2 feet apart and the hole in them is only about 1/2
inches bigger than the mast and it has been turning a 8 element 14 foot boom
2 meter , 22 element 440 and an 8 element 10 foot boom 220 mhz antenna for
about 10 years.

"Rod Maupin" wrote in message
...
Tam,

I see what you mean. I was leaning towards the Yaesu G-450A rotator
instead of the Hy-Gain AR-40. I read a less than favorable review on that
one. However, I also read some unfavorable reviews on the Yaesu G-450A.
People's main complaint was about the buttons on the control box not being
very good.

Actually, the VHF/UHF antenna I was thinking of putting up is only 1
sq.ft., I was just using 10 sq.ft. as an example. I did read about the
thrust bearing and agree with you on that.

Rod KI7CQ


At 1 square foot, you could save a lot of money and use a TV rotator. I have
a G&C on the UHF TV antenna. The same, or similar rotors are sold as ECG,
Radio Shack, and ChannelMaster. I think I paid $59 for it from Warren
Electronics. It does not seem to have the synchronization problem of the old
CD things that went cluck-clunk. My ham rotor is a Yaesu G1000, but it has 3
antennas on top of it, with a HyGain tribander the bottom most. I think the
AR40 started life as the CD22 TV rotator; looks like it has an updated
control box, though.

Tam/WB2TT