Fwd: RE: [amsat-bb] The AA5FR El Cheapo AZ-EL Rotor System for AMSAT Birds

[Robert Goodman <robert@xxxxxxxxx>]

     Hi Robert,

     Thanks for your response and yes - go ahead and post it to the
     reflector since there appears to be a bit of interest. I'm
     interested in using it with a 1268 and 2401 MHz (separately) receive
     only small yagi and this Ninja could easily handle the task.

     Hopefully some sharp X-10 weenies out there could help out with a
     simple way of interfacing the az-el control to a wired (or wireless)
     digital pot interface to make setting a few tweaks of a pot during a
     pass.

     Thanks again for making many of us aware of the Ninja...Bill - N6GHz

          -----Original Message-----
          From: Robert Goodman [mailto:robert@aa5fr.com]
          Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 11:48 AM
          To: Bill Ress
          Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] The AA5FR El Cheapo AZ-EL Rotor System
          for AMSAT Birds
          Hi Bill,
          In answer to your questions:
          Backlash is less than an inch.
          I can stop it with a finger...so not a lot of torque at all.
          However, there is also virtually zero wind load with the Arrow
          II....even in strong winds, it doesn't rotate by itself.
          However, the weight of the LMR-195 can shift the balance point,
          elevation-wise....and it is critical, for the same reason, to
          find the balance point before strapping it down.
          Without taking it apart, I am not sure but I would bet you could
          dissect it without destroying anything so you could get to the
          innards.
          Again, this rotor/tower system is not for everyone....but I
          would bet this "el Cheapo" approach could generate a LOT of new
          user interest in AMSAT and increased activity on the
          birds...especially those hesitant to spend over $1,000 just for
          a rotor and a couple of yagis!
          Hopefully, someone smarter than me can do some X-10 programming
          to interface the tracking software to the rotor.
          Was going to post this to the BB, but didn't want to do so
          without your permission.
          73,
          Robert     AA5FR
          www.AA5FR.com
          At 01:10 PM 6/20/2006, Bill Ress wrote:

          Hi Robert,
          Thanks a bunch for sharing your "Ninja" project with us. I've
          spent the last
          several minutes looking into it further and also noted, as you
          pointed out,
          than the Ninja is available on eBay as a $24.95 buy it now
          offering, so that
          indeed makes it very interesting. But I have a few questions for
          you.
          1) What sort of start and stop backlash do you get with the
          antenna mounted
          on it?
          2) Could you get a sense of the torque the motors provide. When
          runing could
          you stop it by just grabbing onto the rotating base.
          3) Does there appear to be relatively easy access to the base
          with the
          motors and control circuitry without destroying it?
          Again thanks for the information!!
          Regards...Bill - N6GHz
----
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