Hi Green Heron controller is good idea but price is as RAS rotator and his controller.
------ Original Message ------ From: "Dave Webb KB1PVH" kb1pvh@gmail.com To: "kb2m" kb2m@arrl.net Cc: "AMSAT -BB" amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: 11.07.2018 16:12:01 Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Spid RAS rotor issue
Jeff,
I went through 2 Rot2Prog controllers in less than a year. The relays seem to be a big problem. I bit the bullet and bought a Green Heron controller and haven't had any problems.
Dave-KB1PVH
Sent from my Galaxy S9
On Wed, Jul 11, 2018, 8:43 AM kb2mjeff@att.net wrote:
Looks like the elevation up relay is fried in my RAS controller box. I'm going to take Harald's advice and replace all 4. Before I order the parts has anyone else experienced a relay failure with their RAS? If so what relay did you replace it with, make, part # ?
I'm at this time running the controller and rotor at 13.8 volts, was going to try 28 volts to the rotor with the Spid approved mod, but now not so sure :-)
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: Harald Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 7:07 PM To: kb2mjeff@att.net Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Spid RAS rotor issue
Hello Kb2m jeff,
I don't know if you have ELFA over there but from elfa the part nr. is PCB power relay 12VDC 400mW 137-44-376.
It is more or less a standard relay.
They are a littel bit hard to get out of the pcb but I used solder sucking wick as they called it, you may have to resolder some points to get it totally free. Not too much heat, ,,,,take some breaks :-)
good luck in finding them.
Harald la7qta
Wednesday, July 11, 2018, 12:34:25 AM, you wrote:
Hi Harald. thank you for the reply. I'm sure my control box has a
failed
relay also. I hear a faint click when going both ways in azimuth,
but only
hear a click on down elevation. So I'm sure the up elevation relay
is
defective. I'm going to take your advice and swap out all four
relays.
Would you be so kind to give me a part number and a source of the relays
you
replaced with. Thanks in advance....
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: Harald Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2018 3:07 PM To: kb2mjeff@att.net Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Spid RAS rotor issue
Hello Kb2m jeff,
I recently had the exact same problem but the rotor was running. To get it out of that position I took the plug out of the az conn. and put the conn. from ez into az and drove it all the way around again. they are equaly pinned. test which way you have to rotate with the az buttons,,,,(or connect 12v with the right polarity to the ez plug directly),,,,,,, much easyer to use the az
conn.
I replaced the 4 relays, zeroed the controller and all is working again.
The relays are some cheap ones so the best is to change them anyway. I have used it for 3 years and had truble before with those.
Hope this will help in solving your problems !
Best 73's
Harald LA7QTA
PS: questions,,,just ask !
Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 12:32:26 PM, you wrote:
I’m having a problem with my RAS rotor at my winter home. When I
turned
it on yesterday, after an absence of about 2 months the elevation went
into
a complete backflip when powered up, and is jammed against the roof
with an
elevation reading of 195 degrees on the control box. I’m at my
Florida
home for just a few weeks to do some fishing, so before starting to
work
on it to maybe speed up the repair process a bit I’m asking here if anyone else had this problem. When the roof dries off I plan on going up
there
and remove the antennas before trying to move the rotor, to
diagnose.
Right now the azimuth will turn, but the elevation is stuck, it
wont move
up or down. I’m hoping it is just jammed into the roof, once
unstuck
hopefully all it would need is a re-calibration. Thanks for any
useful
information....
73 Jeff kb2m
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Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb