Hi All,
Recently I acquired a 7.5' dish. It's aluminum with a steel ring mount. I estimate the dish weights maybe 50 lbs?
What is a realistic limit for a Yaesu G-5500 rotator? Would it handle a dish of this size/weight if carefully counterbalanced? Or is it too big and silly to even consider?
I know wind load is a concern of course, too. But I imagine keeping it close to the ground...
I've thought about cutting it down in size to reduce weight and wind load, but would rather not go that route...
73,
Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]
At 05:25 AM 3/7/2009, Mark L. Hammond wrote:
Hi All,
Recently I acquired a 7.5' dish. It's aluminum with a steel ring mount. I estimate the dish weights maybe 50 lbs?
What is a realistic limit for a Yaesu G-5500 rotator? Would it handle a dish of this size/weight if carefully counterbalanced? Or is it too big and silly to even consider?
I know wind load is a concern of course, too. But I imagine keeping it close to the ground...
I've thought about cutting it down in size to reduce weight and wind load, but would rather not go that route...
73,
Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]
Mark,
Is the G-5500 the same as the B5500? I would not recommend that. The issue is not the weight but the wind area forces. A 7.5 foot dish can have 2000-lbs of wind force at 70mph. What is recommended is a HD azimuth rotator coupled with a satellite dish actuator arm for elevation. I do this with my 2m-eme array (four 21-foot booms on a 12x12 foot H-frame). The B5500/B5400 will handle up to a 3-foot dish probably at maximum. I have had a 33-inch offset feed dish on my B5400 along with a long 432 and 1296 yagis with no problems (knock on wood).
Satellite actuators are pretty cheap for running a dish.
73, Ed - KL7UW
On 7 Mar 2009 at 10:02, Edward Cole wrote:
At 05:25 AM 3/7/2009, Mark L. Hammond wrote:
Hi All,
Recently I acquired a 7.5' dish. It's aluminum with a steel ring mount. I estimate the dish weights maybe 50 lbs?
What is a realistic limit for a Yaesu G-5500 rotator? Would it handle a dish of this size/weight if carefully counterbalanced? Or is it too big and silly to even consider?
I used an azimuthal tailtwister rotor to turn various beam over a period of 20 years. He perform to his task without a glitch but after the AO-40 short session he finally gave up one motor coil burn. I am now using an Alpha Spid since that event and he's working without any problem even breaking the ice cover over the rotor this winter...
My Yaesu KR500-G elevation rotor also start to developed issues and this winter (I'm partly liable here with a faulty installation) I replace it with my former AO-40 TVRO actuator who survive an ice storm who succeed to break a reinforce 1 1/2" aluminium pole. The actuator turning bracket suffer a break metal tear apart and i have to used a full box of soldering rod to make the repair. Picture available on request.
Speaking of actuator i always struggle with the motor noise even with a .01pf capacitor to the ground this annoying noise remain. Did any one found a way to eliminate it.
P.S. I have all the dismantle tailtwister rotor parts if any one is interested?
"-"
Luc Leblanc VE2DWE Skype VE2DWE www.qsl.net/ve2dwe WAC BASIC CW PHONE SATELLITE
The G-5500 handles 10 square feet of wind load so a 7.5 foot dish will exceed that by a factor of 4. You'll need a rotator designed for HF log-periodic antennas or C-band satellite dishes.
73,
John KD6OZH
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark L. Hammond" marklhammond@gmail.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 14:25 UTC Subject: [amsat-bb] Limits of G-5500?
Hi All,
Recently I acquired a 7.5' dish. It's aluminum with a steel ring mount. I estimate the dish weights maybe 50 lbs?
What is a realistic limit for a Yaesu G-5500 rotator? Would it handle a dish of this size/weight if carefully counterbalanced? Or is it too big and silly to even consider?
I know wind load is a concern of course, too. But I imagine keeping it close to the ground...
I've thought about cutting it down in size to reduce weight and wind load, but would rather not go that route...
73,
Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (4)
-
Edward Cole -
John B. Stephensen -
Luc Leblanc -
Mark L. Hammond