[amsat-bb] homemade arrow rotator motors

[Joseph Armbruster]

All,

I am working on designing a rotator that the arrow antenna can snap  
into.  I am aiming for this platform to be portable, so that it could  
be packed up and taken to different events.  The base of the system  
will be a small circular rotating platform, that will provide a full  
360 degree of freedom.  The 'arm' that will hold the antenna itself,  
will provide elevation and roll control.  I have seen a couple of  
random videos online of people that have made rotators but I haven't  
seen any that have the entire antenna mounted... or a system that  
provides for a flexible amount of movement.  I am interested in  
talking to anyone that has hacked at something like this, in order to  
discuss lessons learned.  In addition, i'd like to find out which  
motors you chose and why.  The arrow antenna with the di-plexer weighs  
roughly 2lbs.  Right now, I am looking at two different companies that  
provide stepper motors, namely:

http://www.kelinginc.net
http://www.linengineering.com

Joe