[amsat-bb] Fox Telemetry antenna?

[Stephen E. Belter]

Jeff,

I can answer two of your questions:

1.  I have not heard the beeping or buzzing noise with my AlfaSpid.

2.  The new G5500DC control box will most certainly *won't* work with the old rotors.  The new control box produces direct current drive for the new DC rotors.  This won't work with the AC induction motors in your rotors.  However, the AC G5500 control boxes appear regularly on ebay as they tend to outlast the rotors.

Send me an e-mail privately.  I may have a spare controller in my workshop.

73, Steve N9IP
-- 
Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com
 

On 10/7/20, 10:20 AM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Jeff via AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

    Last year I went with an Alpha Spid setup at my Florida home. It worked well with the supplied Alpa Spid controller for about 3 months. I then started having issues with the controller relays failing. Over a 6 month period I replaced them twice, when they failed again I decided to go with the Green Heron RT-21 controller. All is working fine, I really like the PstRotator software. It's a bonus that it has grid-click operation to easily work terrestrial VHF and up with my sat antennas. The only problem with this setup is the RT-21 causes the rotor to make a load beeping noise as the motors ramp up and down.  I spent some time on the phone with Jeff from Green Heron to try and adjust the controllers control sliders to tone it down a bit. I can get it somewhat quiet, but the rotors become very erratic. They will over shoot the desired az/el by 20 or so degrees then swing back the other way, for the entire pass. Not acceptable.  It is such a problem that I'm going to have to replace the Alpha Spid with a spare 5500 I have. It is so noisy the neighbors across the canal(250 feet away) can hear it. I'm getting ready to leave the NJ QTH for Florida for the winter shortly. I'm going to bring my spare 5500 and burned out control box with me. So I have a few questions...

    1. Steve, do you hear the buzzing noise in your Alpha Spid setup I'm talking about?

    2.. As I'm going to try and repair the Yaesu control box, I'm almost positive that the transformer is burned out. If not available I might consider buying a new control box. I'm thinking that the new 5500DC will work with the older rotors? 

    3. Does anyone have the RT-21 working with the 5500? If so does it have the same ramp up and ramp down noise issue?

    Thanks for any info on this....

    73 Jeff kb2m




    ----Original Message-----
    From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> On Behalf Of Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB
    Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 4:29 PM
    To: Kevin <wa7fwf at gmail.com>; amsat-bb at amsat.org
    Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Fox Telemetry antenna?

    Kevin,

    I'm in West Lafayette, Indiana, so no salt water.  My antennas are M-squared medium size antennas, 2MCP14 and 436CP30 with polarity switches, so not overloaded.

    Mark N8MH, has had similar experience with his Yaesu's.  Since he is a dedicated telemetry collector like you, and since he is a control operator for the Fox satellites, he replaces his rotors when they fail.  He had a volunteer to repair his broken rotors, so I transported 6-8 rotors from his garage in North Carolina (not near salt water either) to Indiana.  Half were elevation rotors, half were azimuth rotors.  I thought I was just having bad luck until Mark shared his experience.

    The last time mine failed, it was the azimuth rotor.  Pointing the Yagis south just above the horizon worked a little better (long term) than an omnidirectional antenna.  Since it failed while I was on a 3 month trip, I couldn't replace the rotor.

    I still recommend the G5500 rotors for normal operators, but they may not be the best choice for 24x7x365 telemetry collection.  (I'm glad they work for you in that mode.)  I've since switched to an AlphaSpid rotor with a Green Heron controller.  You can buy the AlphaSpid rotors without the controller (my recommendation for heavy duty use) and use a Green Heron instead.

    Still:  YMMV

    73, Steve N9IP
    -- 
    Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com


    On 10/6/20, 3:53 PM, "AMSAT-BB on behalf of Kevin via AMSAT-BB" <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org on behalf of amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:

        Steve,
            What are you doing that is wearing it out in 4-8 months? overloaded? 
        near the ocean with salt? something has to be wrong as mine go for years.

        73 Kevin WA7FWF

        On 10/6/2020 10:21 AM, Stephen E. Belter via AMSAT-BB wrote:
        > Roy,
        >
        > In my experience, using the CP antennas with the G5500 will help you collect and decode about 4-6 times more packets than an omnidirectional antenna.
        >
        > But tracking the Fox satellites using the Yaesu rotors will wear out the rotors in 4-8 months. Replacement rotors are about $250 each (you won’t need to replace the controller).
        >
        > YMMV
        >
        > 73, Steve N9IP
        > --
        > Steve Belter, seb at wintek.com

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