What do you have planned for 2019?

Homebrew equipment discussion, show off your projects.
M0BVL(Silent Key)
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0BVL(Silent Key) »

I was thinking of using a caliper from a car and running a small hydraulic hose to it then use a grease gun to pressure it and lock of with a tap.Its only to lock up when it's really windy
It's not broke yet ! ...just give me a minute.
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M0VMT
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0VMT »

It'll work fine providing its not a French caliper :D
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sidspop
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by sidspop »

M0BVL wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:39 pm I'm looking at moving too ,then it's going to be time to build a proper antenna farm ...I'm not planning on moving again .the last wind killed my rotator so I'm making a new one with a bigger gearbox ,I had put too many yagis on the last one it stripped out the worm .reckon I might put a disk brake on this one to take the strain need to think of a way of actuating the caliper ...any ideas??
Small solenoid from central locking off a car door, actuating on to slots cut in to edge of disc. 360 teeth on disc, 3 or 4 teeth cut in to end of solenoid shaft
sidspop
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by sidspop »

Apart from the daily toil of fixing things, cleaning things, and trying to flog things...
I have just bought an ancient Icom 21A, which needs a refurb.
Once that is done throw a CTCSS board in to it so I can access the local simplex gateway, and talk to anybody who wants to listen on a 48 year old rig, just for a laugh,
I may even get the 10 ele beam up, it's been hanging on a fence for 2 years
M0BVL(Silent Key)
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0BVL(Silent Key) »

sidspop wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:37 am
M0BVL wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:39 pm I'm looking at moving too ,then it's going to be time to build a proper antenna farm ...I'm not planning on moving again .the last wind killed my rotator so I'm making a new one with a bigger gearbox ,I had put too many yagis on the last one it stripped out the worm .reckon I might put a disk brake on this one to take the strain need to think of a way of actuating the caliper ...any ideas??
Small solenoid from central locking off a car door, actuating on to slots cut in to edge of disc. 360 teeth on disc, 3 or 4 teeth cut in to end of solenoid shaft
Not a bad idea that sid would have to be deep teeth though ,certainly worth a think about .
It's not broke yet ! ...just give me a minute.
sidspop
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by sidspop »

M0BVL wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:09 am
sidspop wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:37 am
M0BVL wrote: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:39 pm I'm looking at moving too ,then it's going to be time to build a proper antenna farm ...I'm not planning on moving again .the last wind killed my rotator so I'm making a new one with a bigger gearbox ,I had put too many yagis on the last one it stripped out the worm .reckon I might put a disk brake on this one to take the strain need to think of a way of actuating the caliper ...any ideas??
Small solenoid from central locking off a car door, actuating on to slots cut in to edge of disc. 360 teeth on disc, 3 or 4 teeth cut in to end of solenoid shaft
Not a bad idea that sid would have to be deep teeth though ,certainly worth a think about .
Just looked again, and the answer is obvious.
Instead of using a brake disc, why not use a flywheel off a smallish engine?
It's already got the teeth cut in to it?
Mine on my truck is 126 teeth, but number of teeth doesn't matter, if it is only going to be used as a mechanical brake.
M0BVL(Silent Key)
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0BVL(Silent Key) »

some serious weight there though
It's not broke yet ! ...just give me a minute.
M0XXQ
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0XXQ »

What about a shuttle pin actuated by a solenoid?
So drill say 4 holes in the mast just above the rotator clamp, mount a solenoid on a bracket parallel to the mast lined up with the holes so when you engage the solenoid it rests against the mast so you rotate the mast until the pin slips into the hole?
For reliability I would say make the solenoid powered on whilst un-braked and when you power off the solenoid the pin drops in so you have at least some power to remove the pin when you wish to release the brake.

See the crude drawing, sorry been on the Gin so if its a bit pissed I have an excuse! :D
Idea1.png
VK5TM
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by VK5TM »

That will seriously weaken the torsional strength of the mast and be a major failure point.

One other problem with making a mast lock solidly in place is that in a major wind event, the antenna's are going to be damaged because they can't be pointed into the wind to minimise the wind loading.

it would probably be better if the mast rotated and ripped off the feeders during a major event (the antenna's would probably be shot anyway) rather than the mast bending and maybe breaking with the inherent risks of that scenario. I'm talking here of making the mast braking tension such that it is sufficient to stop the mast rotating in average wind speeds, but not enough to stop it in the event of a major storm.
M0BVL(Silent Key)
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Re: What do you have planned for 2019?

Unread post by M0BVL(Silent Key) »

VK5TM wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 2:06 am That will seriously weaken the torsional strength of the mast and be a major failure point.

One other problem with making a mast lock solidly in place is that in a major wind event, the antenna's are going to be damaged because they can't be pointed into the wind to minimise the wind loading.

it would probably be better if the mast rotated and ripped off the feeders during a major event (the antenna's would probably be shot anyway) rather than the mast bending and maybe breaking with the inherent risks of that scenario. I'm talking here of making the mast braking tension such that it is sufficient to stop the mast rotating in average wind speeds, but not enough to stop it in the event of a major storm.
I'm still drawn to the disc/caliper idea it can be rotated anywhere and locked ,my antennas are arranged crossed ie 90 degrees apart which spreads the load but makes it hard to get to a position where there is least wind resistance ..reason i did this was i'm not always at home to move it .I had thought about linking a weather vane to the rotor controller then it could always point into the wind with a regular configured antenna setup, but doing this makes it hard to get the antennas on the mast as well, catch 22.
It's not broke yet ! ...just give me a minute.
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