    
That Elco Guy (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 8:25 am: | 
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Primer for rotors....
There are two general types of rotors. Those with internal breaks and those that do not have internal breaks.
The rotors without internal breaks ie the AR 35 is built for small light ham antennas such as a small 2 meter beam and for small sized TV/UHF antennas. They will twist in the wind though if used with larger TV anennas and or larger Ham VHF antenna arrays.
The rotors with internal breaks such as the Ham IV or larger are made to function with antennas that "Catch the Wind". The internal break locks the rotor in place.
Inbetween the two is the AR-40 rotor that is also a "Bell Type" rotor but is not as rugged as the Ham IV but can be used for small antenna arrays and large TV antennas.
On the bottom level is the rotors designed strictly for TV antennas ie the AR-35. These have no internal breaking devices and are designed primarily for TV antennas and very small antenna arrays, emphasis on the very small. This antenna will spin in the wind due to the lack of a break.
Rule of thumb when selecting a rotor. IF you are putting up a small/medium TV antenna you can use the lower end AR 35 type. If you are putting up a very small ham beam such as for VHF OR UHF (and not stacking them) you can use the AR 35 type but you might have to realign the antenna from time to time. If you are putting up a small HF beam antenna (of which a CB Beam qualifies, PDLII for example) then you can scrape by with something like a CD45 type with a minimal breaking system. If you are putting up several small antennas or one of those larger ham 3/4 element triband antennas, moonraker CB Antenna or any other large array you must use a Ham IV or larger--preferably leaning toward the larger size.
I checked out some estimated prices based on a current advertisement from the maker of the Ham IV rotor. The AR 35 for TV antennas runs under a hundred. The CD 45 for beam antennas of medium size costs just under 400 dollars (wish I was kidding on the price). The Ham IV currently goes for just under 600 dollars. Now there are two larger rotors what would be great with the Lazer 500 type, very large antenna array but that bad boy runs over a thousand dollars. Of course all of the above pricings I have stated above are suggested retail and there are probably many places on the web where suggested retail pricing is not used.
The important thing to remember about selecting a rotor is that being cheap will cost you more. If you put a rotor to use for which it is not designed it will self destruct sooner than it should--or worse cause you great troubles constantly going up and down to repair and reorientate it. If you invest money in the proper rotor it will probably not only last you a lifetime but more importantly you will not have to constantly be repairing, replacing and or readjusting it.
Bottom line, it is always best to get and use a rotor that that both has a break and is one size larger than the bare minimum requirement.
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