HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: tjbitt on September 30, 2012, 1724 UTC
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Hi all, new to this board. I'm from central Virginia and have been active off and on in swl'ing since the early 60's, and a ham (KQ4MZ) since '91.
I cut my teeth on a heathkit GR-64 I built with my dad when I was ten and been at it ever since.
I am looking to add a Pixel loop antenna to my G5RV and verticals. Can anyone recommend a decent rotator to use with the pixel?
Don't obviously need the overkill of a ham rotator, but most of the reviews for TV and small uhf/vhf rotators seem to fall into either into
the best thing since sliced bread or total junk. Anybody had good luck with a reasonably priced rotator? Any thoughts would be most appreciated. Tnx ;D
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I am planning to put a rotor on my loop. Unlike yours, mine is unshielded, and from time to time I have to go out and manually rotate it to minimize noise pickup. For a while I was thinking about using one of the sat dish rotors; the single coax interface cable seemed like a good idea.
Instead of this I have decided to go with a light duty conventional rotor, the hy-gain AR-303. The reason for going this way is the fact that as long as I have to do a cable run to it, I could run an 8 wire instead of the 3 wire cable which the rotor requires. This would bring a few extra conductors to the loop which would make it possible to implement other functionality.
Either rotor would probably do the job. The sat dish rotor has simpler interface cable requirements, the hy-gain looks like an easier mount with better potential physical balance so that the mast (PVC pipe) would not need additional support such as guying.
The hy-gain runs around $90; the cable run out to it will actually cost more than the rotor.
Hope this helps!
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FWIW, I've used cheap TV rotators for years and for most purposes they are O.K. You can get a cheap one at Lowe's or some equivalent for about $70. The best are the 5 wire variety, as they need no periodic calibration like the 3 wire ones.
as always, your mileage may vary...
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I have a Pixel, bought it at the Dayton Hamfest. It's a great antenna. I turn mine with a HyGain Ham II rotor which is way overkill but I got it super cheap. I did used to use an Alliance U-110 on my 6 meter beam and it worked well even at -40. You'll find that the Pixel isn't terrible picky about where it's aimed. You don't have to turn it much, and never more then 90 degrees.