I am tired of tweaking my antenna to get the perfect signal and then lose another in the middle of doing this so I am looking to get myself a rotator to solve this problem. As I can obviously only see 1 OTA antennal at a time I really want the best signal possible. I was looking at the Channel Master 9521A model. If I understand this correctly I set this up on my antenna mast and then the antenna goes into the rotator. One question I have is as it turns how does the coaxial not get tangled up as it turns? Don't laugh if this is a simple question as I have never seen one. Secondly, I need the cabling to hook up the rotator to the actual box into my house. I will need to run about 150' of this and I see that it only comes in 100' lengths. Is it easy to attach two of these together? Thanks all.
Looking to add a rotator to my setup, but which one?
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If I understand this correctly I set this up on my antenna mast and then the antenna goes into the rotator. One question I have is as it turns how does the coaxial not get tangled up as it turns?
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Use Mast Standouts.
http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmig10.htm
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Use Mast Standouts.
http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmig10.htm
Lets assume you start with your antenna pointing north, and it will turn counter-clockwise as you look up at it (business end swings to east). NOTE: Before you put the mast up connect the rotor and rotate it fully clockwise (looking at it from the bottom) to be sure it is set up this way or it might turn the other way.
I would bring the cable up the south side of the mast and have it pass to the east of the mast around to the antenna connector on the north side. This assumes the connector is on the director end of the antenna (not always true).
Now when the antenna rotates (to the east) it unwraps itself from the half wrap as it points south then re-wraps itself a half wrap as it moves back to the north from the west side.
This way the cable can never be wrapped around the mast more than one half way (rotators only travel 360 degrees not beyond that). Leave enough slack in the cable so it NEVER even begins to become tight no matter which way the antenna turns. The cable should also be supported solely by some type of stand off or other mechanical means, so that the electrical connection on the end bears NO weight at all.
I must also assume that since the mast is 150 ft from your house, you are using a pre-amplifier. That long a run will lose you a lot of signal - Oh, and NEVER use RG-59 on such a long run - ALWAYS at least RG-6.
And install a grounding block before the cable enters your house (none of that nasty lightening needs to come in).
Yes, you can splice the rotator control cable, but it might be better to locate a longer length (it is sold in spools of greater than 100 ft.). If you splice it, be sure to solder the connection and tightly wrap each wire connection in electrical tape or in some other way weatherproof that joint.
Enjoy!!
I would bring the cable up the south side of the mast and have it pass to the east of the mast around to the antenna connector on the north side. This assumes the connector is on the director end of the antenna (not always true).
Now when the antenna rotates (to the east) it unwraps itself from the half wrap as it points south then re-wraps itself a half wrap as it moves back to the north from the west side.
This way the cable can never be wrapped around the mast more than one half way (rotators only travel 360 degrees not beyond that). Leave enough slack in the cable so it NEVER even begins to become tight no matter which way the antenna turns. The cable should also be supported solely by some type of stand off or other mechanical means, so that the electrical connection on the end bears NO weight at all.
I must also assume that since the mast is 150 ft from your house, you are using a pre-amplifier. That long a run will lose you a lot of signal - Oh, and NEVER use RG-59 on such a long run - ALWAYS at least RG-6.
And install a grounding block before the cable enters your house (none of that nasty lightening needs to come in).
Yes, you can splice the rotator control cable, but it might be better to locate a longer length (it is sold in spools of greater than 100 ft.). If you splice it, be sure to solder the connection and tightly wrap each wire connection in electrical tape or in some other way weatherproof that joint.
Enjoy!!
Better than rotor cable is three conductor UL CL-2 AWM 22 guage three conductor vinyl jacketed wire made by Belden. That's what I use. I get it by the 1000 ft spool. If you want 150 ft, send me an PM. A can send you that amount at a reasonable price.
I am using a pre-amp on the unit. I have it in the backyard as the wifey was not pleased with the beautiful asthetic appearance on our home so I lost that one. The shed was the next closest thing that I could attach it to. I am using RG-6 cabling but unfortunately I couldn't find it any longer than in 50ft lengths so I have three of them connected together. I get my signals in about 80% if they are pointing directly at the tower, but again that brings me to the rotator. Mike500, I will be PMing you about that 150ft of cabling as I can only find it in 100ft lengths. Thanks guys.
