Control Cable Installation
Before installing the rotator, mast, and antenna, prepare the rotator control cable and test rotator
system performance on the ground. Potential alignment, cabling, or other problems can quickly be
resolved on the ground; once a rotator is mounted, however, troubleshooting may require that the
tower be climbed and/or the rotator be removed and lowered to the ground!
Control Cable Preparation
The control cable to be used should have six stranded conductors of at least 0.5 mm (#20 AWG)
diameter if the cable is shorter than 40 m in length (125’); if the cable is longer than 40 m, use
conductors with a diameter of 0.75 mm (#18 AWG) or larger.
1. Disassemble the supplied round plug: slide off the rubber boot, remove the setscrew from the
shell using a small screwdriver, then unscrew the shell from the plug. Save the setscrew in a safe
place until step 10, so you don’t lose it.
2. Slide the rubber boot and the round shell over the “rotator” end of the cable. Leave enough
cable protruding to allow easy dressing the end of the cable.
3. Using special care to avoid nicking the insulation of the individual wires, strip back 15 mm
(about 5/8”) of the outer jacket of the cable from both ends. Now strip 5 mm (about 3/16”) of
insulation from each wire, being careful not to nick the conductors.
4. Solder the wires to the round plug pins, noting the color of the wire and the number associated
with each pin for reference later. Pin 7 of the round connector is not used! Confirm that all
solder joints are firm and cleanly made, as this part of the cable will be difficult to access once
the rotator is installed on top of the tower. Do not slide the shell onto the connector at this time.
5. Crimp the supplied pin contacts onto the wires on the opposite end of the cable, per the illustra-
tion on the next page.
6. Referring to your notes of the wire color at each pin of the round (rotator end) connector, insert
the pins into the rectangular plug at the opposite (controller) end of the cable. Be sure that each
wire from the round connector is routed to the corresponding pin number in the rectangular
connector (i.e. 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc.).
7. Temporarily connect the round plug to the rotator, and the rectangular plug to the controller.
Make sure that the POWER switch is set to the Off position, then connect the AC plug to your
station’s AC power outlet.
8. Turn on the POWER switch. The pilot lamps on the controller should become illuminated, and
the meter needle on the controller may rotate so as to align itself with the current position of the
rotator (remember, the two units have not been aligned with each other).
9. Press the LEFT (left rotation) switch, and confirm that the rotator (when viewed from the top) and
the controller’s needle turn counter-clockwise together. Stop rotation, then press the RIGHT (right
rotation) switch, and confirm that the rotator and indicator needle turn clockwise. If rotation does
not occur as indicated, turn the POWER switch off, and re-check your cable connections.
10. If the rotator and controller are working as described, replace the plug shells, setscrew, and
rubber boot (removed in step 1).
6
5 mm
15 mm
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