Rotor installation suggestion for OTA

[gordonkearse]

This past weekend while putting in a digital converter box I found what I thought was an excellent way to install a rotor motor. A pipe had been driven into the ground next to a mobile home. About a foot was sticking out of the ground. The rotor was bolted to the pipe with the two u-bolts. Then the mast was atop the motor. Of course, the pipe could have been driven into the ground up to waist level, which would have made it even better for us over 50. When the rotor is activated, the whole mast spins just like it did when we went out and spun ours by hand when I was a kid. Of course, we always had someone inside to use as our "signal meter."

A bracket with a u-bolt was attached to the eaves of the trailer. There was enough room in the u-bolt for the mast to turn freely without any bind.

All this negated the need for a heavy motor mounted up at the top of the antenna mast. All the weight was at or near the ground. Also, all this negated the need for guy wires. It also reduced the amount of rotor wire necessary to make the installation, since the wire only went ot the bottom of the pole. And to service the rotor motor, all you needed to do was lift the mast off the motor. No more climbing ladders.

Most of us remember walking up heavy outside antennas using guy wires as youngsters.

It turned out that the lady's brother in the Navy had installed it. Why didn't I think of that?