I'm Rotating Now!

Whitehall

Super Member
Finally got my antenna rotator installed and operational today. I was hoping to work it Saturday but the rain made that unwise.

Got a Zenith unit, same as Centronics but slightly different cosmetics - $59 plus shipping for the Zenith and about $40 for the control cable and stub mast bought a Schad's, a local shop. The Channel Master is slightly higher quality but its control box is set up for remote control use. Zenith/Centronics have complete remotes too but since I'll be sitting in my easy chair with a set of headphones on and a glass of Scotch and the tuner/reciever at hand, a control box with complete local controls made more sense for me - I'll probably lose the remote since I won't be using it.

Although my antenna was already fixed on a mast, I decided to brace the chimney a bit for the increased loading. It's a short stub so I bought a pair of 4 foot angle irons (1"x1"x an eighth thick) then hack sawed them into four 2' lengths. I slipped these under the strapping on each corner of the brickwork. This prevents wastage on the brick from rubbing and transfers the loads a bit better. Cost - $10 plus a spare hacksaw blade. Took only about 15 minutes to make the two cuts and to cut the stub mast to 3 foot and then file the cuts.

Bought a nifty engineer's compass to align the end point. Since the rotator only covers 360 degrees, someplace has to be the end point. Normally one would have the end point at North (0 degree). That way, the control box readout will read 0 deg or 360 deg at the end point. However, I'm surrounded by stations but San Francisco and Oakland, etc are to the North so I used due South as the end point making the readouts 180 degrees off - I can handle it, I hope.

So far, it's great! Finally, I get KPIG in Santa Cruz, a worthy successor to the infamous KFAT, that rocks out some heavy blues. Their request line is 408-PIG-LARD.

Even picked up a Monterey station loud and clear although the classical station in Carmel (KBOQ) is only 1700 watts and is walked over by more local stations with my current tuners and receivers. It would take a super-tuner to pick up this one. Mine are good but not that good.

More fun will be had - so far, so good.
 
I'm thinking of doing the same thing, except I'll have to mount it inside the attic. Subdivision rules forbid outside antennas. Luckily I have probably a 15' ceiling inside, so I have plenty of room for a mast and a beam.
 
Subdivision rules may bar outside antennas but Federal regulations trump the subdivision rules. NO ONE and I mean NO PERSON or GOVERNING BODY can prevent you from mounting a TV antenna on the roof of your home or outside your home. The big question is did you sign a contract that waved your FCC right to mount the antenna? And if you are a tennant you have no rights. Your landlord is the deciding factor. But if you are owner and haven't waived your rights then there is nothing the subdivision can do. BTW, no one has to know that what you're putting up is an FM antenna.
 
FCC said:
FCC rules prohibit local governments, landlords, community associations, or similar groups from restricting a resident from installing and using an antenna that is covered under the OTARD rules. These rules only apply to properties or areas of properties that the antenna user owns, leases or rents and areas where the user has exclusive use or control. The rules apply to properties used for commercial purposes just as they apply to residential properties.

The following antennas or dishes are covered by these rules:

• a “dish” antenna one meter (39.37 inches) or less in diameter (or any size in Alaska) designed to receive direct broadcast satellite service or to receive and transmit fixed wireless signals via satellite;

• an antenna one meter in diameter or less designed to receive wireless cable or to receive or transmit fixed wireless signals other than by satellite; and

• commercially-available analog and digital television antennas.

Antennas used for amateur (“Ham”) radio, CB radio, FM or AM radio service, satellite radio or used as part of a hub to relay signals among antennas are NOT covered by these rules.

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/consumerdish.html
 
Happy you joined the 'rotator club' Whitehall...it ends up being alot of fun, even if there's nothing to listen too (at least for awhile).
 
Theodoric,
Thanks for straightening me on on the tennant aspect of antennas. I guess you would have to mount it in a way where you didn't drill or nail into the landlord's property.

Whitehall
What is the voltage of the rotator motor, 24V?
 
Bob,

There's a little transformer in the control box that uses 24 VAC for the motor in the rotator. That let's one use thinner insulation and non-lethal voltages throughout the external portions of the system.

I was shocked at the 22 gauge wires that drove this thing - so tiny!
 
KPIG is located in Freedom, a suburb of Watsonville. Not in Santa Cruz. Are you sure you have your antenna rotated for best reception?

kpig_com.jpg
 
OK, so it says "Freedom, California" but I only know that town as a sign off Hwy 1 just south of Santa Cruz/Aptos. As the map shows, the transmitter is way south of Watsonville.

But Radio Locator says:

"Station Address:
4150 PINNACLE
El Paso, TX 79902"

In any case, it sure SOUNDS like Santa Cruz.
 

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Freedom is a town surrounded completely by Watsonville (as is Newark by Fremont).

It's also just another word for nothin' left to lose, according to Janis Joplin.
 
KPIG:

link to fccinfo.com kpig info page

Site Location: 36-50-6 N 121-42-22 W

There should be gps based programs to tell you bearing and distance from your location.
It is done with antennaweb.org BUT that site only does tv reception calculations.
 
markthefixer said:
KPIG:

There should be gps based programs to tell you bearing and distance from your location.
It is done with antennaweb.org BUT that site only does tv reception calculations.
The FCC has this on there website at the bottom of this page http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html . If you put in your longitude and lattitiude and a search radius in the blue section at bottom of page, it will return a list of fm stations with distance and bearing. You can limit search by the frequency, etcetera at the top of the page.

There is probably an easier way to find your own latitude and longitude. But I use terreserver http://terraserver.microsoft.com/ . Put in your street address and it will take you to a map or ariel photo of your address. It also displays the coordinates. You just need to convert the decimal degrees to degrees, minutes and second. Example 118.30132 = 118°18.0475' = 118°18'05"

note for converting 118.30132
.30132 * 0.6 = 18.0475
.0475 * 0.6 = 04.752
 
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There's a link to an online topo map right on that fccinfo.com page (where it says, oddly enough, "Map It.")

It shows that the KPIG transmitter sits on a hill ENE of Moss Landing.
 
My rotation stop is set due south so that 0 deg/360 is south. I find the best reception on KPIG at 330 or roughly 60 degrees on the compass.

Checking the map I ripped from Radio-Locator above for my home and their tower, I'm about right although I can't claim I've set zero degrees on my rotator to better than +/- 10 degrees, even with the fancy compass I bought.

Part of the problem is that you have to hoist the antenna/rotator/mast assembly into the chimney mount and then align the antenna while it is over your head with you hanging on to the mast while standing on a wet roof with a compass in your other hand. Absolute compass direction generally doesn't matter much since one tunes for signal strength and quality. That's why they put signal strength meters on tuners and recievers. Note that multipath can cause an offset from highest strength for best signal quality.

Once you know the best relative heading, good functionality is a matter of repeatability.

In any case, the Radio-Locator map, the FCC topo, and my rotator control unit all agree within 10 degrees.

OK, so it's not Santa Cruz but Freedom, California. I stand corrected.
 
bob adams said:
Theodoric,
Thanks for straightening me on on the tennant aspect of antennas. I guess you would have to mount it in a way where you didn't drill or nail into the landlord's property.

Whitehall
This issue generally boils down to who is responsible for maintenance of the roof. If the HOA is responsible for maintaining and repairing the roof, even in projects with detached dwelling, the HOA generally owns the roof and it is their property, not yours and you have to abide by the HOA rules.

If, though, YOU are responsible for maintaining and repairing the roof over your dwelling, then the FCC rules trump any restrictive covenants in your development, even if you signed away your right to put anything up on the roof you own. The FCC would consider this an illegal contract and illegal contracts cannot be enforced. :cool:
 
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