The next major component in our new EME station is the assembly of the Elevation Rotator. This step also involves pre-assembly and testing of the MAP65 Pre-amp Housing, Antenna Power Dividers, Transmit/Receive Sequencer, and the Rotator Controller. Here are the components involved in this part of our project:

• M2 Antennas MT-3000A Heavy-Duty Elevation Rotator
• M2 Antennas MAP65 EME Preamp and Switching System Housing
• M2 Antennas 4-Port Power Dividers
• Green Heron Engineering RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller
• M2 Antennas S2 EME Sequencer

We choose the MT-3000A Elevation Rotator for its heavy-duty construction. This will be important to handle the weight of our EME antenna array as well as the winter conditions that we encounter here in New England.

Elevation Rotator Assembly

The first step was to inventory all of the parts for the MT-3000A Elevation Rotator and carefully read the MT-3000A manual from M2 Antennas.

Assembly of the MT-3000A is pretty straight forward. It uses a chain-drive system to produce a very strong, high-torque elevation rotator system. It’s important to fill the gear-box with the supplied gear oil and to lube the chain with the proper lubricant prior to testing and installing the rotator. Spray style chain lubricants for motorcycle chains work well in this application.

Rotator Controller Integration and Testing

The next step was to make up a rotator and connect the MT-3000A to our Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller for a test. The RT-21 Az/El is a very flexible controller that is capable of controlling almost any popular antenna rotator. We’ve already tested this unit with the M2 Antennas OR2800G2 Azimuth Rotator that is installed on our EME tower.

The MT-3000A is a pulse-counter style rotator with 0.1-degree positioning resolution. It required a custom setup in the Green Heron RT-21 Az/El which was easily accomplished with Green Heron Engineering’s setup utility. One must determine the correct Divide Ratio setting by experimentation. When the correct value is found, a rotation of 90 degrees on the controller will result in exactly 90 degrees of actual movement by the MT-3000A. This calibration was much easier to do with the MT-3000A in our shop than it would have been once the unit was installed on our tower. We also set up the RT-21 Az/El Controller to allow for 5 degrees of rotation beyond the 0 and 90-degree points.

After some testing, I decided to use the 42Vdc tap setting in the RT-21 Elevation Controller with our MT-3000A. The specifications for the MT-3000A allow for up to 42 Vdc to be used to run its motor. To be safe, we set the Max Speed setting in the RT-21 Az/El to “8” which resulted in a maximum of 40 Vdc measured with a voltmeter at the output of the controller.

Assembly and Integration of MAP65 Housing and Cross Boom

The next step was to install the H-frame Main Boom center section and Truss Support Tubes in the MT-3000A. The MAP65 EME Preamp Housing is mounted on the horizontal Truss Support Tube as shown above.

A control cable for the MAP65 EME Preamp Housing was made up and connected to the terminal strip on the housing.

EME Sequencer Testing

The S2 EME Sequencer from M2 Antennas is designed to control the MAP65 Housing but its internal jumpers must be properly set to do this. We spent some time with the manual for the S2 Sequencer and for the MAP65 Housing carefully setting the S2 Sequencer’s jumpers and verifying proper voltages at both the output of the S2 Sequencer and the terminal strip in the MAP65 housing with a voltmeter. The manuals for the S2 EME Sequencer and the MAP65 EME Preamp Housing were clear on these steps.

Mounting Power Dividers

The next step in this part of our project was to mount the M2 Antennas 4-Port Power Dividers that are used to connect the MAP65 Pre-Amp housing to the four 2MXP28 Antennas. Two power dividers are required as each antenna has a separate feed point connection for their horizontal and vertical polarities. We made up some custom mounting brackets for the power dividers from 1-1/4″ aluminum angle material.

The MAP65 Preamp Housing connects to the outputs of the two Power Dividers that feed the H-polarity and V-polarity of the antenna array. The outputs from the MAP65 EME Housing connect to the H-polarity and V-polarity receive coax cables and the Transmit Hardline Coax Cable that runs from the tower to our shack.

Coax Interconnect Cables

The final step was to make up LMR-400 coax cables to connect the MAP65 Preamp Housing to the Power Dividers. We used right-angle male N connectors to make the connections to the 4-Port power drivers to avoid sharp bends in the cables.

We also made up three additional LMR-400uF coax cables to connect the MAP65 Preamp Housing to the coax Tx and Rx feedlines that are installed on our tower. It’s important to keep the H-Pol and V-Pol cables as close to identical in length as possible to minimize and phase differences between the associated receive feedline systems.

Next Steps

The next step in our project will be the final assembly and preparation of the H-frame which will be used to mount our four 2MXP28 Antennas. You can read more about our EME station project via the links that follow:

• EME Station 2.0 Part 1 – Goals and Station Design
• EME Station 2.0 Part 2 – Excavation, Footings, and Conduits for New Tower
• EME Station 2.0 Part 3 – Phase Tuned Receive Coax Cables
• EME Station 2.0 Part 4 – New EME Tower Is Up!
• EME Station 2.0 Part 5 – Control Cables and Rotator Controller
• EME Station 2.0 Part 6 – Tower Grounding System
• EME Station 2.0 Part 7 – Building Antennas
• EME Station 2.0 Part 9 – H-Frame Assembly
• EME Station 2.0 Part 10 – Antennas On The Tower
• EME Station 2.0 Part 11 – Station Hardware in the Shack
• EME Station 2.0 Part 12 – Station Software
• EME Station 2.0 Part 13 – H-Frame Enhancements

If you’d like to learn more about How To Get Started in EME, check out the Nashua Area Radio Society Teach Night on this topic. You can find the EME Tech Night here.

Fred – AB1OC