—From spring timers to electric–
Unfortunately, the Chicken Spring Rotator never made it into practical use, but the thoughts I had while making it became the concept for my subsequent productions. That is;
① Antenna directionality is not so important for low-orbit satellites.
② Therefore, tracking does not need to be precise all the time.
③ In that case, the antenna to be rotated is light, so even if it’s not as fast as a spring, it could be done with an intermittent operation of a very small motor?
First, I tried to find a “motor” to power it.
When it comes to small motors, Mabuchi motors have been the standard for a long time. I thought that the Tamiya gearbox that came with the Akizuki Electronics Raspberry Pi set that I recently bought but haven’t been able to use much yet might be usable, but after all, the satellite tracking speed is only 0.03 rpm. On the other hand, even the low-speed Mabuchi motors are around 1500 rpm, so the reduction ratio is 1/50000. It may be possible, but it seems like a lot more work than the “Chicken.”
Then one day, I found a motor on Amazon that was “5 rpm (5 revolutions per minute) with a reduction gear.” It’s a uxcell product, and seems to be intended for electrical equipment such as door mirrors.
What’s more, it’s only 10mm in diameter! Is this quite a bright light? I bought one for now.
The ultra-compact motor with reducer that I got from uxcell has a voltage of 3V. 3V means two batteries, so when I went to Sengoku Densho in Akihabara for another reason, I looked around and found this long, skinny battery box. Normally, a case would have two batteries in parallel, but this one is a bit unusual, so I bought two of these for now.
I’m actually lucky I bought two of these.
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