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Anantenna rotator (orantenna rotor) is a device used to change theorientation, within thehorizontal plane, of adirectional antenna. Mostantenna rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller. The controller is normally placed near the equipment which the antenna is connected to, while the rotator is mounted on the antenna mast directly below the antenna.
Rotators are commonly used inamateur radio and military communications installations. They are also used withTV andFM antennas, where stations are available from multiple directions, as the cost of a rotator is often significantly less than that of installing a second antenna to receive stations from multiple directions.
Rotators are manufactured for different sizes of antennas and installations. For example, a consumer TV antenna rotator has enoughtorque to turn a TV/FM or smallham antenna. These units typically cost aroundUS$70[when?].
Heavy-duty ham rotators are designed to turn extremely large, heavy,high frequency (shortwave) beam antennas, and cost hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars.
In the center of the reference picture, the accompanying image includes anAzEl installation rotator, so named for its controlling of both theazimuth and theelevation components of the direction of anantenna system or array. Such antenna configurations are used in, for example,amateur radio satellite ormoon-bounce communications.
An open hardware AzEl rotator system is provided by theSatNOGS Groundstation project.
The Alliance Manufacturing Co. of Alliance, Ohio, and theAstatic Corporation of Conneaut, Ohio, manufactured popular radio and TV booster and rotary antenna systems. These products were heavily advertised for radio use in newspapers starting in the early 1940s,[1] and for use with commercial television sets from 1949 into the 1960s.Cinécraft Productions, a pioneer in early TV advertising, produced six commercials for the Astatic Booster TV in 1949 and 112 for the Alliance Tenna-Rotor, Tenna-Scope, and Casca-Matic Booster between 1949 and 1955.[2]
Before the era ofcable TV and the rise ofsatellite TV, many homes had outdoor antennas designed to captureover-the-air television signals. The rotator market was served by a number of manufacturers including
Although thecord-cutting movement has increased interest in receiving free over-the-air television signals, as of December 2021 consumer options are limited.