Aerial (roof) rotating antenna operation?

The particular case here is one of those systems where you have a light antenna on the roof, a little box inside controlled by a remote control for rotating clockwise or counterclochwise and the antenna connection and box is through a single coaxial cable.

My questions are:
1) is the box sending a decodifiable signal through the coaxial cable or,
2) is it a wireless communication that exists between the box and the antenna motor?

In the case it's through the coaxial cable, if the controller box (the one at the living room) is damaged but the motor is working ok, how can I control the motor (forward/reverse) even if I've to use another pair of cables for the purpose?

Thanks in advanced for any help on this!

 

Thanks for replying, Audioguru!

That's a good explanation, it's a shame that I don't see any labels or engravements to give more details. Nonetheless, I think, since it's all taken apart, that my best chance is to put another dc motor (if I can find a suitable one) & bring four cables to operate both thing: zignal transfer & motor control.

Do you agree with this approache?

 

The problem is that there's no motor... Have no idea as to how fast was it rotating much less the power output (torque) provided by it nor the mechanism that joined the motor with the antenna.
.

 

1. I found a couple of dish-rotators from microwave ovens that work & found that they've pretty good torque for the task. It doesn't need to be directly coupled to the small mast so the strain to the plastic pinnions inside can greatly be reduced.

The only inconvenience is they're AC powered (115 VAC). I'll keep looking for other options!

Thanks for replying to all of you!