I have recently done major construction on my towers (getting
the anchors out my neighbor's horse corrals, among other things). I
also replaced my broken TailTwister with a Yaesu G-1000SDX. (The
Tailtwister will be repaired and kept for if/when the Yaesu breaks.)
I have seen many questions posted here in the last year concerning
the Yaesu rotators, so I thought I would add my comments now that I use one.
Overall, it seems to be a nice rotator. I like the idea of a DC
motor, and the speed control is quite ample for my use when set at 1/2
speed. The Preset feature is quite handy, although I have yet to get into
the habit of using it. The possibility of breaking the aluminum cast housing
needs to be taken quite seriously, and it is well documented in the manual.
I followed the directions precisely as to bolt tightening, although I did not
pin the mast. (The manual tells you to pin it, most amateurs I know do not
do so.) Several days later we had 25 mph winds, and the mast slipped.
So, I realigned the mast and tightened the bolts just a smidgen more. A
couple days later, the nuts on the mast clamp loosened up and the mast
slipped again. This time I put a spot of Coax Seal on the threads after
retightening the bolts, then covered the Coax Seal with tape. Several
days later, we had 40 mph winds (from Danny) and the mast slipped again.
I surrendered and pinned the mast, although I have my doubts about how
long it will last if we get a real storm.
I spent 4 weeks part-time and two weeks full-time on my project (guy
anchor relocation, tower height reduction, antenna and rotor repair). I now
have a good case of tendonitis in both shoulders as well as my right wrist
and elbow. I must have made more than 100 trips up the towers. I put
another million miles on my homemade gin pole. It got to be that I would
think of Steve (K7LXC) every time I started "Up the Tower". (For anyone
mystified as to why I was thinking of Steve, check out the name of his
column in CQ Contest magazine.)
73, Dave Clemons K1VUT
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