[TowerTalk] Yaseu G-1000

[Pete Smith]

At 09:05 AM 8/18/00 EDT, K7LXC@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 08/17/2000 11:17:16 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
>n4zr@contesting.com writes:
>>Apparently, they feel that the problems reported with mast clamps
>>  breaking are the result of improper procedures for the cast aluminum
clamps
>>  they use.
>>  
>    Humbug. IMO it's due to crummy design where it doesn't take much to
break 
>off one of the ears of the mast clamp casting. Just about anyone who has
ever 
>installed a Yaesu has broken at least one of them. 

Sure, and according to the information supplied, an important reason for
that is that they are cast, not sheet metal, and they don't work like the
Hy-Gain clamps that require the mast to be a particular diameter or be
shimmed to fit properly.  The Yaesu mast clamps are adjustable over a
fairly large range of mast diameters.  What they urge is that you avoid
trying to bend the mast clamps, by tightening the bolts holding the clamps
to the top of the rotator AFTER you have tightened them on the mast.  And
of course it doesn't hurt to make sure everything is concentric.  They also
caution that you not tighten the mast clamps more than 1/2 to 1 turn beyond
the point where the spring lock washers flatten out (usually good advice
with any such lock washer and aluminum).

My conclusion is that its not crummy design, just different, and maybe
that's not a good idea, because of hams' tendency to use a bigger hammer on
anything they don't understand.

73, Pete Smith N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database 
is back up and running at
http://www.qsl.net/n4zr 



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