[Towertalk] Re: Hygain/MFJ Rotors

[Cqtestk4xs@aol.com]

All the bad mouthing of these rotors amuses me.  I have no comments on the 
Yaesu rotors. I bought one as part of a tower purchase, played with it a 
while and then sold it.  It seemed like a decent rotor.

However, I have used Hygain rotors for years...mostly the Tailtwisters.  
These were purchased both new and used.

I have used these to turn my 4 el 40 meter yagis as well as side mounted 5 el 
20 meter KLMs.  Over the last 20 years most of the problems have been the 
result of lightning hits to the rotor boxes....certainly not the fault of the 
manufacturer.

Yes, the you gotta "rock em" to get them started once in a while, and yeah, 
the starter caps go soft after a while and yeah, the older ones with the 
terminal strips get funky and have to be replaced.  But, I have only had two 
have gear problems in the last twenty years.  I currently have nine in 
operation and will be putting up several more.  These are solid rotors.  I 
currently have eighteen rotors in use.  Half are the Tailtwister and the 
others are HD 73 (used with small tribanders and my 10 meter KLM 6 el beams). 

By the way IMHO the little HD 73 is the best small time rotor and I highly 
recommend them also.  The thing to remember is: don't overload the horse.  
They run much better and stay alive a lot longer if they don't have to carry 
a 300 pound rider 

If your Tailtwister stinks that bad, I'll take it off your hands for a fire 
sale price!

Bill K4XS