[TowerTalk] Ham IV vs Yaesu

[hdmc38 at bellsouth.net]

Bill I've run a 1000dxa for 4 years. It turns a Force 12 C3S.Was in hurricane Wilma @ 111MPH, No problem.

                             73 Joe K4XZ
> 
> From: Bill Turner <dezrat at copper.net>
> Date: 2006/12/08 Fri AM 11:15:25 EST
> To: JMLTINC at aol.com
> CC: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Ham IV vs Yaesu
> 
> ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
> 
> On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 05:40:42 EST, JMLTINC at aol.com wrote:
> 
> 
> >He is now considering replacing these (as they fail again) with Yaesu 
> >G1000-DXA's.
> 
> ------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------
> 
> I have two G1000DXAs. One has performed fine for several years but the
> other has had an intermittent connection of some kind and has now
> finally failed completely. Apparently it is something in the rotator
> itself, since swapping the two control boxes does not fix the problem.
> It might be in the cable although I have been up the tower to examine
> the connector and everything looks ok there as well as at the control
> box end. I am replacing the bad one with an Alfa Spid in the next
> couple of weeks and will be able to diagnose the problem once it's on
> the ground. When it is working, it is great.
> 
> The only complaint I have with the Yaesu rotator in general is the
> illumination of the dial. In a dark room it is almost impossible to
> see where the pointer is because it is illuminated from the back
> instead of the front. I added a dab of white paint to the tip of the
> pointer and found that to be much better. This is one item that could
> be engineered much better, but the white paint is a reasonably good
> fix.
> 
> I have had a couple of Hy-Gain rotators and consider them a poor
> second choice compared to the Yaesu. The sticky brake issue has been a
> problem with Hy-Gain for years and has never been resolved as far as I
> know. It has been about six years since I have used a Hy-Gain so maybe
> it has been fixed but I haven't heard anyone say so. Also, the power
> supply for the direction indicating meter is unregulated, causing the
> indicator to drift with temperature and changes in line voltage. This
> was so annoying to me that I installed a regulator IC in the box and
> that fixed the problem although it voided the warranty of course. I
> wrote to Hy-Gain complaining about it but they just ignored the
> problem. Apparently a drifty meter is of no concern to them. I warned
> them at the time (about 12 years ago) that if they didn't fix their
> obvious design problems, they were going to lose a large share of the
> rotator business and that's exactly what has happened. Now that
> Hy-Gain has been take over by MFJ I don't see any hope of improvement.
> 
> Bill, W6WRT
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JOE PATRICK
SENIOR PLUMBING/MECHANICAL
INSPECTOR CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH