[TowerTalk] Yaesu G-800SA Problem

[W5KI at aol.com]

Terry,
 
It is the same EXACT symptoms I had here on my G-800SA.  I suspected a  
lightning surge.  After wasting much time testing,  cleaning plugs, new cap, test 
rotor pot, taking apart rotor, it  came down to what I suspected (and others 
predicted).  A control  line surge damaged the small circuit board.  It would 
not give  proper readings over the entire 450 degree turn, even though the pot 
was fine, a  smooth 10-450 ohms change with rotation.  When trying to 
balance/align the  control unit, it appears to "run out" of adjustment pot on the back. 
  You may have another problem, of course.
 
Mulled over what to do: let Yaesu charge big bucks to fix  it and maybe have 
it re-occur, buy the great universal controller by  Green Heron ($$$) for any 
brand rotor, or trash it (not an  option).   I got by for 8-9 months by using 
the controller just  to turn the rotor.  I bypassed the two wires from the 
tower  with the rotor resistance reading, and fed them to a digital VOM.   By 
physically "re-aligning" the rotor, I got direct readout of all headings  from 
0-360, and did the math when the resistance was over 450ohms.  (i.e.,  400 ohms 
meant 040 deg.  (400 - 360 = 040).  That would be fine  forever, but I got 
some birthday money, so...
 
I didn't want to pay a Yaesu repair for a controller that  didn't have 
digital control (should have bought the DXA).   I found the RC-1Y unit by MDS that 
is DIRECT REPLACEMENT for Yaesu  controllers -- but with computer control I 
didn't have.  Now have  computer and manual control, digital readout, and a 
paperweight for the  workbench (old controller).  No connection to MDS.   
_http://www.mds-ham.com/RC-1-Y-ROTOR-CONTROL.htm_ 
(http://www.mds-ham.com/RC-1-Y-ROTOR-CONTROL.htm) 
 
Weigh your options.  Hopefully you know someone who can repair  the 
controller inexpensively, but I didn't have luck there.   IMHO, if  you decide to buy a 
new 3rd party controller, both the Green Heron and MDS  are worth their 
RESPECTIVE COST.   Just depends on your needs now and  expected future brands of 
rotors you may buy.  With my modest station, it  was apples and oranges to me, 
and for now, I chose the oranges.
 
 
In a message dated 8/27/2008 11:03:00 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:

Message:  5
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:45:09 -0400
From: "Terrence R. Redding,  Ph.D." <terry at oltraining.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Yaesu G-800SA  Problem
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Message-ID:  <C4DAEEC5.7F882%terry at oltraining.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;   charset="US-ASCII"

While away this summer I had a tropical storm  pass through my area.  It hit
the tower, and seems to have caused the  rotor to loose its orientation.

When I turn the beam counter-clockwise,  north lines up.  However, when I
turn the beam clockwise the beam is  south when the rotor control shows 120
degrees, due west at 180 degrees,  and if I continue to turn clockwise, it
goes all the way around to a beam  heading of 90 degrees, but the rotor
control in the house only shows 240  degrees.

Anybody know what happened? And, more importantly, how to fix  it?

Terry - W6LMJ





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