[TowerTalk] Yaesu G-2800 rotor pricing question

Tue Mar 3 11:47:11 EST 2020

Dick,

IIRC, several years ago some superstation offered around 6 controllers 
for free or $50 ea when all were replaced with GHs.

I replaced the o-ring pointer drive "belts" in one.  Never again.  So 
when my current Yaesu SDX controller needs fixed you can have it for 
shipping with spare new o-rings. You will regret spending the shipping, IMO.

There is a web post (hand drawn) of the controller schematic 
unscrambled.  It appears to me the Yaesu schematic draftsman was told, 
"make it unintelligible."  Likewise the interboard wiring is a mess.

There is a reason Yaesu now sells the rotator less controller. I think 
it is mechanically a solid design worth refurb.

Grant KZ1W

On 3/2/2020 21:38, Richard Solomon wrote:
> Where are all those free YAESU
> Controllers ?? I will take one any day.
> 
> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
> 
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2020 at 10:19 PM Grant Saviers <grants2 at pacbell.net> wrote:
> 
>> My 2c from some rebuild experiences
>>
>> Hams seem to think grease lasts forever.  Bearing manufacturers state 5
>> years, but I think that is conservative.  Precision greases have a "use
>> by" date. Now put a rotator in direct sun and elements and who knows.
>>
>> What I found in several rebuilds was dry races with divots from balls
>> sitting in one place too long (fretting corrosion), and rusty balls.
>> Rotators from SK estates may not have been rotated for years.
>>
>> OTOH, cleaning up the sludge, installing new SS balls, taking a little
>> 220 grit to the divots and my refurb 2800 SDX has been up for 8 years,
>> big 4L steppir, working fine.  I use full synthetic grease - Superlube.
>> Same for a Ham-IV.  Same process for a pre Yaesu G-5500 EL-AZ which had
>> leaking ends, trashed balls, rusty gears, now works ok, but a more
>> difficult refurb.  There really are no "seals" as such (like RS ball
>> bearings) in what I have disassembled, just a configuration that sheds
>> water when upright.  Not good if stored outside laying down.
>>
>> The bad news is plain steel ball bearings in a die cast aluminum race is
>> a bad idea (except for cost), but the good news is the mechanism is so
>> sloppy it doesn't matter much.  Keep the water out and lube it every
>> 5-10 years and I think they will last a long time as "no maintenance"
>> Hammy Hambone regularly demonstrates.
>>
>> My advice for a Yaesu disassembly is keep careful track of the top and
>> bottom section registration and the pot position and put it back
>> together exactly the same way.
>>
>> Older ones are a big caveat emptor, but if they rotate and indicate, are
>> perhaps a good refurb candidate. About $50 for balls and grease and your
>> time and the risk that something else is wrong inside.
>>
>> Attractive pricing at a hamfest - SDX $200; DXA $400 assuming
>> demonstration.  I value the Yaesu controller at zero, they've been
>> offered for free on towertalk when replaced with a GH.
>>
>> Grant KZ1W
>>
>>
>> On 3/2/2020 19:07, john at kk9a.com wrote:
>>> Good advice Jim. I think that it's silly to exclude most of the US ham
>>> population from buying it by not offering shipping.  This is an aluminum
>>> rotator that weighs 15 pounds.  I brought three of them to Aruba.
>>>
>>> John KK9A
>>>
>>> jimlux wrote:
>>>
>>> Certainly no more than half the new price.
>>> Think of these in terms of:
>>> 1) what was the original warranty (I assume you're selling as-is)
>>> 2) What is the design life?  What's the wear out component and how much
>>> of its life is left?
>>>
>>> This is kind of tricky - there are plenty of electric motors out there
>>> that are 100 years old and still working - but that doesn't mean that
>>> they were designed to last that long - you might have gotten lucky, or
>>> the loads were low, etc.
>>>
>>> In the case of used gear you don't really know the history - sure, the
>>> ham selling it to you (if alive) will say that it was never abused, but
>>> oh yeah, there was that wind storm 10 years ago which bent a bunch of
>>> the elements on his antenna. Nobody has *real* usage data (like you
>>> would with a regularly monitored mechanical system).
>>>
>>> I would think that the wear out parts are things like bearings, seals,
>>> feedback pots, etc. What affects its wearout? temperature, ice, water,
>>> mechanical loads. These are all hard to estimate. It's not like a car
>>> engine, where you've got X hours of running at Y RPM, against a rated
>>> bearing life of Z hours.
>>>
>>> I would assume, without other information, that the useful life of
>>> something like this is 10-15 years - I can't imagine a company
>>> *designing* for a 20 year life for a piece of consumer gear. Therefore,
>>> the 15 year old one is basically at "scrap value" - what are the parts
>>> inside worth if someone wanted to use it to fix something else, or if
>>> they were going to sell it as scrap metal. If someone happened to need
>>> the control box, or the connectors on the cables, it might be worth a
>>> bit more *to that one person*.
>>>
>>> The 2 year old one that's been outside, but not operated? A lot would
>>> depend on the environment, and what the seals are like. It's probably
>>> not "worn out", but if something sits, unmoving, through rain, ice, sun
>>> beating on it, etc., it might have developed leaks, or the elastomers
>>> have gotten stiff.
>>>
>>> It's not under warranty. Maybe half the new price if *everything* is
>>> like new and there's no obvious damage.
>>>
>>> At some point, too, you've got to decide if shipping 40-50 lbs is worth
>>> it.  Shipping UPS for something that size is about $75-80 depending on
>>> where it's going.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     There are few if any recent examples on the usual swap forums and I’d
>>>> like to sell them locally (they’re very heavy).
>>>>
>>>> - The first is a used G-2800 SDX rotor and controller. Nothing special
>>> other
>>>> than its fully functional with all parts included. It had been mounted
>> on
>>> a
>>>> tower for 15 years rotating a VHF stack (6, 2, 1.25 and 0.7-meter
>> yagis).
>>>>
>>>> - The second is a relatively new (1 ½ years old) G-2800 DXA rotor,
>>>> controller and tower shock absolver. The controller has the optional
>>>> remote-control interface installed. It had been mounted on the tower
>> but,
>>>> the owner passed away before the full VHF array could be assembled. It’s
>>>> also fully functional with all parts included.
>>>>
>>>> Any advice would be appreciated.
>>>> (this is not an offer to sell them)
>>>>
>>>> 73, Jim
>>>> K0MHC
>>>> Kerrville, TX
>>>
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