[TowerTalk] 4O3A Rotor Genius

[George Skoubis]

Hi Rich,

  I purchased the Rotor Genius a few months ago.  

  I had the reed switch fail on my M2 2800 (for the second time) and I was fiddling around with my Tic Ring Pot and gears.  

  I ordered the DXE pots and gears for the Tic-Ring but the Rotor Genius makes them irrelevant.  

  I mounted the Rotor Genius at the base of my tower in the same cabinet that the Lightning arrestors are in.  

  I have a mesh WiFi network that covers our 4 acres and one of the nodes is mounted here as well.  

 This gives me access to the network for the Rotor Genius as there is an Ethernet port. 

  I don’t have the Tic-Ring up on the tower yet but have tested it on a table nearby.  

  The M2 2800 has been working well with the Rotor Genius.  

  I would buy another Rotor Genius after having one...

  I tried purchasing the Rotor Genius through Scott at Vibroplex as they are a dealer but they didn’t have any because of the pandemic.  I used the 4O3A website contact information and was able to buy one directly.  I’m not sure of the current situation with Vibroplex, maybe they have been able to work out the logistics.  

  By the way, I’m pretty sure my Tic-Ring came from you via Tim / N6WIN... I was looking for dimensions on the brackets you built for a crank up tower and found you had made extras and had some in the box.  

  I just have to assemble my JK Mid-Tri-40 and Mid-Tri and put everything up on the tower to see how well the Tic-Ring works with the Rotor Genius and a real load. 

  I’ve been slowed down building a guest house. That was part of the negotiations with my wife when we purchased the property.  I get room for Ham Radio and a big RV garage/ Hamshack and she gets a guest house for my mother in-law.   

  We’re putting in the flooring now so it won’t be long before the old antennas come down the the Tic-Ring goes up.  

  Good Luck with your decision...

George / W7GES 


> On May 29, 2021, at 12:11 PM, Les Brown <lesbrown at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> Rich,
>   I started using the Rotator Genius when the potentiometer in the rotator
> started to act up. It works fairly well. You have to be careful in setting
> the voltage options. It uses PWM to modulated the input voltage. The soft
> start/stop is way too short in my opinion and I told them so. It is a
> fraction of a second. I analyzed the output waveform in great detail last
> year. They told me that they would be redesigning the controller hopefully
> to improve the soft start/stop and to give more predictable output waveforms
> for the various settings.
>   You also have to mount the sensor on the boom of a beam far enough away
> from the tower legs so as to have a reliable reading (before calibration).
> Calibration does correct for most errors though.
> 73, Les VE3NNT
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
> Richard Thorne
> Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2021 12:45 PM
> To: tower and HF Antenna Construction Topics. <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Subject: [TowerTalk] 4O3A Rotor Genius
> 
> Anyone out in TowerTalk land using a Rotor Genius to control their rotor.
> 
> I'd like to get your thoughts on how it works.  I'm interested in using it
> on a Tic Ring rotor (so the pot is not needed) and a M2 Orion 2800.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Rich - N5ZC
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