Steve:

I have had HiGain rotators for all of my hamlife (since '58) and have always put bolts through the mast/rotator interface. Through many big wind storms, I have never had a rotator failure due to this from a windstorm. The Msquare RC2800P-A rotator manual specifically recommends against it. 

I have had discussions with them over the phone about this and they reiterate this point. An important thing to do when tightening the Msquare rotator clamp is to tighten the 6 bolts holding the rotator to the mast, and then tighten the bolts holding that clamp to the rotator top plate. I don't question that bolts can stretch over time, but I believe that these are Grade 8 bolts and shouldn't do that. You can always go to a higher grade strength if you think it necessary. I have had only one slippage with mine and that was because it wasn't tightened in this fashion. It is now. I haven't had it up long enough and in enough wind storms since to know if that is going to eliminate this problem. Fortunately with a motorized crank-up US Tower in my case, I can just nest the tower, reposition and retighten. I would rather reposition and re-tighten than replace a rotator. 

If anyone wants a definitive answer on this re Msquare rotators, contact Mike (owner and one of the M's in Msquare and KLM<). He is a very nice man who goes out of his way to help. You can go to the bank with what he tells you.

John Owens - N7SEJ

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