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[W2KDR]

Good afternoon HAMs,  I put up a 50' Rohn 25 tower to suspend my HF OCF Windom HF antenna and to support my Diamond 2m 5 element Beam which I mounted on an RCA VH226F rotator.  It uses a 3-wire cable.  I've had the rotator for a couple of years.  Recently, it stopped working.  When I try to turn it CW or CCW it does nothing.  After checking all I could I took it down.  The only time I can get it to rotate is when I go through the Initialization sequence and during the sequence it will turn a full 360 degrees and then automatically return to the home position.  There's no visible damage to the rotator or the controller.  Obviously, this is a light weight lower cost unit.  But, it has been perfect for supporting my 2m beam antenna.  First question I have is-Will any controller that has 3-wire output work?  I've had difficulty finding troubleshooting information online for these rotators.  There are a few older controllers such as a Channel Master 9510 available online/Ebay in the $30-$40 range.  I can buy the upgraded version of the RCA I have for $100.  Thanks for any guidance/info any of you can offer.  73
Kevin Bowling Green, KY (W2KDR)

[K7MEM]

I wouldn't think that any 3-wire controller will work. Now that you have it down, have you actually opened up the boxes and inspected the circuit boards and wiring? When it's on the mast, moisture can get in and corrode contacts. My guess is that most of the electronics is in the control unit. The unit on the mast should just be a synchronous motor.

The problem is that, they made these things too complicated. I have a old (1990s) Radio Shack rotator that I use for the same reason. It's a bit rusty, crusty, and a little noisy, but it always works. The whole thing is just two synchronous motors. You turn one, on the control box, and the other, on the antenna mast, follows suite. Couldn't be simpler. And, I even have a drawing with troubleshooting info. I think I paid $15 for it at a ham fest. You could always wait for the next ham fest and see what is available.

The Channel Master that you see on EBay is similar to my Radio Shack rotator . You won't have all of the bells and whistles that the RCA unit has, but it will probably work fine.

[W2KDR]

Thanks Martin.  I did open both the motor and the controller to see if I could find anything that looked bad.  Pretty much all the electronics are in the controller.  Not much in the motor but a capacitor and the motor and other mechanical elements.  I was hoping I might be able to get a really cheap basic control as long as it is a 3 wire model to try and see if I can get the motor going again.  If I have to spend much more I could just buy a whole new RCA system or spend a bit more for a Hygain event a bit more for a Yaesu.  I didn't buy a much better unit to begin with since I am just supporting the light 5 element 2m beam.  As far as bells/whistles, I could get by fine with a basic rotor control like the channel master I referenced earlier.  Thanks, Kevin  W2KDR