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Reviews For: Alfa-SPID rotor

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Alfa-SPID rotor
Reviews: 53MSRP: 1055
Description:
ALFASPID rotors are of a high quality with Torque to spare. They are custom made to withstand harsh conditions.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.alfaradio.ca/alfaspid.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00534.1
VE9OX Rating: 2013-05-15
Solid Product. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using the Alfa Spid for 2 years now and it's time I wrote a review.
First, great service is hard to beat.
Mitch at AlfaRadio in Edmonton Alberta is a great guy to deal with.
My Alfa Spid RAK is aiming a Hy-Gain 204BA 4 element 20 meter Monobander Yagi at 80 feet and below it at 74 feet, a 40 meter Monoband 2 Element Yagi on a 2 inch dia. Schedule 40 steel mast above the 72 foot tower.
The rotor is mounted 8 feet below the tower top and I use a Rohn heavy duty ball bearing at the top of the tower.

That's 110lbs. of antenna with very heavy New Brunswick East Coast winter winds and icing not to mention sideways driven hilltop summer winds and rain.
Best part of the Spid rotor is that if
(and when) the antennas shift in very high winds, it is a snap to correct beam direction without ever having to leave the ground.
I did have problem at first with the Spid controller having a segment display section go dim and that was replaced promptly.

This rotor is rugged and stable with the double worm gear design and that slick looking controller box giving the best performance I have seen in a rotor system since being licensed in 1979 as VE1BQH.
To power the Rotor I use two 12V 7.5 amp Astron DC power supplies in series to rotate the arrays 360 degrees in 1 and 1/2 minutes.



PA5CW Rating: 2013-04-23
goog rotator Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After 10 year of use with an Tennadyne T8 antenna, the rotator failed to turn.

After taking it down it seemed that left turn was very noisy I took the rotator apart and changed the grease, there was no damage in the rotator.

After taking apart the motor, the carbon brushes seem worn.
I bought some new ones that were a bit longer and with build in spring. I shortened the brushes on a grindstone and replaced them.

The rotator worked like before. Hope it will last another 10 years.

Kees PA5CW
K0TVD Rating: 2012-10-08
Super Strong! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After using the Alpha-Spid Big RAK for about 9 months, I have to say that it is the best rotator I have used in the 54 years that I have been a ham! Easy 4-wire hook up. I purchased mine from MFJ and they had it here within the week. Living on a farm in Iowa, we get high winds here and my old HyGain Tailtwister T2X would sometimes fail to move my large 20 meter array but that is a thing of the past. I think I could rotate my house with this rotator! Use with the Green Heron controller makes operating a breeze!
OZ1GCT Rating: 2012-07-27
I am very pleased Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have just mounted a Alfa-Spid RAU to turn my Cushcraft MA5B Mini-beam, after my Yaesu stopped working. I am very pleased with the Spid, and my neighbours love it, it's totally silent. My Yaesu 450 was very, very loud..
9A3VV Rating: 2012-07-25
Great one! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Alfa Spid RAU, the smallest of Alfa Spid rotors, in use since january 2012. Experienced several violent wind storms with no problems at all. Double worm gear holds it firm in position. Simple and rugged mechanics. No maintenance necessary. Using it with K4KIO's hex beam for 20 to 6 meters, atop of 2 in. OD mast. See www.qrz.com/db/9a3vv. Best buy, worth every cent!
K0UO Rating: 2012-02-27
Super strong has performed flawlessly Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have a RAK 1C, I have owned the rotor for about one year and haven't had any problems. My previous rotors were the M2 2800 and the largest prop pitch using the M2 control box which both had numerous control box problems, also the tailtwister, HRD 300 and many others and they all are DOA.
I'm very happy with this rotor and the controller it is built of steel not soft aluminium castings and it is very easy to understand with a the double worm gear drive making a simple and strong design. This unit has no breaks or pots to go bad, it does not generate any interference to my radios, and I see no quality control problems like some other reviews have stated. I really like the control box and mouse too it works with most PC program.
I purchased it from MFJ, they did not have a unit in stock and it did take about a month or two to receive the unit which did not make me unhappy with MFJ. The main unit is installed at 160 feet, turning a 36 foot log about 20 to 25 Sq ft of antenna. I'm located in the high plains of westeren Kansas where we have had numerous windstorms of over 60 mph with ice since the insatll. I started using 12 volts to turn it, but it took 2 min for a full revolution. I purchased a MFJ variable power supply which goes to 24 Volts now the rotor turns a full revolution in 1 min and only pulls a few amps, this makes a very nice setup at low cost. I would recommend this rotor and set up to anyone. My my tower is located over 300 foot from my ham shack and I just used 3/12 house wire the ground makes up 4 wires. I have never experienced promblems with the controllor or in directional calibration (read the book and it will work).
Also I like and the clever mounting system that easily allows it to be mounted anywhere in your antenna mast line, inside or outside of you tower and you can route the cables through it also.
Bottom line is that it is Super strong has performed flawlessly in very high wind, ice and snow with large antennas, see my QRZ page K0UO!

Steve K0UO V31KW
K1LU Rating: 2012-01-26
Very good Rotor & Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased the Alfa-Spid Big RAK about 2 years ago, at which time also purchased an R-21 control by GRE. Installation into top section of Tri-Ex LM470D was simpler & quiker than anticipated. It requires only a 4 wire cable. It easily handles a 22' steel mast with 1/4" wall + 4L SteppIR at 72' and a 2L M2 40M beam at 85'. Instruction manual is good but does not contain a schematic nor a picture of chassis containing electronics.

Live in valley that is prone to frequent lightening year round. Was hit recently and quickly determined, using a VOM and the trouble shooting suggestions in manual that the problem must be the "reed switch." Physically checked it out---reed was burned. Access to the electronics in the rotor couldn't have been easier. Remove 5 screws that don't come all the way out of the plastic cover, so little chance of losing any of them. The chassis pops out with a slick of the wrist with screw driver on edge of plastic chassis. On rear is reed, cut it out and solder in new one using a piece of scotch tape to hold the device in place. Be very careful with reeds---made of glass, very tiny and delicate. Don't put any pressure on it or leads; otherwise, you might break a couple as I did. Make sure wires inside the reed lay parallel to the chassis, not perpendicular. Takes 10 to 15 minutes to perform this repair.

This type of event has occurred with other rotors that I've owned, but this was the absolute easiest to repair---absolutely no need to take rotor down.

The shipping container that the rotor comes in is not really strong enough for the task. It will probably be crunched when received, but fortunately the rotor is wrapped in lots of bubble type material and thus no injuries to the it.

Found that calls and e-mails to Hy-Gain (Distributor) and Alfa-Spid, Ltd. gained immediate responses. Parts are available from Hy-Gain or Alfa-Spid, but if might be quicker to get electronics from a company like Mouser if you are somewhat impatient as the writer is. Also, I found that Green Heron Engineering is very quick to respond to calls and e-mails regarding their products. And the follow-up by these three companies was very good as well.
Jim K1LU
IK8TEO Rating: 2011-05-13
Spid RAU Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hello everyone,
I bought the Spid RAU, the smallest of the series, after carefully reading your comments on eham.net and now that it's mounted I can tell you my experience.
I needed a light and strong pole mount rotor, with no cage, and I was immediately struck by the RAU for its mechanical and electronic.
It mount bearing drive shafts used in off-road and has a mounting system with 4 pins passing, easier and more effective use of traditional brackets.
The rotor uses reed switches and not the classic pot that has no limits in the mechanical rotation and can be reset to zero degrees at any position you are. It has a resolution of 1 degree.
I use the Spid RAU to turn my 2 element yagi dynamic, supported by poles arise by force of arms. The system is simple, light and effective and it is visible on my page or QRZ.com or on my channel on Youtube.
The rotor, double worm, has absolutely no side play and is powered by a 4-conductor shielded 1.5 mm long by 25 meters.
Tested directly next to the radio station did not generate any interference, both in HF and VHF / UHF.
Excellent control box, small and full, with the functions you use in manual, preset and control computer. It has the round flat type CB microphone but there is also a preferable version with terminals.
Do not use the mouse options so it is very sensitive to RF.
I bought it directly from the factory by friendly and very helpful Mr. Bielecki.
After 20 years of amateur radio I can say that the Spid RAU is much higher than many other famous rotors.
Best 73 de Francesco IK8TEO
K6UM Rating: 2010-09-22
Good so far Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After losing my 3rd HD73, it was time for a bigger rotator. I liked the worm gear drive so I chose the RAK. It has gone through two mild winds with no problems. I was unable to get the RS232 connection working in any emulation mode with any of my software. I discovered PstRotator, which controls the RAK in native mode. I can now control this rotator in WriteLog. The 4 rating is only due to not having a big wind storm to see how it handles that.
DK3NG Rating: 2010-05-26
Would not buy it again Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have an RAK and a RAS. Both suffer from the same problem in that they lose directional calibration at random (no, it's not mechanical slippage!). While I can live with this on my RAK which turns a three-element HF beam as it is relatively easy to reset the controller, it is INTOLERABLE on my RAS which is employed in a four-antenna 144 MHz EME array. If the system loses its settings at night time there is no possibility of recalibrating the controller (needs to be done on sun noise for best results). When directional calibration is lost, indication can be off by as much as 100 degrees. I have had two replacement controllers sent by the Polish manufacturer - all to no avail.

I was contacted by a chap claiming to be a director of the Canadian parent company offering to help resolve the problem. After answering his many questions relating to symptoms, measurements and so on and providing a raft of suggestions concerning possible improvements, I never heard from him again.

I was offered a complete refund by the German distributor but have not taken the company up on it (yet) because removing the rotator from the antenna is a project in itself.

I am now working on setting up a non-proprietary controller.

In my view, the company have some important quality problems to address.

Mechanically the rotators appear to be ok, although the mast clamping arrangements leave something to be desired, too.

As I said, never again!