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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
SQ5EBM Rating: 2006-01-02
Heavy Duty,tough as a tank,polish made Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi!

I have a SPID rotator since 1996. One of the early models if i am not mistaken. It turns a Th5DXmk2+9el on 2m + vertical on 6/2/70. Never had any problems... solid, heavy duty polish-made rotator. Customer support from SPID in Zyrardow (http://www.spid.alpha.pl/) was always top notch. Yes, it is noisy... controller could be better, menu could be smiplier... but for the price of a 0.10 of some Yaesu rotator it is much better.
I would not buy any other rotator... this one is as tough as a tank.

73
Maciej "Miles" Muszalski
SQ5EBM
WWW.TEBY.NET Team
HB9DRV Rating: 2005-08-21
Excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just put the AlfaSpid RAS (AZ/EL) into operation via computer software. An excellent product, well built and ready for computer use without requiring any extra interfaces.

I would buy another immediately.

Pictures at the bottom of http://www.hb9drv.ch/photo.htm
VK5JJJ Rating: 2005-08-21
Excellent Product! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
A nice compact rotator with lots of torque. The control box is nice and small. One of the best features is the ability to power the unit with either AC or DC up to 24 V. You can reverse polarity it! More volts means more speed and less current.

Also you only need 4 wire cable - 2 for power, 2 for data (not polarity conscious). Interfaces with TRX-Manager in Alfa Spid 1 mode at 1200 baud. Just click on the DX spot and away she goes! Cost effective too!.

I'm impressed. Now to get it up the tower
PA2FB Rating: 2005-06-13
Rotor great, controller could be better Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Rotator is heavy duty so no problems and that should be 5 like SP5QIP said.
No problems at all, strong etc. great 5!

But I run also into these problems with the controller:

1 - very noisy (work most of the time at 144 Mhz SSB, strong noise here) will try the fix GM4JJJ suggested. (just saw it)

2 - I have tried to block RF butt did not succeed complete yet, when I use HF (80m) the box changes still. So when I am working at 80m I turn the controller off. This is annoying (sometimes I forget and have to recalibrate the north again)
Will try to block RF better, note: my longwire for 80m is starting next to the rotor so that is probably the cause.

3 - I have to put the controller off before powerdown the 12V supply, it is an big supply takes forever to powerdown so slow decrease in voltage, sometimes the controller changes the setting when powering up again.

Average: Great rotor, controller could be better.
W0NCL Rating: 2004-05-23
A Great Product! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I finally have enough time with this rotor to write a credible review. I put this up in November 2003 on a Triex LM470D crankup tower. I moved to a new qth last year that’s atop of a hill with no trees around. A real antenna paradise I thought! But, the wind is very brisk here in Iowa almost all the time. I didn’t think my tailtwister would cut it for the long haul so I started looking around for rotors. My search led me to the alfaspid. I started talking to the folks at Alfa in the spring of 2003. I was concerned about the rotor fitting into the tower. My concern was justified; it just barely fits into the top section of the 470. Don at Alfa was very helpful getting me pics of installed rotors to see how it would work for me. I looked at the rotor at Dayton last year and was very impressed! I ordered the rotor and finally got my project(antenna and tower) up by November. I should also mention Im turning a Hygain 205CA(5 element 34 ft boom 20 meter monobander) that sits between 23-70 feet.

Im very impressed with how this rotor has behaved. We have had at least 2 instances of 60mph winds at my qth with no movement by the rotor. The mouse works great with the controller box, its really a nice feature! Im running this with just about 15 vdc off a regular power supply. It takes a while to turn at that voltage, but Im not usually in a real big hurry to move anything quickly. It can be used at 24vdc and maybe someday I will get around to supplying it with that voltage so it can turn a little quicker. Ive had no controller noise that others have complained about and Ive used it on 2 different HF rigs, the 850 and Mark 5. This is a tough rotor and should be considered by anyone who wants a reliable way to turn some pretty big antenna systems. Highly recommended.
SQ7DQX Rating: 2004-05-15
Yes - its noisy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
1. - I found "cold" solder in connector box. No problem. I resoldered it (on the roof).
2. - NOISY - on 50MHz and on 144MHz !!
3. - I dont like this mouse. Memory switches should be mounted in front panel of driver and/or little device connected to driver (but not inside computer rebulid mouse). I will do it by myself.
4. - Very easy setup and N calibration.
5. - 6 memory, correction, 1 or 0,66 degree step
6. - construction seems to be easy repaired.
7. - good for all antenna system - lightweight and heavy yagis (and verticals on the top of the mast).

Its works well, except p. 2 and 3.
VE3NFK Rating: 2004-04-19
Great Value! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Super strong - has performed flawlessly in wind/ice and snow with a 4el SteppIR at 70 feet.
Controller connects to computer with supplied cable - and programs like TRX-Manager do a great job of control. Unit is standard with a 720 degree turning - you can request limit switches which I installed (which reduces it to 372 degrees). Speed varies with voltage/power applied to motor - I use 24 V DC and it takes 1 minute 15 seconds to turn 360 degrees. It can be North or South facing - and the 8 bolts to attach the top and bottom msst hold very well. Unit is made of steel; I don't think corrosion would be a problem - but some black rust paint every few years would probably be a good idea! Heavy-duty gears and well-greased; quiet and accurate to one degree. North resettable from the shack. All-in-all a great unit - it replaced my constant problem Tailtwisters.
XV2PS Rating: 2003-12-17
control box could improve Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Antenna is LPDA 7 el, no problem at that level. The rotator looks strong, but as seems being made of iron, I would wonder about corosion.

Control box: yes, generates noise on HF (signal sometimes 9), but not on all frequencies. Other problem, when swr not clearly low (LPDA), it changes the settings. I always have to reset the rotor. A friend gave me the components to block rf, but no time fixing yet. Meanwhile, while not working, I turn it off.
SP5QIP Rating: 2003-10-22
Strong, but noisy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I don`t know what score I should give to it. Rotator is heavy duty - so I can give 5.
But.....
Controller is making noise on HF. That`s the problem of IC`s driving display and the display. Maybe producer will build new one with LCD display? Noise will disappear, lower power consummption, cost is the same. Now I have to switch off the controller every time I`m rotating antennas.
So... for controller I can give 1.
Average 3.
Now I`m building my own rotator controller with LCD display. I will pass information about it when it will be ready and tested.
Mike
KB9CRY Rating: 2003-10-21
Super Value Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My Spid is rotating a KLM 3 el 40M yagi up 120 ft. (32 ft. boom, 42 ft. elements, about 75 lbs). It's been up only about a month now and I'll let the group know how it fairs during the upcoming Chicago winter. I have high hopes that it will do the job for many maintenance free years. My tower is located 600 ft. from the shack and I've run #10 UF (Romex) cable for the power and fire control cable (pair of #18) for the positioner. I can run between 12 to 24 volts out to the unit. I really like the small control box with large digital readout and the presets with the special mouse are really useful. Compared to other rotators with similar specs; it's "The Bomb". Highly recommended. Phil KB9CRY