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Reviews For: HyGain DCU-1 for Ham IV/V and T2X

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : HyGain DCU-1 for Ham IV/V and T2X
Reviews: 11MSRP: 619.95
Description:
Digital rotor control box
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/hy-gain/products.php?prodid=DCU-1
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
11111.5
N8WRL Rating: 2023-03-24
Doesn't age well at all Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Very disappointed with this. Others have noted the problems with the display - and they are legion. Mine is 5-6 years old, way out of warranty, and almost all of the digits are either out or flash. I have to look out the window to see which way it's pointing.

The other problem is the glass display "bezel." It's loose and moves around. Not a huge problem since it's mostly just red with some branding, but since it's sitting low in the unit I can see circuit board behind it.

Definitely not worth the price.
N1API Rating: 2016-07-29
Poor Engineering Design! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this unit 4 years ago as part of a new Tailtwister Rotor System. Though the rotor itself is an excellent piece of equipment I am disappointed in the DCU-1 Controller.

The major problem with this lies in the choice of a Gas Plasma Tube for the display. After just about two years the display started to loose segments. I had it replaced.

Now just two years from that the same thing is happening. I am loosing segments on the display, First of all I contacted Hy-Gain and they did not reply to my query. I then contacted them again and finally they wrote saying that is "usually" bad solder joints and not the display itself. After explaining that they've already gone through it once for replacement of the display there should be no solder issues, they said that the replacement of the display is more than the purchase price of the DCU-2 with the LCD display.

I have gotten feedback from other DCU-1 owners who say they have the same problem. Looks like it's time that Hy-Gain designs a retrofit for this to replace the Gas Plasma with the LCD display.

I do not recommend this unit.
KB1NXE Rating: 2012-02-02
Not Worth the $$$ Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased one to replace the analog T2X controller I was using. I did not like the absence of directional feedback. I mean the DCU-1 only will 'jump' the readout to the chosen heading. It does not read the heading from the resistor. It assumes the heading you selected!

Since I use HRD and like the feedback of the current direction (and the warm/fuzzy feeling of seeing the heading change to the selected heading), I went back to my original controller.

I would not recommend upgrading to this controller. Use an analog controller with a add on card (like Idiom Press if they still are doing business) and be much happier.
K3PA Rating: 2011-06-04
Awful Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Unreliable, many display digits are out after a short time. Usual MFJ non-existant quality. (Yes, they are MFJ now)
KX7P Rating: 2010-12-10
OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just sorta ok. I agree with most of the negative comments listed on prior reviews so I won't repeat.

It's very expensive for what it actually does.

It's working ok, but nothing special at all. I'm using it because I paid for it, but I would not buy again or recommend. It has not broke so I gave it a 3.
HB9AZT Rating: 2010-05-10
poor design... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
There is absolutely no reason to buy that rotator controller. RS-232-control is possible, but not even any feedback from the device to send the true azimuth of the rotator back to the control software. What a lousy product design! Buy any other rotator controller, add good serial interface like the ERC from schmidt-alba engineering and you will get what you really need for much less bucks! Asked for a firmware update for implementation of feedback, but nothing available.
XE1R Rating: 2010-02-09
1 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The control unit loose the calibration direction.

I changed the memory EPROM, and the failure repeat at any time.

Too much expensive.

The direction memory is very inacurate + - 15-20 Deg.

I will send to the JUNK parts.
K4KAL Rating: 2006-07-19
Works Good until it Breaks! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used a Ham-IV for year with great success, and have frequently swapped the one on the tower with one that I had rebuild. Since my purchase of a SteppIR antenna, I wanted to interface it with my logging program as well as my rotor. I purchased a DCU-1, and the connectivity works great through a Serial Cable to my computer. Well the day finally came recently where my unit broke. The display worked, but the antenna would not turn.

I sent my unit back to the Manufacturer vs a third party thinking it would be fixed like new and to my amazement, when I got my DCU-1 back after about 6 weeks from Hygain in Mississippi, and paying a $300.00 bill, it did not work.

The only thing I can say is Jim Shurden at Hygain said he would follow up on this personally. I have a lot of faith with Jim, but there Tech needs personality training in dealing with customers.

If I had to do it again, I would not send it back to Hygain, I would find someone else to fix it.
K2BK Rating: 2005-04-14
nice looking, poor quality Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased this to replace a rotor that was damaged in a wind storm. It looked really nice in the QST ad, but was poor from the start. With only two years of use, the digits are missing many sections and are impossible to read - MFJ says a few hundred bucks to replace the digital unit :(

I will get a Yeasu 2800 to replace this useless dog.
W9BDN Rating: 2004-02-24
Poor product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It bought a new DCU-1 and Tailtwister rotor 14 months ago. The DCU-1 presets are not very accurate. As much as 15 degrees off and no way to manually "jog it" to the desired setting. When using the decoder, it must be turned real slow or the readout jumps 10-30 degrees. The Tailtwister brake solenoid finally failed so the DCU-1 problems are now minor. Going to try a Yaesu G2800, I've heard good things about them.