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Reviews For: TIC Ring Rotor 1022

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : TIC Ring Rotor 1022
Reviews: 11MSRP: 995.00
Description:
True "On the Tower Positioning" for a full 360' of rotation.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ticgen.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00114.1
K8ZOG Rating: 2012-12-18
Good Rotor Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased two 1022's from Carl in June of 2012, one has a HyGain 204BA and the other has a Telrex Triband yagi that is 110 Lbs. Carl was always ready to answer qustions and offer advice. Read the install directions and use them, don't think that you know better than him. I installed them on a spare section of tower and tested each one, both were very well made and well thought out. I installed and removed one 4 times on the ground. I had the install down pat including all the tools that I needed before I ever went up the tower, start to finish was 45 minutes per rotor. use a level and a tape to make sure its all square and stright and they will not give a minutes trouble. I have had them up for better than 6 months and had to go up the tower for another issue, I checked both Tic's and they are still tight and working great.
There are 2 things that I would like to see, a cover for the motor and pot gearing to keep snow and ice off of the gears. You are better off to call carl, Emails can sometimes not be answered, he always answers the phone or calls back within a few minutes.
G0OIL Rating: 2011-10-09
Overall OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this rotor second-hand from another amateur who thought it too heavy for his tower.

It's now been up there since 1999 without major issues. The overall construction is excellent.

I had one problem and that was the plastic worm drive in the original motor - it failed in our windy location. The plastic gears stripped off inside the unit. I repaired the motor unit by building my own out of a Range Rover windscreen wiper motor.

I bought a new motor unit and housing from the manufacturer, but the gearing was all wrong and he seemed reluctant to just sell the necessary gears for me to effect a change. With the new unit the beam only rotated through 270 degrees before the internal potentiometer ran full scale, so the Range Rover windscreen DIY motor is back up there now.

Overall construction is very heavy-duty and it's been up there turning my 15m beam for over a decade. None of the galvanising has corroded and none of the ring teeth have got damaged in any way.

I believe that the motor has been redesigned on later units.

I'd recommend this product. Last time I looked it wasn't available in Europe due to lack of CE certification (stupid bureaucracy that the stupid EU enforces - the sooner we leave the EU the better IMHO) so anyone over here would have to do a DIY import.
W0ZT Rating: 2005-11-29
first class product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have three model 1048 units installed on two crankup towers. I strongly recommend assembling the entire unit on the ground before attempting to do it on the tower. Once you get the hang of it, they go together very quickly. I had one minor problem with calibration after about three months and had to return one motor to Carl. He had it back to me in two days! With that exception, the three have worked flawlessly for over two years and extensive contesting. We love the speed of the units, much faster than the propitch motors that turn the antennas on the top of the towers. Each unit turns a HF yagi with a boom length of over 44 ft with no problems. The preset controllers are very functional for contesting.....dial and go. Carl provides outstanding customer service.
WF5W Rating: 2004-03-31
15 yr old 1033 still like a rock. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This rotor was bigger/heavier than the 1022. It has been in continous operation since 1992, up at 90 feet on Rohn 55 tower, supporting a 46 foot boom 5 ele 20 meter monobander. This week had problem with a limit switch - called Carl, he said he had one in hand and would send it by priority mail - free - how is that for long time guarantee.....American made, If you need a real rotator - this is the company!!
ANDYMASTERSEXNU5O Rating: 2003-07-27
Built like a battleship! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a 100 foot SSV Rohn self supporting tower. If you know much about these towers, you know the top section (1W) will not take much wind load. I recently purchased a Sommer XP-508 yagi (12.5 square feet) and was faced with the dilemma of dropping off the top section or adding a side mount rotor at the 80 foot level. I chose the later route.

I had a lot of anticipation about plunking down the change for one of these site unseen, especially after reading some of the anonymous reviews here on EHAM.

Well here is my perspective. I bought the Sommer beam first, it uses dual square tubes for the boom and has a special mounting bracket. When I first talked with Carl at TicRing, he allowed that the TicRing had been used on SSV towers before but he did not remember much about the way it went up. So I sent him my mounting brackets, a copy of my antenna manual, and an engineering diagram of the 2W section of my tower to get the leg diameters.

What I got in return was a FIRST CLASS custom made saddle adaptor bracket for my 1022D rotor assembly. I had ZERO problems mounting the Sommer to this bracket on the rotor. The whole assemble works great. It is solid as a rock. I can jump up and down on it on the tower and it does not move, it is so solid.

What I learned. First, do as the manual suggests, I put it together twice on the ground in my garage before I put it up on the tower so I could figure out how it works. I did have a few issues to resolve. Two of my custom bracket bolts were not long enough by 1 inch. I had to purchase two more. Imagine if I had discovered that on the tower instead of on the ground. Second, the shims for my tower legs were too big. This was frustrating but not earth shaking and Carl is now aware of that issue. I solved this by placing j-bolts between the tower leg and the shim and it works great. I followed the instructions for the calibration and had no issues rotor alignment.

When I put the rotor up on the tower, I was the only person on the tower. My son was my ground crew and sent me up pieces in 5 gallon buckets. I put the mount on first, then the ring and then the rotor. Go slow. Don't tighten everything up as you go. Wait until you are done and follow the instructions. There is a procedure to tightening the bolts.

The digital control box is a nice touch. It seems to be free from RFI both going and coming.

Remember that your coax rotor loop is going to be above your antenna and not below. This is a bit tricky and I may add a tension spring to mine to be 100% comfortable with my loop. I know another ham that had his loop drop down and get caught in the rotor ring.

The rotor is quiet, strong, and very functional. It is the exact answer to my problem. All steel components are hot dip galvanized and all stress points are reinforced. Carl included the normal clamps with the rotor so that I can go to a round boom antenna without have to order anything else.

I talked with Carl 4 or 5 times during this process and never got anything less than a positive experience and good, honest answers.

I would not hesitate to do business with him again.
WX0B Rating: 2001-08-30
No Problems 2 years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My Tic was purchase at Dayton in 99. It has turned a M2 40 and now a full sized Cal-AV 40m beam with out failure or problems. I updated to the new digital controller, and its even better! Carl has really done a good job of beefing the new ones up over my "older" unit. The anonomous guy who posted the reviews should ask for help. Carl will do alot to fix things. I liked mine so much I talked Carl in letting us rep him. So far all customers are happy even the ARMY - Thanks Carl.....Jay, WX0B www.arraysolutions.com
MAGARA Rating: 2000-06-03
Helpful Website Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For anyone who has recently purchased a TIC Ringrotor and is having trouble setting up their control box, I just found a downloadable Manual on the company's website that will simplify setup.

Go to "Downloads"

http://www.ticgen.com
W4TE Rating: 1999-10-25
Easy to use, fair customer service Time Owned: unknown months.
I have had the large tic ring up 5 years turning a 20M 5 element monobander. It has worked flawlessly. Customer service has improved. A recent lightning strike damaged my controller and a potentiometer. I sent the damaged equipment back and it was promptly repaired. I have been discussing a controller with RS232 support but it is extremely slow in being developed. They do not want to release a product that they are unhappy with.

All in all a dependable unit that went up easily and has provided good service.
ANONYMOUS Rating: 1999-09-30
Not for the faint hearted! Time Owned: unknown months.
If you want full 360 degree rotation on a sidemount, the TIC ring is your only current choice. Consider very carefully whether you need all 360 degrees, because you will pay dearly for it. The TIC is a good idea on paper, but unfortunately as one other poster put it, "execution is terrible."
Poor documentation, errors in design and manufacturing, and difficult installation help contrubite to numerous reliability problems. Support exists, but you will pay for that too in time, work, and money. Don't expect a TIC ring to go up easily and work reliably like a Hy-Gain rotator or other similar equipment. Expect a lot of work, headaches and frustration. Just ask around.

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Earlier 0-star review posted by ANONYMOUS on 1999-09-02

If you plan to turn anything reliably, than you aren't considering this rotor or this company. I really think they mean well, but their execution is terrible. Unfortunately there are no competitors for this product.
N2NU Rating: 1999-09-03
Good, but be mechanically inclined Time Owned: unknown months.
I have had a number of these (6) installed for 4-5 years and have had relatively few problems; most peoples problems with these are due to improper construction (they are difficult to install correctly). I have had to replace potentiometers in the motor unit (difficult to do) and op amps in the indicator unit (not too bad) due to lightning damage. Customer service has been ok (about the same as the