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Reviews For: Yaesu G-800S & SDX

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Yaesu G-800S & SDX
Reviews: 47MSRP: 275.
Description:
17 sq. ft. wind load rotator
Product is in production
More Info:
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15474.5
KG4HUP Rating: 2011-02-16
WORKS GREAT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi All,
I had mine up for 10 years when a ice storm broke the boom on the 2 element 5 band guad by lightningbolt. Had to repair with cubex spreaders and boom. Took the rotar down an took apart an greased all the bearing witch were dry. It is back in service an doing a great job an I fill it should go another 10 years then need grease. Works great. Tom Fisher KG4HUP
K4PBX Rating: 2011-02-15
Mixed Opinion Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I know this an old review but what the heck......
I purchased this rotor in 1998. Used it for 2 years without issues in south Georgia. Around the 2 year mark everything was taken down and placed in heated/air conditioned storage until 2010. Set everything back up and found the rotor would go only one speed left (slow), CCW, and variable speed right CW. Figuring it would "work itself out" I let it go. After 3 months it never worked itself out and now the motor is making a terrible noise in the CCW direction. The problem I am having is that it was only used for 2 years and now I have to go through the trouble of taking it off the tower etc. Would this have happened if I used it all these years? Dont know. Wondering if anyone else had or has a similar issue?
N2QQF Rating: 2009-08-17
Very Good Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had the Yaesu 800 rotor for some time and I must admit it is very good for the money. I have had a CD-45 and another Hy-gain rotor and they are fine but not nearly as good as the Yaesu rotor is. The rotation is much smoother and overall it is fairly quite which does not matter much since it is outside but none the less it is still quieter. The rotor is much easier to align than the Hy-gain rotors since you could almost point anywhere and correct after it is in the air. This was not the case with my Hy-gain rotors which took time to align it properly.

Overall the Yaesu rotor is much more appealing and looks better. The construction in my opinion is much better and the performance is certainly better. The controller looks more up to date and integrates well with my shack as it has a much richer and modern feel to it. Some of the other manufactures have not updated the rotor controllers and quite frankly they look dated. Now please do not get me wrong this does not in anyway improve the performance but aesthetics are in deed important to me. I would not hesitate to buy another rotor from Yaesu. I like the rotor plug but in reality it might be difficult to replace off the shelf if needed so, this is why I gave it a 4 out of 5, simple becasue of convenience factor.
RFSOAKED Rating: 2008-10-29
Awesome Rotor! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two, one is the slightly older G-800S, and the other is a new G-800SA. Not much difference between them other than the SA model has the molex connector on the back for the control cable and the older S model has the Cinch Jones style plug.

The S model has been up here for a couple years turning my stack of yagi's for SSB on 6m and beyond. Never a problem, not even with some of the crazy 30-40mph wind gusts i get here. And its seen winds higher than that as well!

The SA model is just going up on another tower, but i suspect it won't let me down either.

I see a lot of posts complaining about rotating in the wind. Are you sure its the rotor moving and not the mast in the rotor or the antenna on the mast?? Did you drill through the mast and install the crossbolt that Yaesu includes with the mast clamp assembly? I haven't seen mine move more than a half a hash mark on the dial either side of where i left it sit in the wind. The design of the rotor itself should preclude it moving as much as some of your are describing unless something is really broken in there. And in that case it would probably be due to overloading the rotor, the wind load of some HF beams is pretty big on a windy day! But that's my opinion/experience.

I know a guy with the G-1000 that forgot to install the crossbolt in the mast clamp and his antenna moved back and forth a lot in the wind.

Anyway, mine hasn't experienced any problems whatsoever. I haven't had the calibration problems that some mention, so i'm not sure what's causing that. Might want to double check connections, i had a faulty connection on one of the lines to the position pot in the rotor and the needle would bounce around a bit, but after i fixed it i got my calibration back no problem.

Another thing, the manual for these rotors mentions using 6 wire cable. Bull.. You only need four conductors. On the SA controllers you will see only four positions of the Molex connector even have contacts, 2, 3, 4, 5. Pins 1 and 6 are empty. I run my 800S off four conductors of some 5 wire cable i got a good deal on, two 16awg three 18awg. The 800S is running of four conductors as well, but this time i had to buy some 6 wire cable as it was all i could find at the time.

Compared to the price of other brands available, and the quality issues some of the Hygain models have been having, the Yaesu is a good buy.

I don't know why some of the parts are so hard to get, but i had to get a replacement heading sheet for the used 800S i got, i called Yaesu parts and had it in less than a week.

I see a lot of complaints about lightning problems, and i have seen more than a couple burnt out controllers on eBay. Guys, for the cost of the controller why don't you put some protection on your control line?? Go to I.C.E Radio Products, www.iceradioproducts.com and buy one of their model 348 transient suppressors for $46. And if your problem resulted from the AC line power to the controller than add some protection to your house/shack. I put a whole house arrestor on my service panel for about $70, available at any Lowe's or Home Depot. Or you can just get a plug in arrestor and run the rotor controller from that as well.

You can't blame Yaesu for problems resulting from an unprotected installation!
K6USN Rating: 2008-07-17
Four years and going strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought the G800SA to turn a Mosley TA32. Now using it with a SteppIR beam on a Force 12 crank up tower. No thrust bearing.
Handles the beam flawlessly and takes the wind gusts without slipping.

If/when this rotor wears out I will replace it with another Yaesu rotor. I am a satisfied customer. Quality product at a reasonable price.

K6USN (E51USN)
KC8YKQ Rating: 2007-10-03
Good Rotator Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've used my G-800SA to turn a Cushcraft MA5B for over a year and a half. No problem turning the beam in Ohio heat or cold, but strong winds (ala thunderstorms) tend to knock the parked beam off course a few degrees at a time. The wind has turned the antenna almost 90 degrees off course so far. Resetting the pointer in the control box is the only practical remedy. Still, it turns the antenna when and where I want it without problems, so I'm happy overall.
G4VVQ Rating: 2007-07-01
Pretty Good Rotator Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Hi there, have had Yaesu G-800S Rotator for a few years, always worked well, has a 90 degree overlap, so total of 450 degrees, my antenna does tend to turn in the wind, and their doesn't seem to be any form of syncronising the control, only to remove the front bezel and move the hand round,
has anyone had any trouble with wind turning the rotor itself? as i can't see what is moving, i suspect it's the Antenna on the mast, but not sure,any comments welcome, g4vvq@aol.com
best wishes from a flooded England, July 2007
Fred g4vvq
AB3CX Rating: 2007-06-11
It's OK Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
have a G-800. Turns great. About 10 months into owning it, the control box stopped accurately tracking the bearing. It cannot be adjusted back to correct the tracking, Yaesu says take it down and send it in. I made some notes so I know where it's pointed without doing that, it still turns through 450 degrees, but the control needle only turns 385 degrees, so you need your own notes to tell the exact bearing. Not worth the cost of takin git down. It was inexpensive to buy which was a plus.
NU5D Rating: 2007-05-17
Support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased a G800SA a couple of years ago. Price and product are great. Had lightning strike - indicator won't track - control box from another rotor is OK - tried to buy a replacement PCB - no longer available. Tried to buy a replacement control box - not available. They DID offer to try and repair the unit - $70/hr plus shipping. Not really a complaint about repair cost. I am complaining about not being able to buy a replacement board - 3 2904 op amps - a couple of opto isolators, and a bunch of sot23 diodes - will repair myself. Steve NU5D
K2VI Rating: 2007-05-10
REALIABLE AND SOLID Time Owned: more than 12 months.
HAD THIS ONE IN MY 50' ROHN TOWER TURNING A MOSLEY CLASSIC 33 FOR 9 YEARS WITHOUT ONE PROBLEM.iM MORE WORRIED ABOUT THE ROTOR CABLE OR CONNECTOR FAILING THAN THE G-800.DONT HESITATE TO PURCHASE ONE,ITS A KILLER ROTOR.