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Reviews For: Hy-Gain AR-40

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Hy-Gain AR-40
Reviews: 7MSRP: 280.00
Description:
The AR-40 is for large FM-TV and compact communication antenna arrays up to 3 square feet wind load area.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/products.php?prodid=ar-40
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0073.3
W5HEX Rating: 2018-08-04
Unreliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I am so sorry I bought this and put it on my tower and hex beam. It is totally unreliable. It is forever losing its sync. I’ll turn it to north and it will go south, point it west and it will go east....sometimes it won’t stop at all and I have to unplug the control box to stop it. I would NOT recommend this unit to anyone. For the same money you can buy a better unit. This one only got a one for me....but I doubt it deserves it. It’s been trouble since day one. Time owned, a year and a half. Don’t buy this one.
KG5THG Rating: 2017-11-29
Product failed during setup Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am a new ham, so I'm still in the process of learning about the quality of the different manufactures. I didn't realize when I purchased the Hy-Gain, that they are an MJF company. In my very short time, I have heard a lot about MFJ and not much positive, and now I see why. The product was very difficult to calibrate. Out of the box the control knob was loose and the controls turned based South in both directions. I had North to South via East in good shape and was trying to cleanup the west movement when the unit died. I suspect this was because the factory setting was set to continue to drive the motor past stop and it damaged it in some way. Factory QC on a product this expensive should be more then just seeing if it turns on. I'm glad I took their advice and didn't mount the unit on the mast until it was setup! I was really looking forward to using this product.
KE5OQV Rating: 2011-07-21
Update of earlier review Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I raising the rating of my Hy-Gain Ar-40 rotator to 5. It has performed great during the last 9 months. Earlier concerns about weatherproof connections and/or poor quality workmanship were premature. The bottom line is that it works great and it's still working after 9 months exposure to Houston, Tx hot, humid weather.
VK3GMO Rating: 2010-05-25
AR22 version Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I didn't realise the AR22 is the current AR40. I bought mine in the early 1960s/late 1950s to turn a Mosley TA-33 jr. I also didn't realise that the load was more than it was rated for using the mast mount. Other than having to reset North after a stormy windy day, it performed fine and did it job for many years flawlessly. Can't ask for more. It was a winning combination with the Ta-33jr and my homebrew 500 watt linear.
K8DXX Rating: 2005-12-30
Despite Abuse, It Worked Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one of these (then called the AR-22R) back in 1965. We didn't know that it was rated for 3.0 Sq. Ft. WHEN MOUNTED INSIDE THE TOWER (1.5 with the lower section/mast mount). I had also never heard of a thrust bearing. So, I mounted the AR-22R atop the "top section" of what I believe was Rohn 20 tower equipped with special roof mount legs. On this rotor I mounted a 7 foot steel mast (?.? Sq. Ft.), TH3JR tribander (3.0 Sq. Ft.) and a 10 element FM broadcast receive antenna. That rotor worked fine for 10 years (with one exception) until I sold it at a swap. The only problem would occur when the temperature got below -10 degrees F. As documented, the factory lubricant was known to freeze at that point.

Was I lucky or was that a far better rotor than advertised? Do they still make 'em that good? Given 40+ years as a ham, I think it was outstanding. Wish their CD-45 rotor was as reliable!

73

Bill / K8DXX
W2WRX Rating: 2005-12-30
It's no big rotor for what it was intended for... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's a good rotor for the 3.0 sq.ft.antennas,as for what you pay for it and depends how you purchase it from,I got mine from a swap meet and paid $25.00 rotor and controller and less cables and cleaned it up and never had it repaired.As for performance,it was better than the light or H.D. ones for that you get from R.S.or other units for that application in that usage.It performed good when I had installed a 2 ea.9 element 2 meters M2 and 2 ea. UHF 40 element crossband satellites beam and one 4 element 2m Cushcraft beam as well and it took it with no problem what so ever ,even when the wind here where I live at 35 - 45 mph winds,it still handled and perform with ease,even it was already over the rated specification called for. But the facts is,it never broke down or stopped due to what I installed on it.It's a great unit for what it was intended for in that model and specs.It's been working and still performing since 5 yreas now,since I bought it .73's and happy new year.
W0RDS Rating: 2003-05-09
There are better choices for the money Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
We purchased the relatively inexpensive AR-40 to rotate an MA5B beam and because it offered, at additional cost, mast mounting hardware. While we are still struggling to get the rotor controller to match beam headings, the rotor seems to rotate the antenna just fine. There were, and still are a few problems.

Instead of supplying a pre wired socket you are required to solder up the six wire pigtail. (The factory rep told me this was their NEW design) Because of its miniature size, wiring the unit was difficult and ultimately caused the rotor to fail and to be disassembled from the mast. I used a Mylex plug assembly and it has worked fairly well.

The rotor housing appears to be sand cast aluminum with no discernable protective coating. After 6 weeks in the air the rotor was so badly oxidized, I had to wire brush and apply a spray coating.

There are better, less expensive choices, such as the Yaesu G-450A etc.