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Reviews For: Hygain Ham IV

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Hygain Ham IV
Reviews: 44MSRP: 529.95
Description:
15 sq. ft. wind load rotator
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hy-gain.com/products.php?prodid=HAM-IV
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00444.2
W9RNA Rating: 2021-12-06
Best rotor you can buy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned a Ham IV rotor ,that a friend had rebuilt 23 years ago. And I have never had a problem with it. I don't know how old it really is. But it is definitely from the Hy-Gain factory.
It is turning a Hy-Gain TH2MKIII tri band beam. Which is also from the old Hy-Gain factory. Which is also 23 years old.
I have updated the control box to led lights. And also added the board to control the electric wedge break.

It is not MFJ junk, but real American quality. Built to last.
PE1JKX Rating: 2021-12-05
Very strong and long lasting Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have two of these rotators for over 30 years now and they still work flawless. One is working in a tower but the other one is mounted on a steal Pipe with a 15 elements Cuedee two meter antenna mounted on top of it. This antenna is 6 meters long . The rotator had seen a lot of storms over these years but nothing could brake it. Highly recommended.
VE7REN Rating: 2021-03-01
bulletproof and trusty Time Owned: more than 12 months.
i aquired an early cde model/pre hygain. these rotors are smooth,quiete,and strong. i use it to turn an array of vhf/uhf antenna...not near enough for its potential,yet it works fantastic. the build is tough,and the control is bright and simple. nothing to complain about. ide buy again!
DL9BDM Rating: 2021-01-07
Older ones are good ones Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I only have an old one (30 plus years) but it still does a very good job. I bought mine from an estate sale a long time ago in used condition. Of course, I changed some hardware for stainless steel parts and also gave the rotor a new coat of paint, but it never failed. Not really perfect but very robust.

As already said, however, it is an old, original CDE model - I cannot say anything about the more recent HAM IV's from Hy-Gain (MFJ).
AC6BW Rating: 2021-01-05
Failed after 3 months Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Beware the 5 star reviews. Notice that most of them are for units that are 20-30 years old! The quality of the new rotators is not nearly as good.
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My HAM-IV rotator failed after only 3 months of service. Over time, I noticed the rotation speed slowing down. Then, it would not rotate after a few minutes of use. The problem seemed to be temperature related, since it would rotate for a bit in the morning, but then would be stuck after a short time.

I troubleshot the rotator and the control unit, per the manual, and all connections and resistances tested good. Installation was per the book,and the unit was turning a very light 2 el yagi.

I returned the unit to MFJ, and even though the unit was outside of the 30 day return period, they refunded my money (minus a HEFTY restocking fee).

I suspect that the gear train had no grease, since the unit made an awful scraping noise when it rotated. I've since replaced it with a Yaesu G-450A, which is lighter and easier to install, and works much better.

MFJ quality has really gone downhill.
VY0PW Rating: 2021-01-04
Excellent performance Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have owned and used the same HAM 4 for close to 30 years.

It is the original built by Telex/Hygain and never caused any problem. Have it inside a US tower with a thrust bearing a few feet above the rotor and use in constant windy environment driving a Cushcraft X-7 beam.

Only complaint is the original screws on the rotor terminals are prone to rusting and I replaced them with brass screws. No more rust here. Lightbulb in control unit lasted close to 20 years before a new one needed.

Wish the solenoid when operating the brake would be less noisy but otherwise a great performer, not sure if any of the newer units under MFJ supervision are as well made.

Highly recommended for sure.
WA6LJR Rating: 2020-08-14
Rotted away. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My Ham 4 base rotted away. While I was performing maintenance, the base came apart. I live near the ocean and the rotor didn’t hold up.
I ordered a new yeasu rotor that I hope is a better design.
WH6V Rating: 2019-11-09
Much regretted purchase. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I live in Hawaii, with constant and sometimes very strong trade winds. I bought the latest and greatest ham IV DCU 1 P for pulse, the newest technology. I decided to test on ground before installing in tower, with antenna. I used it like it would be in the tower, but no load. Well the pulse system failed. Off it went back to Hy-gain. They fixed it, stating that it was shipping damages? Fat chance of that since it ran for 2 weeks in my test. Got it back put it in the tower after one week of tests. Had it up for about 3 months, bang, pulse system fails again, so I thought. Gets to factory and now they say the beats failed. The gear teeth failed, and required rebuild. To Hy-gains credit all repairs done under warranty. But this rotor was not put back into the tower. Bought a new rotor, not of Hy-gains manufacture. New rotor has been perfect. But I liked the DCU controller.
W1XYZ Rating: 2019-09-12
31 years and going for 19 more Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It makes me nervous to post (and brag) that my Ham IV has been in continuous service since 1988. Not only does this make me an old-timer, but it also gives me pause as to whether it would be wise to try to go for another 19 years. I see no reason it would not work save the corrosion on the terminals. I plan to clean those up a bit (for the third time) now that my 31 year-old Hygain HG52-SS is tilted over to replace one hexbeam wire that broke. I might as well mention that the Hygain 105BAS 10M 5 element yagi that is also 31 years old is still on the tower too, and has worked about 315 countries on 10M.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by W1XYZ on 2001-11-16

I put mine inside the tower with a thrust bearing to reduce the axial load. It's been up there since 1989 and still works, but is just a bit sluggish when the outside temperature is lower than 10 degrees F. Of course the 5 runs of ultraflex going to 24' 10M, and other ants probably stiffen up quite a bit.

After attaching cables to the terminals, I sprayed with clear Krylon about 3 times to reduce corrosion. So far so good.
KE8EC Rating: 2017-03-10
Needs a Little Attention Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The rotator seems to be OK. The plastic case for the control unit was not what I expected. The control cable does not latch to the case of the controller at all. Rotator control cable is stiff, and as my set up requires a bit if a bend in the cable, not a really tight one, the Jones style plug has to be checked on occasion, as it tends to want to pull itself out of the plug in port. I also received the unit with the ground bolt very loose, I mean really loose, and moving around in the case, had to open the controller case and tighten the bolt. The control cable should have a way to be anchored firmly, and the loose grounding bolt issue, that's poor assembly procedure. All said though, the rotator has worked well for the time I have had it.