| WB2VVV |
Rating:      |
2022-12-01 | |
| Great Rotator for Smaller Antennas |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had a Yaesu G-800SA rotator installed inside a 4' Glen Martin Quad-Pod Aluminum roof tower, with a Glen Martin thrust bearing. The thick walled Aluminum mast is 8' long and every inch of it is currently covered with VHF/UHF antennas for 50/144/222/432/903/1296/2304 MHz and one even higher frequency test antenna. It also carries 2 remote coaxial switches and 2 mast mounted preamps.
This rotator/mast/roof tower has supported many different antenna configurations over the past 22 years, even including a very large commercial CATV head-end reception antenna - back when we needed to have an off-the-air TV antenna. For the past decade it has been loaded with a very dense and tight stack of ham VHF/UHF antennas including a 4 element 50 MHz beam with a 12' boom at the very top, and a 12 element 144 MHz beam with a 20' boom at the bottom. It has handled my large VHF/UHF antenna stack without ever missing a beat! I have not had any of my HF antennas on it as those are on my large self-supporting ground mounted HF tower, but I have no doubt it could handle a small three element tribander, assuming it's installed inside a tower with a thrust bearing on top.
My G-800SA rotator doesn't have the preset knob or speed control knob that more expensive Yaesu rotators have, though to be honest I haven't missed those features with this VHF/UHF array. I have a G-1000SDX rotator on my big HF tower that has those additional features, and I have only rarely used the preset knob and have left the speed control knob set to slow for decades... |
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| AH6U |
Rating:  |
2022-10-17 | |
| Very light duty... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Okay, I was shopping for a new rotator a few months back, which puts it around 5~6 of 22. Calls were made, questions were asked. The type of antenna, and the size of the mast, and the approximate weight of the mast that would be in use were made very clear. The rotator units being considered were given as well. One company, Yaesu, stood out. All of the Yaesu models had good reviews.
The G800 seemed a good choice for the setup that I had. One sales person actually said that they had almost the same setup, and had been using the G800 for many years without issues. Price at this point really wasn't an issue, but like just about anyone, the lower cost of the G800 had appeal, and other than a different brake, was supposed to be the same as the G1000. So, a G800 was ordered and was put into service at the end of July of 22.
Fast forward to last weekend, the middle of 10-22, when I was chasing some rare DX.
I couldn't understand why I wasn't getting out. I mean, I'm pointed right at these stations and nothing. I'm not bragging, but usually it only takes a few calls before I get a response. (location, location)
It finally dawned on me that I should have a look at the antenna. Maybe it fell off the tower? Sure enough the antenna was pointed due east, and not due north as the controller box showed its position. A little more checking and it became clear that the antenna was no longer turning. Being 50' in the air, I have noway of telling what the issue is, but since the control position indicator still works, I must think that the gears of the unit developed a problem. Not a good situation, nor does it say much for the G800. And, keep in mind that we have not gotten into our windy season yet, and at most, the antenna may have encountered a 30 ~ 35 MPH wind guest in the past 2 months, give or take, that it has been up.
A new model of the old unit, one made by a company that we all know, was dismissed because it was said that the newer models were pretty much junk. This has me wondering, has Yaesu followed suit? Is Yeasu now making a cheaper to build...lower quality unit? All of those good reviews can't be wrong. But something isn't right.
I was expecting the G800 to be the last such unit that I'd ever buy. I'm old, way too old to be playing around with towers, and to say that I'm not happy about the need to lower that tower has me... well, I feel no need to fill in the blanks here. I surely never considered the possibility that I'd be lowering, and laying over that tower in 2 months time because the new rotator failed.
Is my luck holding, in that I just happened to be the lucky one that received the last unit off the line on Friday? Can't say, but I'm pretty sure that from past experience, and the present cost of shipping, that rather then sending the unit for repair... it'll be cheaper to just throw the Yaesu away and start all over. What will I buy next? IDK. I may just go ahead and repair my old rotator. It was made prior to brand X buying the company that made the old unit, so maybe with a few parts, some grease, and a good cleaning, it'll go another 30 years.
There you have it.
As always, the choice of the product, and the money being spent on it are yours, but don't say that you weren't advised that the G800 could have "issues" if you do buy one and it fails in short order. 73. |
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| AK5B |
Rating:      |
2021-10-11 | |
| Fine workhouse for many years in my experience |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Bought mine around 1998 while living in California and using it for a 6M3. Moved to KH6 three years later and put my 6M5X atop it to chase DX from the middle of the Pacific. That was so rewarding I upgraded to a 30.5' boomed 6M7JHV and mounted the Yaesu on the bottom of the mast for ease of deployment. After Cycle 23 shut down I sold the JHV and moved up the island where I decided to reinstall the 6M5X there. Managed to work a few new ones as Cycle 24 began its uptick. Since leaving KH6 in 2012 I have used this same configuration in two other QTHs without any problems. I can't speak of any heavy-duty usage since my heaviest beam was about 20 lbs with about 30-40 lbs. of mast and the rotator mounting was always at the bottom (built a tilt-over with two 4x4s and some long carriage bolts). Am about to install the 6M5X atop a short roof tripod (after a thorough camouflaging for HOA situation) here at our new Texas QTH and don't expect any problems with this fine rotator after 23 years of ownership. I did take it apart once around 2011 to check for corrosion in our damp rain forest QTH--found none--but decided to lube the bearings with synthetic grease for good measure as long as it was apart). I am well-pleased with this dependable and long-lasting rotator and it's fine control box display. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone considering similar light-duty use. FWIW, I recently bought its little brother (800SA) for a 2m/70cm Yagi combo, too. Good stuff! |
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| VA3LUK |
Rating:      |
2021-10-09 | |
| So far so good |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I have been the owner of this rotor for several weeks, So far I am satisfied with it, the manual extensively explains the installations and tuning of the rotor. Solid workmanship in Japan I hope that it will serve for a long time. Adjusted antenna rotation speed. I use it for hexbeam antenna and rotated dipole at 7 MHz at 45 ft tower. |
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| K4JPN |
Rating:      |
2019-09-17 | |
| Working Great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I bought this from Dan K1YPB, who had set it up in 2010, I put it up in 2016 to turn my TA33Jr. It has worked without any problems, the rotator is now over 9 years old and going strong. I did install the Ham Supply LED illuminators which makes the display really stand out. I recommend this rotator and adding the Ham Supply LED Illuminator http://www.hamsupply.com/yaesu-illuminator/
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| N3PS |
Rating:  |
2017-01-17 | |
| Not For The Northland |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This rotator is rated to operate down to -20 Celsius. Unfortunately, that translates into only -4 Fahrenheit which is problematic here in Minnesota where temps can drop down to -20 Fahrenheit.
I purchased this rotator this past summer to drive a mass mounted hexbeam. This winter, as soon as the temp dropped below 10 Fahrenheit, the rotator become sluggish and ceased to function until the temp increased back into the double digits.
I subsequently had to crawl up on the roof and wrap six feet of plumbers heat tape around the base of the unit. It is now operable down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
I am very disappointed with the environment operating range of this unit. |
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| KD9AUZ |
Rating:      |
2015-07-14 | |
| GREAT service from Gigaparts! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I ordered a Yaesu G-800SA from Gigaprts. Wired it up and--nothing. I did some testing and it was clear that the controller was dead. No help from Yaesu other than "Send it in and we'll examine it".
Wrote to Gigaorts and their response was "If you think its bad send it right back". I did so and 4 day later got and e-mail from them "We tested it and it is bad. New one on the way. By the way, we tested the new one to make sure it was working and its not a general problem with the rotators.It is working". It arrived 3 days later, wired it up last night, works perfectly and is ready to go up tonight.
WOW! Great service from Gigaparts |
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| KK4QBU |
Rating:    |
2015-07-02 | |
| Almost Caught Fire |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I purchased this Yaesu G-800DXA June 2014 and today I had to send it back to Yaesu for the second time. The first time I sent it back was in July 2014, it ended up being a bad connector where the rotor control cord hooks to the back of the control unit, this is in my opinion a very poor design it is very delicate, so delicate in fact I'm reluctant to even move it. Today I sent it back because when I powered it up it set for about ten minutes without me doing anything other than powering it up, It started to get really hot the display light went out and it started to smoke, I unplugged it and when I picked it up it was very hot to the touch. It had a very strong odor of electronics burning on the inside. Well I'll let you know how it goes. What chaps me so bad is the fact that I have to keep paying shipping to send it back. |
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| AC8DE |
Rating:     |
2015-06-29 | |
| Good Rotator GREAT price point |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I use the G-800 rotator. The DXA refers to the controller and I do not use Yaesu's controller. I use the Green Heron RT-21 controllers. This rotator is for use with a small to medium tribander or similar in my opinion and is an great choice. It's not perfect however.
Pros:Light weight, tough, dependable if sized properly and at a GREAT price point. The rotator without controller is $275 new! They use high gear reduction in parallel shaft configuration (not planetary gearing like is often cited elsewhere on the web), so there is no brake to worry about jamming. Like any rotator, make sure you don’t try to minimally size the rotator to the load you are turning/holding. The floating mast clamp arrangement is nice if using a single thrust bearing on top of your tower. Uses a DC motor, so it can ramp up and down to eliminate shock loading. Very compact; fits in most crank-ups. Good quality metal Nanaboshi multipin round electrical connection.
Cons: Is too lightly greased and a bit noisy from the factory, but unfortunately, I do not recommend opening a new one to regrease it due to the sensitive nature of the pot position unless you are very careful to not lift the upper half off of the lower half when the lower bearing ring is removed. Unfortunately, Yaesu used 100% of the 270 degree potentiometer rotation, so if you are off by more than 1 degree when you reassembly, you will break the potentiometer if your go the full 450 degree from stop-to-stop. (Why not use slightly lower ratio gearing on the pot drive and 250 degree of the rotation of the pot and leave 10 degree at either end from physical limit switch stops?) Knowing this if you rebuild one, make sure you are sure of your potentiometer rotation from stop-to-stop, as there is absolutely ZERO room for potentiometer over-rotation error. Does not use a sealed pot. While not specifically about the rotator itself, Yaesu wants $20 for the service manual. Seems a bit userous in this electronic file age.
The primary drive gear set on the motor (high speed low torque gears) are plastic. Seem to hold up and I'm sure metal ones would make a lot more noise. Seem OK, but it's worth noting.
It isn't a Prosistel or other higher end rotator, but at this price point, it’s hard to beat this little guy.
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| KE1R |
Rating:      |
2013-05-08 | |
| Excellent Rotator |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Over the years I have had several rotators but I like the Yaesu G-800DXA the best. Really like the 360 degree compass panel display to know exactly there the beam is aimed. Sooner or later you may want to make a rotator control test cable with proper connectors on both ends or you may need to replace the connectors on either end. One source for the 6 pin Molex connector is Yaesu Parts at 1-800-366-8431 for $1 with pins plus shipping. The 7 pin (6 conductors from controller to rotator) round connector (PN NJC207PF)on the rotator is available from Yaesu Parts for $50 plus the rubber boot if you want it. A better source for this 7 pin connector is from R and L Electronics, Hamilton,OH, for $19. |
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