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Reviews For: Yaesu G-800DXA

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Yaesu G-800DXA
Reviews: 25MSRP: 409
Description:
The Yaesu G-800DXA is a medium duty antenna rotator featuring automatic brake release, 450° rotation, overlap indicator, preset control, variable speed control, slow start/stop, and more. The illuminated control box has 360 degree readout, with moveable beam heading template. Supplied with weather-proof motor connector and quick-connect control plug for quick and trouble-free connection.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
23254.1
WR0F Rating: 2013-05-05
2 years of awesome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this rotor installed on a Glen Martin Hazer setup now for over 2 years .trouble free !
I had 15 sq ft of vhf uhf antennas on the rotor and it took 80 mph winds with no problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4EBLCdf3U
I now have a Hygain TH7DX and M2 6M7 6 meter beam on the tower at the present time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chrunmoT4Rc
We ordered ours through http://randl.com and also purchased their premade rotor cable assembled for yaesu rotors.
KD8MJR Rating: 2011-10-06
The Ratings are Wrong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just wanted to add something to these reviews.

For some Reason people with G-800SDX rotators are posting their reviews under G-800DXA.

1) The 800DXA has no issues with the connector at the controller, it's totaly different from the one on the SDX. The DXA connector clips on and cannot fall off unless you squeeze the release.

2) The connector on the Motor is not soldered on to the motor, it has a beautiful screw on 6 pin DIN connector with water tight seals. This connector can be bought pre assembled from HRO on different lengths of cable or you can buy your own cable and Solder on the connector and then just screw it into the motor.

If the SDX reviews where removed the DXA would probably be a 5/5 rotator.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by KD8MJR on 2011-06-09

Let me break this down into a few areas

Looks:
Ok so if you’re looking at Yaesu Rotator there’s a pretty good chance that what first got you interested was the look of the controller. Yaesu really got the design aspect of it correct, it looks just as good in person as it does in a catalog and for me that was the first plus.

My System:
I am using on a 800DXA with a 3 element Steppir that has a 30/40 kit installed, the whole thing is up 38ft in the air and has about 6 inches between the top of the Motor clamp to the Antenna itself, I kept it a bit shorter than the approx 1ft that the Yaesu manual said was the longest length for my wind loading.

Installation:
The motor section is fairly light weight but feels very sturdy, but the clamping system is a little worrying as the bolts and the clamps seem to be made of the white metal stuff and I don’t get the best of feelings about it, but at this point 3 months later I can say it has survived many 50 mph wind gust and showed no sign of being under any stress. The round connector for the Motors is a nice touch; it makes the wiring so much simpler and waterproofing so much easier. BTW there really is two sets of protective film on the plastic rotator dial. The top layer is obvious and comes off easy but the protective layer on the other side is so thin that you have a hard time even seeing it is there.

Accuracy:
The Rotator is dead on accurate and I give it 5 out of 5 for accuracy,
But in regards to calibration, which is what is needed to get the accuracy I would give it 2 stars. The manual is woefully inadequate and confusing. Look to the web for better documentation from fellow hams. Even so it took several readings before I figured out exactly how to do the calibration properly, and I still had to do it about 5 times before I got it to perfectly come back to the same spot each and every time. Luckily this is only something that you have to do once.

Torque:
Interesting thing is that speed wise this motor is just way too fast! You can’t use it at full speed unless you have a super light antenna and at that point why buy this rotator. I end up using it at 1/3 speed, just because anything faster looks like it’s creating huge stresses on the motor. Now the Torque is another issue, I have noticed that it spins the Antenna just fine, even in 30-40mph wind it moves just fine but if your moving against the wind you do see some little slowdowns and speeds up when the wind is pushing it, also if you put your hands on an element you can see the motor slow down quite a bit, it’s not surprising to me that one reviewer said his motor stalled when he had the mast turned on it’s side. It’s almost like the motor gears down under strain or slows itself down electrically.

Operation the first 4 months:
No complaints, the Rotator has pretty much been perfect.
I would recommend this rotator, so far I have found it to be very well built and very easy to use. Also the auto slow down near preset stops is handy and the idiompress card works well in it for PC control.
KJ4VVU Rating: 2011-07-19
Works Great except the connector back of control box Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
1. Round connector on rotor very difficult to solder. Needed another pair of hands.

2. Plastic connector on back of control box failed. Had to take apart the box and push the wires back into the connector and do some soldering to fix it.

Yaesu needs to upgrade the control box connectors. After the fix....it's been working fine with a Cushcraft A3S.
K1YPB Rating: 2010-10-16
Works as specified Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just installed this rotator with a new MA5B on a 2" mast. I like the variable speed control and the preset control. It sets up easy and is easy to adjust. It seems to have a very positive and controlled operation. I like the compact size and light weight. It seems to be very well designed. Fit and finish is superior. (And it is made in Japan, not China or other outsourced Asia - nice thing to see for a change). All the fasteners are top quality and generously coated with what appears to be a galvanized coating. Care is needed to be taken when mounting not to over stress the cast aluminum clamps. They are strong, but could break if secured improperly. It seems Yaesu really wants you to know this fact, as there are plenty of written warnings in the documentation supplied. The connector on the rotor is top quality, but the molex style connector on the controller is not that great per the observation of other reviewers. Just take care in that regard. The controller is nicely styled and looks great with its illuminated compass scale. And it is easy to see. There is no doubt in which direction the antenna is pointing. The rotator/controller only needs a six wire cable. I bought an eight wire cable and used the two unused wires to double up with the wires to the motor reducing copper loss. If that helps I don't know, but I am sure it doesn't hurt as the extra wire was there in the cable. So far I am very pleased and would recommend this product to anyone in need of a good quality rotator.
VE3BXB Rating: 2009-06-08
Hard to Beat for the Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased and installed this rotor about a month ago and I have to say that I discovered the following

1. The connector on the back of the rotor control box has to be one of the poorest arrangements that I have every seen. This could stand to be improved a lot

2. Otherwise I cannot say enough about this rotor. It works very well with very few problems. Preset calibrations are easy and fairly accurate when set up properly

3 The azimuth indicator is large and easy to read with a fair amount of lighting

4 I also noticed if you are running more than 125 feet of rotor cable, you have to purchase the more expensive cable to avoid line losses. This adds more to your expenses but it is worth the extra money to save a lot of problems. I am running about 170 feet of cable and the rotor is running with no problems using the larger gauge wire

5 I have been told that if you standing below the tower you can hear the noise of the rotor but it is relatively quiet overall.

6. Adjusting the clamps on the rotor to hold the mast is very easy to do with very little effort. I see that the rotor will accept any size of mast from 1.5 to 2.5 inches in diameter which is great

7. I expect that this rotor will last for years. The only thing that I am concerned about is I wonder how often the rotor has to be serviced. There is nothing in the manual that talks about this sort of thing.

In conclusion, if I had to buy a new rotor all over again, I would never hesitate to purchase unit.

It sure is a hard rotor to beat for the money.
Keep up the good work Yaesu
VE3BXB Bob
K4OCE Rating: 2009-04-10
Failed Unit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It has been a great rotator, but it suddenly quit working. Voltages entering the motor were correct. After removing from the tower and opening it up, I found a filter section under a cover on the motor itself. There is a coil in series with each power lead and can you believe that 3 of the leads were broken off. I soldered back and all is well. I think the coil assembly (which has both coils) was probably attached to the housing originally but I found it dangling in mid air. It probably was swinging around with tower movement until the leads broke. Hope I found all the ball bearings that fell all over the floor...hi. Bob k4oce
K6GE Rating: 2009-01-23
So far so good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just wired up and calibrated my new G-800DXA and although I haven't actually used it yet I wanted to say that the connectors seem fine to me. Calibration of the stops is not as accurate as I'd like to see but overall this controller and rotator seems good to me. One note to everyone that has a Yaesu rotor . . . the thin clear plastic disc that comes in a plastic bag and has the bearings screen printed in white ink has a film masking on both sides, be sure to remove this film masking before you install the disc, it doesn't mention that in the instructions. I wonder how many of you didn't do that and instead of being crystal clear the disc is less than clear.

73 -- Gary, K6GE
WA0IIH Rating: 2008-11-26
Working Great!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the G800SA rotor not needing the features of the DXA model. Installation was smooth on a U.S. Tower crank-up. It is turning just a single three element Mosley Classic 33. The control box is well built and very easy to adjust. The only issue I had was due to my towers smaller top section, the only way I could get the tower to completely collapse was to cut off about 1 inch from the connector shell that screws on to the rotor. I filled the open connector with coax seal, screwed the multipin connector on the rotor, installed the weatherproof boot supplied with the rotor and then applied 3M scotchkote to seal the boot just in case there might be a small opening. This again was not the fault of the rotor, it was due to my towers top section. I would suggest to yaesu the option of a 90 degree connector available for connection to the rotor. This would be a bonus to installing in situations like mine. The rotor is working great and the quality is easy to see. I am very pleased. 73s, WA0IIH
VO1HE Rating: 2008-03-03
From my experience, this is a very weak rotator. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have been a supporter of Yaesu rotators for a long time. I had a G-400RC that provided excellent service for 15 years. When I upgraded my beam, I figured it was time to upgrade the rotator as well.

I bought a G-800SDX last year and I have to say it's one of the weakest devices I have ever seen in my life. It's braking power is pretty good but it seems to have no rotating power at all. The slightest bit of resistance and it refuses to turn. My beam had gone out of alignment so I tipped the tower over this morning and loosened the beam completely. I tried to realign the rotator and it wouldn't turn. I could move it slightly with my hand but the controller would only move it 5-10 degrees. After an hour of working on it, it finally broke free and went to the position I needed it in. I clamped the beam back on and tilted the tower back up and as, I sit here now typing this review, the rotator will only turn 5 degrees total in either direction. The temperature is 1C and sunny. It isn't frozen because I was working on it. It was working fine before I tilted my tower over.

If it's windy, it has a hard time turning into the wind although, like I said, it will hold there once it gets there.

I have thought that the mast was chafing a bit on the tower guides but, from what I can tell, it isn't touching in such a manner as to completely keep it from moving.

I don't know what else to say. I will be doing a complete realignment and service on it when the weather gets better. I will also be replacing the cable with heavier duty cable. If it continues to perform as weakly as it has been, it will be replaced.

73 -- Paul VO1HE
W7PSK Rating: 2007-11-27
After 6 months I love it Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Over all I give it a great. Solid, dependable and quiet. It turns an A-4S pretty easily and is really fun to use compared to my old HD-73.


I must agree though that Yaesu really blew it with that connector. Change that and it would be a 10plus.