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Reviews For: EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL
Reviews: 81MSRP: 74
Description:
EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL is a add-on controller for azimuth-rotors. It supports the control of various rotors by a standard RS232-interface. It might be installed directly into the rotor-controllers housing or in an external housing.
Product is in production
More Info: http://schmidt-alba.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
10814.9
DL6CNG Rating: 2017-06-09
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought ERC-Mini to connect Logger 32 and my rotor YAESU G-2800DXC. In installed programs Rotor-Control and ERC-Mini Service Tool. My old machine (XP) can`t find a driver programm on the delivered CD. I wrote a E-Mail to erc@schmidt-alba.de and, on the same day, I have got a telephonecall from Rene (DF9GR) and he installed this XP-driveprogram on my computer. We used TeamViewer. Now it is all okay.
The hardware make a good job.
The service is wonderful. Thanks.
73 Dietrich, DL6CNG
M0NIB Rating: 2017-02-06
Great product but support not good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently bought this kit for my Yaesu G-450 and was very pleased with the quality of the kit, the clarity of instructions and easy of build. The only issue was that it didn't work! I diagnosed the issue as a problem with the micro-controller and contacted the manufacturer but, after a few emails, was asked to post it to him in Germany. A few days later, I received an email from him confirming that the micro-controller was faulty and had been replaced, the board was being returned to me and asking that I pay the postage for it's return.

The unit works well, but I have had to pay almost half the cost of it again in postage to fix a component which costs next to nothing, which is very disappointing.
W5FCX Rating: 2016-11-26
Powerful, Flexible Remote Rotor Control Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I installed ERC into a Yaesu G-450A rotor controller box and after correcting a cold solder joint, it worked perfectly. I did contact Rene for Support and he was amazing. Not only did he point me in the proper direction to find my mistake, he then stuck with me on Skype and TeamViewer and helped me configure ERC and integrate it into Log4OM!

Great product, tremendous service. Highly-recommended.

One thing to be aware of up front, the board doesn't come with its own power supply and it's recommended to get a separate supply for ERC, so be sure to get a 12 VDC supply to go with the board. I picked this one up on Amazon for $15 and it worked perfectly and fit nicely into the Yaesu controller box:

MEAN WELL RS-25-12 AC to DC Power Supply Single Output 12V 2.1 Amp 25.2W


W2IRT Rating: 2016-05-26
Works well, but tricky to install. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
While I'm giving this controller top marks for functionality, please be aware that installation is non trivial for those without some machine shop or building experience. I installed this in my Yaesu G-450A control box and it took about 10 hours from start to finish. Most of that time was spent trying to measure everything exactly right and drill holes in the correct places then filing out the USB connector hole. The template provided on the CD is not really sufficient for installation if you're not used to metal working, which I admittedly am not.

What would be preferable would be a specific template for each model of rotor control box; something you tape to the bottom and back of the box and mark or drill through. The provided template merely shows the dimensions of the board itself. To complicate matters, the template is in millimeters, with no corresponding SAE measurements for those of us in the United States. I don't own any metric tools or rulers so a trip to the hardware store was required. And good luck finding metric drill bits *anywhere* in the U.S. short of a machinist supply house. As I said, if you're experienced in building this should be trivial. If you're not, then it's not.

Even after the holes were drilled/cut, the matter of connecting it to existing pre-cut wiring inside the box was a little tricky and requires excellent solder skills and a steady hand. I'm not comfortable building things any more thanks to bad eyes and shaky hands and I prefer pre-made solutions. But for $125 and a day's labour, it sure beat buying another $650 Green Heron for use on my 6m antenna.

Once installed and connected it worked pretty well on the first go, but since this rotor has an overlap feature, one must use the extended calibration procedure to get accurate readings. I tried basic calibration several times without success before trying the extended, which worked right away. Also I couldn't find any information on the CD for the offset settings in the Service Tool software.

All in all, with just a few days of use, it appears to work as advertised. If I could dock it half a star I would, for the installation headaches.
VE3FYN Rating: 2016-04-09
Every shack should have one. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just finished building and installing the ERC USB v.4.0 kit for my Yaesu G-800SA rotator. The components are high-quality, and the kit instructions are well done. It took a couple hours to assemble. The manual contains connection diagrams for every rotator imaginable. While it takes a bit of creativity to attach it to the controller and wire it, we are hams after all. The USB worked without a hitch, and the calibration tool is easy to use, with step-by-step instructions. This is a quality piece of equipment, and a great addition to the shack.
W7GVW Rating: 2016-03-31
ERC should be in your shack Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The ERC is a great controller and you won’t find better tech support anywhere. I had a problem with the set up and it wasn’t the ERC, it was my computer. Rene made it work and made it work on my computer, not an easy task.
He stayed on line until it was all hooked up and worked 100% and even made sure it worked in HRD.
If you are looking for a Rotor Controller, check out ERC, I don’t think you can go wrong.
All I can say is thank you so much Rene and ERC.
Steve w7gvw
K4ROX Rating: 2016-01-28
Nice Time Owned: N.A.
I will throw my vote in for this. Even when assembled by older eyes and hands it worked perfectly. Calibration and interface easy to a Yaesu G-450A and HRD. Took a couple of weeks to arrive as USPS bounced it around the country. Responds very quickly to questions. Once again hands free rotor control.
N8DC Rating: 2015-10-31
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the ERC M from Rene about a month ago . I have an earlier unit that I purchased from a local Ham off of QTH.com and it worked so well I decided to add one to my other tower. The kit came fast . I assembled all the components on the board and mounted it in my rotor control box only to find it only moved the rotor in one direction :( . I contacted Rene and we finally had a couple phone conversations and we decided it would be best for me to send it back so he could check it out. Of course in sending it back I screwed up the customs form but he received it today and sent me an email telling me it finally arrived and he would look at it this weekend (its Saturday OCT 31 2015 ) and let me know the outcome. 15 minutes later I get another Email telling me its all fixed and he is sending it out Monday !. He did tell me early on that the repair service was free and I did offer to pay if needed. It seems one of the relays didn't want to fully work so the rotation in one direction only . Thanks Rene . I highly recommend if your looking for rotor control from your PC then this is the ticket. I cant give it anything but a 5 :)
de Dave N8DC
NA6AF Rating: 2015-09-15
Easy to Install Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My easy rotor ERC-Mini interfaces perfectly with Ham Radio Deluxe rotator program and my Yaesu DXA 800 rotor. Easy to install.
I tried other rotor interfaces but this one works from the start and consistently. No wiring involved or jumpers, etc. Just connect and go.
N3CAL Rating: 2015-06-04
Outstanding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ordered online and received within one week. Quality of kit components are top notch. Instructions are very easy to follow and there were no issues during assembly. Installed into YAESU G-450A rotor control box using the USB option. Calibration was easy to perform using software provided on CD with kit. Works flawlessly with Ham Radio Deluxe and HRD Logbook. It's a great addition to your shack.