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Reviews For: AR-303

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : AR-303
Reviews: 5MSRP: abt 50 euro
Description:
Lightweight antenna rotator for small antennas up to 40kg,
azimuth angle 360° with mechanical endpositions. Control
unit for 230VAC with direction indicator. Can be mounted on
support pole with 38 to 50mm diameter, turning pole diameter
24 to 50mm, weight 4kg. Requires 3-wire control cable.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.wimo.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0053.8
KD7RDZI2 Rating: 2020-02-08
Exceeded my expectations after 10 years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
To put it short, the external unit worked flawlessly over more than 10 years. No maintenance at all! Maybe not for heavy antennas, but I have three antennas on it, the wimo 130-1300Mhz logper antenna being the biggest. Never needed to reposition it as well.
The original indoor unit lasted a few hours than it broke! I didn't throw it, however. I had found a used indoor unit at a hamfest that worked fine for another 8 years. Then this indoor unit failed too but saved the good parts of it and put them in the original defective unit. Sprayed some silicon grease around the knob mechanism. It's very silent now and works really very well.
G0AIN Rating: 2020-02-07
Decent Light Duty Rotator Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had mine in operation for over eight years, driving a 5 ele 2 metre yagi at the top of a 500mm stub mast.

It has not caused an issue in any of that time.

The unit has a mechanical end stop, so if the control unit indicator and beam direction get out of alignment, it's just a case of driving the beam against the end stop to get the controller back into alignment.

The only issue I've found so far, is that it does not cover 360 degrees, only 355 degrees. Far a 5 ele yagi this isn't an issue as the beamwidth is pretty wide.

I'd certainly buy again, though I notice the price has increased quite a bit since I bought mine.
AF5CC Rating: 2014-09-15
Wouldn't buy another Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought the Hygain AR-303 a few years ago. I was going to order a UTE-105 rotor but R and L electronics was out of them, so I figured I would get this one from them instead. I have had good luck with MFJ products in the past, guess my luck ran out on this one.

I have used it with a 3 element MFJ yagi and a fairly small 2 meter beam, or a Cushcraft A270-10S dualband yagi. These are all light, small antennas. From the start the rotor wouldn't rotate a full 360 degrees, it would only make it about 355 degrees. The slippage that others speak about is real. I would have to go up on the roof and reposition it about once a year.

Now it is getting worse. I repositioned it a couple of weeks ago, and now it only rotates about 280 degrees or so, and bounces as it rotates. I think it is getting ready to die. I have a Radio Shack rotor that will be replacing it when I get motivated enough to swap them in and out.

I will give it a 2 as it has rotated my antennas for the past 4 years or so, and did have it turning a Mosley Mini 32 for a couple of months. However, it never completely worked right and it is pretty much finished. Luckily I have the antennas setup now where I can look outside the shack window and see where they are pointed as I can't rely on the control box to tell me.

Wish I had waited and bought the UTE-105 or anything else instead. I wouldn't buy another one of these.
KF5HVW Rating: 2012-11-12
OK Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This unit is less than $100 which is 1/3 the cost of next unit. It works OK but has some slippage that requires me to lower antenna and reposition. I use it on a MOSLEY Beam antenna that is 9 Lbs.
This is the only antenna rotor I have even used
and I plan to upgrade it soon due the slippage issue.
EA4DGW Rating: 2011-11-17
Excelente rotor ligero Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Tengo instalado el rotor AR303 desde hace un año con una antena dipolo rígido ECO para 10-15-20m. No he tenido ningún problema, es preciso en la orientación y muy fácil de instalar y muy ligero. Una vez con fuerte viento se desfasó el indicador y el rotor. Desconectando el cable de tres hilos que los une giras el mando a la posición real y vuelve a estar enfasado. No se lo que durará pero de momento no tengo ninguna queja. ¡Ojo! es solo para antenas muy ligeras y poca resistencia al viento, en la parte superior lleva un casquillo de fricción de acero inoxidable y en la inferior un rodamiento muy pequeño.