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Reviews For: Idiom Press/Ham Supply Rotor-EZ - Hy-Gain Controllers

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : Idiom Press/Ham Supply Rotor-EZ - Hy-Gain Controllers
Reviews: 105MSRP: 99.95 - 149.95
Description:
Point and Shoot” Rotor-EZ (with or without computer control RS-232) for ALL 3 paddle Hy- Gain Controllers by Idiom Press/Ham Supply
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.hamsupply.com/rotor-ez-hy-gain-rotor-control/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001054.9
N5ZC Rating: 2003-11-22
RS-232 = Great! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purhcased a second hand Tailtwister rotor that was about 2 years old for $300. Little did I know the Rotor-EZ card was already installed.

Since the rotor is going to be part of my remote controlled station I needed computer control. I called Idiom Press on Wednsday and received the updated parts (new CPU chip, RS-232 chip and some caps) on Saturday.

It took about 30 minutes to get get the board un-installed, install the new parts, and re-install the board to the meter.

I can now control my T2X with Logic6, Writelog, a program by N8LP and a terminal program.

Very nice indeed.
W9DHI Rating: 2003-10-27
Works Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received the kit today and set right out to build it and install it. The unit works as stated, no problems encountered. The only thing I think Idiom Press could do better is to have someone rewrite the instructions. I found them confusing and not very well laid out. I personally after reading them, just worked from the schematic and did it all myself. I noted all wire colors on the schematic for my wiring for future reference. If they had pre-assigned some color coding it would make it a more pleasurable experience for inexperienced builders. They could take a cue from reading an Elecraft kit manual, and make this a first class kit.
KK2ED Rating: 2003-10-15
Excellent product & support Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased one of the kits at Dayton back in 2000, and was very impressed with the quality of the kit. Excellent directions, quality components, and good overall design.

Unfortunately, I suffered a direct lightning hit in the summer of 2001. Once I got thru the insurance claim headache, I bought another T2X with the DCU-1 controller. To make a long story short, I was not impressed, nor happy, with the DCU-1. Among its faults - constant flicker of the LED numeric readout and position bar led, poor immunity to RF (100w causes it to jump about +/- 5 degrees, 1KW+ causes it to jump all over the place) coming down the rotor cable, and periodic loss of calibration.

I decided to go back to the original control box with the ROTOR-EZ kit. The owner of Idiom provided excellent support, quickly and reasonbly delivering spare parts to repair the board.

I'd recommend this kit to anyone who regularly uses a Hy-Gain rotor!

Eric
KK2ED
VE7BGP Rating: 2003-07-11
Great Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have just finished installing 2 Rotor-EZ kits I installed the one in my own rotor box and then I installed the kit in the clubs rotor. The one option you want to disable unless you have a Tail Twister is the unstick routine. I had to go in and take my rotor box apart and take the meter out again to install the jumper I just completed that job and Oh! what a difference the beam does not rotate in the opposite direction for a few degrees then start turning in the desired direction. Now I don't have to shut off the unstick routine with software every time I turn on my rotor. Even Tailtwister users can use the software routine or have a switch to switch the unstick on routine if needed, if they install the RS-232 option to unstick the rotor. The feature still works with the software command if needed. Wow is it ever nice to have hands off rotor control from your logging program, MixW, or DXView are the programs I have tried so far. If you put together the board I reccommend a Weller temperature controlled Soldering Station and the fine tip. Idiom Press made a great kit and brought the old CDE and Hygain Rotors up to date at a lot better price then the DCU1 box. See you on the air.
73
Gerry
N5OP Rating: 2003-06-18
Excellent! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I purchased the pre-assembled version. Instructions were clear and concise. I screwed up some connections initially, but sorted that out in about 10 min. The whole installation took about 45 min, but be careful drilling the holes in the HyGain control box face plate. Drill from the exposed surface (front), not from the back as I did.

I bought the RS-232 interface and it works like a charm with DXBASE2003 and DXBASE2004. I use a USB-to-serial converter, to keep my hardware serial ports free for things that really need them.

All in all, an *execellent* product.
W9OL Rating: 2003-05-26
even an idiot like me was able to make it work Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Instructions were clear. I got lost once or twice but rereading the paragraph cured that.

Works with my DXBase2004 and Writelog programs.
As I'm upgrading my computer which won't have any ISA slots, I had to change my rotor control system.
The IdiomPress unit worked the first time I tried it.
Especially like the 'Preset Feature' and the 'rock' feature to cure TailTwister wedge sticking problem.

Took about 2 hours to install and glad I did.
WA9KJE Rating: 2003-04-26
Great Idea & easy to use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received the kit and put it together and installed and calibrated in a couple of hours. Directions are fairly easy to follow and great circuit board layout.
A lot of neat built in functions that can be turned off.
Just point the needle to the heading you want and click the button. Also, can control via RS232. All in all Great!!!
DL4MFP Rating: 2003-03-24
Very useful ! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The unit is working as advertised, and the boys from Idiom Press are offering an outstanding customer-service ! I can recommend it unconditional.
W9NJY Rating: 2003-03-09
Excellent protection for your rotor and tower. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Even if one were not interested in all the great features Rotor EZ provides, it provides worthwhile protection to Hygain Rotors and the towers and antennas associated with them. It make it impossible to release the turn and brake controls at the same time (even if you are using the manual levers) and prevents the rotating antenna from stopping as though it hit a brick wall. The brake will not engage until the antenna has quit rotating for five seconds. It also prevents the rotor from slamming into the end stops, again preventing a shock to the antenna, mast, tower, and rotor.

Now look at what the unit does for you! You can call the DX while the antenna is moving into position rather than concentrating on the rotor control. It works great with the RS232 option and the Win-EQF logging program. I hit a function key after entering a Cluster spot and the antenna turns to the DX. I don't even have to look at the rotor control in this process.

I had a slight problem getting the unit to work with my computer, and Idiom Press was very helpful. I turned out that I wasn't using my software correctly and there was nothing wrong with the unit at all. It was otherwise fun to build and worked right away.
KB0RJG Rating: 2002-12-30
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Santa was good to me this year. In addition to all of my goodies he delivered an EZ-Rotor with the RS-232 option. The kit took just under two hours to build and install. It went exceptionally smooth. I had one question and call Bob at Idiom Press and he was quick and accurate in his response.

The device makes using my rotor a joy. With programs like DX-View you either type in the call or point and click the country and the path and off goes the rotor with high precision.

All manual functions remain intact and have been enhanced by the addition of a 5 second brake engagement delay to help prevent damage to the rotor itself. Way to go Idiom!