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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
W3HII Rating: 2001-10-18
Great product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just completed assembly and installation of the Rotor-EZ kit into my CDE Ham-M control box, and it really works great!

This is an excellent quality kit and I would highly recommend it. The PC board etching and silk-screening are excellent and parts quality and assembly and operations manuals are excellent.

For easier assembly, however, I would also recommend soldering as many wires to the PC board as possible before installing the board into the box (this is contrary to what the instructions say).
N7HFK Rating: 2001-10-06
A great item for the shack Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What a great item. Worked the first time. High quality parts. Just for anyone buying this kit......solder all the wires while the board is out that you can. For some reason the instructions have you solder wires (a couple you have to) to the board once it is installed. It is much easier if you do this before. Calibration is a no-brainer. The RS-232 is the best part.....now I just type in the person's callsign and my antenna is on its way.
N3QK Rating: 2001-07-15
Problem getting it to work properly Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
AFTER PUTTING KIT TOGETHER, I WAS UNABLE TO GET UNIT TO WORK PROPERLY. SEVERAL E-MAILS TO OWNERS DID NOT SOLVE PROBLEM. THEY SORTA POINTED ME IN A DIRECTION BUT NONE -THE - LESS DID NOT SOLVE MY PROBLEM. NEVER ONCE DID THEY SAY TO RETURN THE UNIT FOR REPAIR, BUT INSTEAD AT LAST E-MAIL SAID "GOOD LUCK"... AFTER I FOUND THAT THEY WERE NOT VERY HELPFUL, I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF TO START TAKING ALL PARTS BACK OFF THE PC BOARD, LOOKING FOR A DEFECTIVE COMPONENT. TO SUM IT UP, THE PROBLEM WAS IN THE CLOSE TRACK LAYOUT OF THE BOARD AND BEING UNDER ETCHED - I FOUND (NOT ONE) BUT TWO SEPARATE PLACES WHERE THE BOARD CLAD WAS SHORTED TO THE AJACENT TRACK. I KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS ENCOUNTERED THIS PROBLEM AND I'M WONDERING WHY THE "HELPFUL PERSON" DID NOT MENTION THAT THEY HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE BOARDS. AFTER I REPAIRED THAT PROBLEM - UNIT NOW WORKS SATISFACTORY AND AS ADVERTISED. I HOPE YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK THAN I HAD GETTING YOURS TO WORK PROPERLY BECAUSE I SPENT 4 EVENINGS TRYING TO FIND THE PROBLEM....DEFINATELY NEED Q.C. ON THE BOARDS. I ADVISED THEM OF THE PROBLEM I FOUND, BUT THEY SAID "OH THE BOARD MANUFACTURES ARE WONDERFUL AND WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY PROBLEMS BEFORE (YEH, SURE). THEY ACTED LIKE THEY COULD CARE LESS....
N3QK
K0PCG Rating: 2001-06-08
This is a Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Installed the EZ Rotor kit with RS 232 computer control to the ProLog2k logging software and all works GREAT. The kit is fairly straight forward to build. Very good instructions and clearly within the ability of a novice like myself. Computerized rotor control is really neat. DX spots come from the cluster to the ProLog logging software version 3.42 or 3.62. Then it's a simple matter of point and shoot. If you don't have logging software, download a copy of the freeware DXView for a map interface for computer-rotor control.

73 Nick K0PCG
Des Moines, IA
K8WOS Rating: 2001-04-29
Nice Addition to Shack Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The instructions for construction are very clear. If you have a problem, support is quick and concise. Calibration is easy. I am using the unit with a CDE 45 rotor and it has performed flawlessly. I also purchased the RS-232 option which I am using with DX4WIN 5.02 and again it works perfectly. The Rotor E-Z is a nice addition to the shack.
VA3LX Rating: 2001-04-13
Great Product! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I concur with the other reviewers who have been pleased with the quality of the kit, ease of construction, installation, and calibration.

I would like to thank Idiom Press for retaining the original 3 paddle control. I thought that I would never use it again, but discovered that it still the best strategy for controlling the rotor when sweeping across the north to optimize reception for aurora.

I'd also like to comment on the utter convenience of the RS232 control. I use the YPLog software (V4.26) that has implemented rotor control based on call sign look-up, and point and click on a world map (similar to DXView). This allows me to turn the antenna based on a callsign that I've entered into the log or to listen to a disired beam heading without entering a callsign, and all without reaching for the rotor control box!!

Thank you Idiom Press for a great addition to the shack and to YPLog for supplying the interface that makes the Rotor EZ a thrill to use.
WA0TPN Rating: 2001-04-12
Neat Accessory !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Yesterday, with the rainy weather, I took the opportunity to put together the Rotor-EZ kit, and install it in the rotor controller. It works great!

Now with a click of the mouse on a DX packet cluster spot, the computer (via DX4WIN and Rotor-EZ) will tune the radio frequency and mode, automatically turn the antenna, and log the QSO. It is great fun to see technology at work ! Thanks to Idiom Press for a good product, clear instructions, and fair pricing.
K2UA Rating: 2001-03-20
Outstanding Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I love my Rotor-EZ! I've really enjoyed it, although it was a bit of a pain to install. Building the board took only 35 minutes, but installing it was easily two more hours.

This is one of the nicest accessory products you can buy for your hamshack. From the usability and functionality standpoints, it's excellent. It is remarkably intuitive and well-thought-out. It just works. Who can ask for more?

I need two more, but it's hard to justify the $200 expenditure for accessories like this when I think of the other things I could buy with the same dollars. But it's not outrageously priced by any means, especially for the functionality it adds to the dinosaur-age technology of the Hy-Gain rotator control boxes.
KA2VZX Rating: 2001-03-20
Great Product Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Rotor-EZ is a great addition to my setup. I do some VHF contesting and this product really makes chasing grids alot easier. It took about 3 hours total to build,install and calibrate.

KA9FOX Rating: 2001-03-12
Two Thumbs Up! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In just 3 years, I will qualify for QCAO (Quarter Century Appliance Operator) status. Needless to say, I didn't want to deal with building and installing a kit. Fortunately, on the Rotor EZ web site there is a link to a ham who will build and install the kit for us Appliance Ops. I have to tell you that I am thrilled with my Rotor EZ. I agree with other comments that the calibration instructions are confusing, but I understand that the instructions are being improved, based on customer input. I absolutely LOVE my Rotor EZ upgrade to my Tailtwister -- can't believe I lived without it for so long.