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Reviews For: The Rotor Doctor

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : The Rotor Doctor
Reviews: 18MSRP: varies
Description:
Rotor service, reconditioning, parts, sales
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00184.7
KB4W Rating: 2020-01-18
Misrepresented Item Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Craig had for sale on his site a "new old stock" Hy-Gain Rotor Controller Plus. The picture that accompanied the listing showed a brand new rotor controller, still in its clear plastic and cardboard packing material, as if it had only been removed from its original box long enough to make the image. When the unit arrived, none of the original packaging or documentation was included and the unit was heavily scratched on the top, bottom and both sides. While I have no idea whether the unit had ever actually been placed in service, it was cosmetically in no way new. When contacted, Craig offered to either take the unit back or order new top and bottom covers. I didn't ask if there would be a charge for the covers as I opted to just return the unit. All was fine until I realized he only refunded me the cost of the unit and not the original shipping cost. I would be fine with that if I had merely changed my mind. As it is, I'm out shipping both ways ($42.00) for an item that was clearly misrepresented.

I have always used Rotor Norm in Alabama with stellar results, but he didn't have any controllers like this one at that moment.

For anyone who may be interested, I have saved files of both the item listing picture and what I actually received. A couple of pictures are worth a thousand words...
AA4PB Rating: 2019-10-13
Honest service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
http://rotor-doc.com/

In order to minimize down time I ordered a rebuilt HAM-IV from Rotor Doctor and replaced my defective rotor. I sent the defective rotor to Rotor Doctor to have it rebuilt so I'd have a spare for next time. He replaced the defective POT and sent me an e-mail advising that the other parts, including bearings, were in such good shape that it didn't make sense to replace them so he would discount the repair cost if I wanted to do that.
N0ODK Rating: 2019-10-12
Two T2X repaired Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I had C.A.T.S service two T2X rotor and one controller for me. They are very fast, very friendly, and no issues. No problems.
73
KK7P Rating: 2018-07-10
Excellent Service, Fairly Priced Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought a 1978 Ham III rotator at a swap meet. It was pretty sad looking and non-functional. Sent it to C.A.T.S. and they completely refurbished it, turned it around in about 2 weeks. Total cost (including shipping) was much less than 1/2 the price of a new unit.
K2YWE Rating: 2013-12-28
Never Been Disappointed Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have bought parts from C.A.T.S. (formerly Rotor Doctor) several occasions and they have always been correct, fairly priced, and shipped quickly at a reasonable cost. I have found Craig to be responsive to inquiries and happy to provide telephone advice. My experience with "the other" well know rotor rebuilder has not been as good.
K5ACO Rating: 2013-07-08
Great Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just opened a Ham-II rebuilt by Carl 8 yrs ago to check the lubrication. It still looked new inside! Several components had obvoiusly been replaced with new.
Quick delivery of parts at good prices and no gouging on shipping costs.
His cable plug system works very well and stands up to the weather.
Barring extreme weather I will never need another rotor.
N8ECH Rating: 2012-01-03
Great service and reasonable pricing. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used Craig's service twice now. Both times the turn around time and pricing were good.

As of the fall of 2011, the basic labor charge is $100 plus parts for rotor repair.
Shipping runs about $15 to from S/W Ohio to Pemberville.

The units do come back looking like new, and I highly recommend the 9 pin twist lock connector upgrade if the rotor will be used in a tower application. The cable end of the connector is a bit of a chore to install, but once done a rotor swap out is much easier.

Craig does warn that Fall and May when the Dayton Hamfest occurs are two times when turn around time can suffer due to increased business as well as parts shortages.

In my two instances, the total bill for the rebuild was around $200 including shipping both ways.
KD4W Rating: 2011-06-30
The Best Time Owned: N.A.
Sent my Ham 4 rotator to Craig. It was blowing the 1/8 amp fuse in the control unit and I knew it needed the pot that controls the direction. He fixed the unit, sent it back to me before he was even paid, and the cost was a lot less than I expected.

This is service that is above and beyond. I can't praise him enough.
WB6MMV Rating: 2011-05-23
Great Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I sent my Ham IV in for a complete overhaul. While it was working, the indicator pot was erratic periodically. Craig reworked the rotor, replaced the pot and returned the rotor looking like new with a nice grey coat of paint. I installed the rotor and noted that it now indicates smoothly. I was delighted with the service.
WB1CQW Rating: 2010-09-08
mixed review Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had a HAM lV in the tower for 18 years which I sent to the Rotor Doctor for a rebuild. When I sent it to him it was turning, but not smoothly. When I got it back it did not work at all. I believe he would have ultimately fixed the problem, but instead of paying for costly shipping and a long wait, I needed to take down the staging beside the tower and couldn't wait any longer, so I purchased a brand new HAM lV(from Norm's Rotor Service). For the little bit saved by rebuilding a rotor, in the future I'd always trade in the old and buy new-- too much of a hassle to get up the tower to swap rotors that fail. I realize as a practical matter it's very hard to know exactly how many parts that should be replaced in a rotor rebuild. In my particular case, I noticed there was nothing on the the Rotor Doctor's invoice for a replacement potentiometer, which I suspect was the real problem, that the contacts of the old one were simply cleaned up. Nor will I ever know whether my problem was an intermittent problem in the rotor after he rebuilt it that acted OK before shipment to me. FYI I've had similar problems twice with completely rebuilt motors in automobiles: in both cases they ran far better as OEM motors.