ToddDubya
NES Member
After a summer of having a 6m hex beam on milsurp masts (~4' sections stacked 8 tall) and having to run outside to turn it, and having a mast and guy wires to dodge when I mow, and it always looking like it's going to fall down because of the little bit of slop in each mast section, I'm thinking about a mast attached to the side of the house and a rotator.
1. Skinflint me immediately went to Craigslist to find some 1970s TV antenna rotator like I grew up with. No luck so far.
2. Handy me said "it's a motor and a control knob, just build your own". This sounds good until it proves to be a nightmare to keep working and I'm on a ladder with a heat gun in the middle of the winter because it froze up solid.
3. How-many-rotators-are-you-going-to-buy-in-your-life me said "Just find the best one and buy its big brother". So I've been heading down that path. The reviews on the Yaesu models seems to be that they work great until they don't. And they're great as long as you don't live where there's weather.
My experience so far with 6m has been disappointing, but I'd like to stick with it. It works, it just hasn't been all that "magic" for me yet. I could see adding VHF/UHF yagis down the road.
Any recommendations on rotators to look at? I don't need to break the bank on this, but I understand the value of buying once.
For reference, this is the Yaesu model I was looking at.
1. Skinflint me immediately went to Craigslist to find some 1970s TV antenna rotator like I grew up with. No luck so far.
2. Handy me said "it's a motor and a control knob, just build your own". This sounds good until it proves to be a nightmare to keep working and I'm on a ladder with a heat gun in the middle of the winter because it froze up solid.
3. How-many-rotators-are-you-going-to-buy-in-your-life me said "Just find the best one and buy its big brother". So I've been heading down that path. The reviews on the Yaesu models seems to be that they work great until they don't. And they're great as long as you don't live where there's weather.
My experience so far with 6m has been disappointing, but I'd like to stick with it. It works, it just hasn't been all that "magic" for me yet. I could see adding VHF/UHF yagis down the road.
Any recommendations on rotators to look at? I don't need to break the bank on this, but I understand the value of buying once.
For reference, this is the Yaesu model I was looking at.
Yaesu G-800DXA Yaesu G-800DXA Medium Heavy-Duty Rotator Systems | DX Engineering
Free Shipping - Yaesu G-800DXA Medium Heavy-Duty Rotator Systems with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Rotator Combos at DX Engineering.
www.dxengineering.com