[amsat-bb] Re: Murphy on my G-5400B control box

[Sebastian]

> That's not good news Kevin, but I appreciate the response.
>
> I found my stash of glass fuses from the last hamfest, and unplugged  
> the cables from both rotors, and as expected, it blows the fuse  
> immediately.
>
> If it's the azimuth rotor, I should be ok, since it just came back  
> from Yaesu a couple of months ago.  If it's the elevation, I had  
> that one repaired based on the recommendations of another ham here,  
> so both have been looked at in the last few months.
>
> Guess I'll call Yaesu tomorrow and ask them how to proceed.
>
> I spent years just moving the rotors by looking at SATPC32, and then  
> I decided to get an LVB to make things easier, and that's what I get  
> for fixing something that wasn't broken.  I'm not blaming the LVB,  
> it's just that it was great having it align the antennas for me.   
> Unfortunately, I didn't get to use it for too long.
>
> I also found a couple of day ago that my radio was putting out very  
> lower power, and couldn't hear AO-51.  I checked the SWR, and it was  
> sky high.  I knew the beams were ok, so I suspected the coax.  I  
> found my LMR400 had a soldered center conductor, and a crimped  
> shield!  I couldn't believe a company would sell rf coax with  
> crimped connectors.  So I'm in the process of replacing those.
>
> The idea of using a Ham M type rotor (I have a couple spares), and a  
> Radio Shack rotor for elevation is sounding pretty good right now.
>
> 73 de W4AS
> Sebastian

On Jul 8, 2009, at 7:31 PM, Kevin Schuchmann wrote:

> Sebastian,
>  unfortunately your describing a shorted transformer, unplug both az  
> and el cables and then see if
> it still blows fuses, if it does the transformer has probably  
> shorted, and more bad news it also means
> either the az or el motor is probably also shorted and gone.
>
> The Yaesu rotors have a bad track record for getting a cable snag or  
> a problem inside where a motor
> jams and then overheats and shorts and then it takes out the  
> transformer...
>
> :-(
>
> Kevin WA6FWF