[amsat-bb] Yaesu G-5500 meters and readings to LVB tracker not working

[John Brier]

Hi fellow satops,

I have a Yaesu G-5500 I got used a couple years ago. In February I
hooked it up for the first time on the ground with an LVB Tracker and
MacDoppler.

At the time the azimuth needle sometimes bounced all over the place,
if I tapped the box it affected it too. Sometimes the azimuth meter
swung all the way right to 450 degrees and seemed stuck.

Video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v4jse3mykh58iy1/VID_20200208_222436.mp4?dl=0

(Note towards the end of the video you can see the readings on the LVB
tracker and the Azimuth needle simultaneously while the needle bounces
around. The readings on the LVB tracker are "bouncing" too)

When the reported Az was stuck at 450 degrees, MacDoppler didn't
adjust Az at all.

In February I did take the cover off and loosen and retighten some
screws, including screws that held the meters in (IIRC). This didn't
help.

When I had it open I noticed even if I barely touched the frame
sometimes the needles would bounce. I want to say there were times
where I could just get my finger very close to it, without touching,
and it would make the meters move. Perhaps capacitance.

When the LVB tracker is disconnected, the up, down, left, and right
controls work fine. The rotators turn completely and stop at their
stop points. But still, the meters don't always work.

Today I recorded a video of the azimuth rotator rotating it's full 450
degrees, but the meter barely moved at all:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f9592okxvx1rv0x/PXL_20201003_183543916.mp4?dl=0

Today, initially the elevation meter didn't move at all. It was stuck
at 0 degrees. Later, it worked perfectly going smoothly from 0 to 180,
I think accurately, as I held down the up button.

Video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6ttqcvs7n2nnvo/PXL_20201003_183351247.mp4?dl=0

I think the elevation meter is in better shape than the azimuth meter,
because it occasionally works.

Earlier when I tried to track a low elevation pass with SatPC32 the
elevation rotator turned what looked like a full 180 degrees. The
meter and what ServerSDX read showed the actual degrees were 0.

Video:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k88egwg3d7yvz1k/PXL_20201003_191350061.mp4?dl=0
(skip to 01:38 for AOS)

It seemed like SatPC32 instructed the rotator to turn and I guess it
just kept instructing it to turn, waiting for the reading to show, 3
or 4 degrees elevation or whatever the satellite was. Since the
reading never changed from 0 it went all the way to its stop point. I
think, anyway. It did stop part way through the 180 degrees.

Please send me suggestions on things to try to fix this or get more
information to troubleshoot the issue. If anyone would prefer to help
me over the phone because it's faster, that is welcome too.

73, John Brier KG4AKV