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

[John Brier]

I don't think anything is wrong with the rotators themselves. They turns
fine. It was only used a few times for field day. I have never had an
antenna on them though. Got it used.

Also, I am aware of the many posts about these products. The most common
issue with the control box seems to be the meters don't work but readings
are okay to PC interface. Both meters and readings are bad on my control
box.

Does anyone have a good source on the connectors for the cables into the
rotators?

73, John Brier KG4AKV

On Mon, Oct 5, 2020, 09:12 <kb2mjeff at att.net> wrote:

> When I looked at this message again I thought it might be the loose drive
> gear set screw issue . Does the rotor sound like it's turning, but antennas
> not moving? If so you will have to take it almost completely apart to get
> to
> the drive gear set screw to apply Loctite, like Yeasu should have done when
> they assembled it. I had to do that to one of my 5500 a few years ago. If
> you do take it apart for another reason for the failure, make sure to apply
> the Loctite anyway.
>
> 73 Jeff kb2m
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb-bounces at amsat.org> On Behalf Of Burns Fisher via
> AMSAT-BB
> Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2020 7:19 PM
> To: John Brier <johnbrier at gmail.com>
> Cc: AMSAT BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Yaesu G-5500 meters and readings to LVB tracker not
> working
>
> Oh, you were tapping the CONTROL BOX!  I totally missed that.
>
> One problem I have had is with those darned screw terminals.   It is really
> easy to get the wires shorted--I put all of my wires in eye terminals, but
> I
> had a strand of wire sticking out in one case, and in another the angle
> of the terminal moved around and touched another.   I finally bent them so
> the wires all feed in at 90 degrees to the screw/loop.  Maybe a bit
> obvious,
> but...
>
> 73,
>
> Burns WB1FJ
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2020 at 9:04 PM John Brier via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Jim.
> >
> > So, I did that a dozen times for the azimuth side and it didn't make
> > much of a difference. It did start reading (instead of staying at
> > around 0), going to about 180, but never much beyond that that. And
> > eventually it seemed to get stuck again.
> >
> > However, when I started doing the same for the elevation rotator I
> > noticed that the cable jacket was falling out of the connector. The
> > rubber and the connector wasn't compressing the jacket so there was
> > presumably stress on the wires. When I pushed the cable in the
> > connector the meter started reading right.
> >
> > There is a similar issue on the connector on the cable I am using for
> > azimuth but pushing it in towards the connector or wiggling it doesn't
> > seem to help.
> >
> > I think I am going to redo these cables. They came with the rotator
> > and there is also a disconnect a few feet from the rotator connectors.
> > Not sure what for. The connector there is wrapped in electrical tape
> > so I am not sure what state it is in.
> >
> > One question: If the issue is in the rotator or a connection issue at
> > the rotator, why would tapping the control box affect the issue?
> >
> > The only thing I can think of is there could be another issue in the
> > box (connection or otherwise).
> >
> >
> > 73,  John Brier KG4AKV
> >
> > On Sat, Oct 3, 2020, 18:12 Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > > Sounds like the position pots in the rotor (not the controller) are
> > > dirty.  That does make some sense with it not being used for several
> > > years.  Step one (the easy way) is to use the manual control levers
> > > on the controller and repeatedly move the rotors from end to end
> > > while watching the needles.  If you are a bit lucky, after a few
> > > passes back and forth, the needles will start responding correctly.
> > > Keep trying at least a dozen full passes back and forth before
> > > giving up on this method.  The next method requires disassembly of
> > > the rotor - now you know why I suggest giving the first method lots
> > > of tries before giving up on it.  If you have to resort to the
> > > second method, I will let someone who has done that more recently
> > > than I (about 20 years) give instructions.
> > >
> > > --
> > > 73
> > > -------------------------------------
> > > Jim Walls - K6CCC
> > > jim at k6ccc.org
> > > Ofc:  818-548-4804
> > > http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/
> > > AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum
> > > available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring
> membership.
> > Opinions
> > > expressed
> > > are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official
> > > views of AMSAT-NA.
> > > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
> > program!
> > > Subscription settings:
> > > https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> > to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> > Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect
> > the official views of AMSAT-NA.
> > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
> program!
> > Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to
> all
> interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
> expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official
> views of AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>
>