"Rod Maupin" wrote in message
...
Tam,

I see what you mean. I was leaning towards the Yaesu G-450A rotator
instead
of the Hy-Gain AR-40. I read a less than favorable review on that one.
However, I also read some unfavorable reviews on the Yaesu G-450A.
People's
main complaint was about the buttons on the control box not being very
good.

Actually, the VHF/UHF antenna I was thinking of putting up is only 1
sq.ft.,
I was just using 10 sq.ft. as an example. I did read about the thrust
bearing and agree with you on that.

Rod KI7CQ



The probably make things with less quality now than they did about 40 years
ago. I had an 11 element 2 meter CC beam ( please no comments about that
antenna) on a AR 33 that was even less heavy duty than the ar40 was at that
time. The rotator has been turning a big TV antenna for the last 30 years.
For a small vhf antenna I would look around for a used (doubt you could find
a new) Alliance U-100. It should be about $ 150 or more less than the
ar40. I have one mounted in a tower (no thrust bearing) but the mast goes
through 2 plates about 2 feet apart and the hole in them is only about 1/2
inches bigger than the mast and it has been turning a 8 element 14 foot boom
2 meter , 22 element 440 and an 8 element 10 foot boom 220 mhz antenna for
about 10 years.