Review of the AR-300 XL rotator

A rotator is an integral part of every directional antenna. Without him, it simply isn't that. Mechanical rotators are self-constructed. Their main advantage is the speed of rotation of the antenna and the price. Electric is manufactured by various companies. Probably the smallest rotator on the market is the AR-300 XL.

It can be bought for about 3000,- Sk on each stock exchange. The manufacturer declares it as a small rotator for satellite, television, radio and amateur antennas. When I bought it a year and a half ago, I didn't give him a good chance of surviving in the conditions, as I prepared for it….

The first thing, which you will see after unpacking from the box is the control unit. It has a single transparent rotating element, which we set the desired direction. Below it is an indicator of the actual azimuth, which starts moving after the rotating element is rotated. There is also an angular scale on the front panel (N, O, S, W – in German). Unfortunately not rotatable, as is addressed, for example, in Yaesu control units, so matching the real azimuth is a little more challenging. It's easier to draw your own scale.

The second thing, which you unpack is the rotator itself. Alloy, from which it is sprayed on green-gray. The connection between the fixed and rotating part is covered by a rubber cover, which prevents water from flowing into the rotator. The last thing in the box is a bag with screws, U-chkami, washers and nuts. You will need to purchase a three-core connection cable, which attaches to the terminal block on both sides.

Because I didn't want to drill into such a mechanically demanding thing, what kind of rotator it definitely is, the tone, I can only guess what mechanical gears look like. It seems to me, that he uses selsyny, is not a one-way motor, but I may be wrong.

With frequent rotation (for example in a contest) the control unit tends to heat up. But what is important, however, it does not cause any interference (at least I didn't register any with me). You hear a growl at work, which is quite loud, but it's not annoying.

I have prepared a load for this rotator in the form 3 the. yagi na 10 m and almost 7m vertical (the other mast had nowhere to build, hi). I could not get the original top bearing, so i made something similar from angles, which hold the antenna support tube. In a year and a half, what I use it has survived two winters (and -25 ° C) and two or three strong winds (by estimation 100 – 120 km/h). Do not notice any wear on it, it still works just as well as the first time.

I think, that it is an underappreciated rotator. It is characterized by an excellent price / performance ratio. It is definitely suitable for most FM antennas, and smaller HF antennas. I highly recommend.