Supply chain issues affecting the hobby continues

[Tokin]

Talked to Hy Gain yesterday and their rotator division isnt doing well. Between covid wiping out several of their parts manufacturers and the continuing supply chain issues they are 4+ months out from resuming any new production. No new rotators/controllers until mid June at the earliest and thats if everything goes as planned. Whatever distributors have in stock is it. Even common rebuild parts are getting hard to find so buying used and rebuilding is becoming a non option. HyGain said MFJ has a few Alfa spid rotators in stock but thats it for medium/heavy duty rotators and after looking at recent spid reviews ill wait for a t2x.
Oh and don't trust the MFJ site when it says the item is in stock, MFJ site says they have rotators in stock that they dont. Hy gain says its a computer glitch. Ill probably order a new t2x now and buy a used set up to run until the new set comes hopefully this summer.
Just a heads up if you're thinking of replacing or upgrading with new Hy Gain rotator you'll be waiting a while and you might be hunting a bit for some rebuild parts to fix the one you have depending on what you need.

 

[Blackcat630]

That's very unfortunate news. You might consider a Yaesu rotor. I ran a G800 model for years with no issues until about 2 yrs ago. It was a mid 90s model and had never been touched. The potentiometer final let loose in it.. this was expected since it was starting to act squirrely. This is a future repair project for this summer. It will make a fine spare to have on hand.

I did some tower work for a local friend and received a G1000 Yaesu as payment. It was 20 plus years old but in fantastic shape. I opened it up.. cleaned and re greased it. It has been going strong now for over a year.

Though I might not be the biggest fan of Yaesu radios.. I have had good luck with the rotors..

 

[Tokin]

That's very unfortunate news. You might consider a Yaesu rotor. I ran a G800 model for years with no issues until about 2 yrs ago. It was a mid 90s model and had never been touched. The potentiometer final let loose in it.. this was expected since it was starting to act squirrely. This is a future repair project for this summer. It will make a fine spare to have on hand.

I did some tower work for a local friend and received a G1000 Yaesu as payment. It was 20 plus years old but in fantastic shape. I opened it up.. cleaned and re greased it. It has been going strong now for over a year.

Though I might not be the biggest fan of Yaesu radios.. I have had good luck with the rotors..

I've been reading all the reviews i can find and the one common element is quality in the past 10 years has dropped substantially. People are saying they had a 1990's built rotator in the air for 20+ years without a problem until they bought a newer unit built after 2010 and cant get them to last a year without problems. Hy Gain seems to have had potentiometer issues for a long time. The good news is they changed that design about 5 years ago and ive seen no bad reviews on the upgraded model yet. Spid rotators were getting good reviews in 2010 but now not so much. Poorly assembled motors, leaky/rusty motors, and rusty gears is what ive been seeing in newer built models.
Ive been looking at yaesu. What makes me a little shy is the availability of parts and some plastic gears. I deal with lots of rain, wind and large birds on the regular so i expect things to break on occasion. A couple years ago i had an Osprey perch on top of my Colossal 10k and it bent the static hat. I think i still have a pic of that. Would've been fun to rotate the antenna with him on it hahaha.
I wouldnt be as picky if i lived in a warm dry area but i live in a soup bowl 11 months out of the year and things left outside here dont generally last long. Even if its sealed up good condensation is still an issue.
Oh, one last tidbit, Hy Gain is using a new "low temp" grease that is good to - 31°f which is ok for folks up north but doesn't hold up well for hot areas. Hy Gain told me that in high heat this grease will dry out and turn to a talc like powder. According to Hy Gain the talc powder is still a lubricant and shouldnt harm the bearings or races. Im not so sure about that so what ever new Hy Gain rotator i buy will have to be cleaned and re-greased before it goes in the air.

 

[Tokin]

Well, never did get a reply from norms and the gentleman from hy gain says he was recently talking about retiring.
All the rotor sellers have left ebay because of their high fees and seller protection program and are now on Facebook. I had to break down and start a new account.
Thank you Ken Brownson of RotorTime for excellent customer service and the time you took to answer my questions.

 

[43Echo695]

Is supply of CB radios ie Galaxy, Uniden , Cobra, Ranger etc fairly steady & consistent in the US now, or are there still covid related manufacturing issues with the Asian factories?

Same could be said for amateur radio equipment.

Thanks & 73's

 

[G-Golly Wally]

I know this isn't radio related, but at work we can't get replacement parts for our man lifts. And if anyone has worked in the oilfield you know how equipment gets abused, something gets broken every hitch. It's unbelievable what so-called grown men will do, the last two times at work someone has kicked the door of the bathroom halfway off its hinges. It's nice to have a heated bathroom when it's freezing cold outside, I was so aggravated I suggested that they quit renting the heated bathroom and make everyone use the portable outhouses if people are going to be that ignorant.

 

[Smokinone]

I know this isn't radio related, but at work we can't get replacement parts for our man lifts. And if anyone has worked in the oilfield you know how equipment gets abused, something gets broken every hitch. It's unbelievable what so-called grown men will do, the last two times at work someone has kicked the door of the bathroom halfway off its hinges. It's nice to have a heated bathroom when it's freezing cold outside, I was so aggravated I suggested that they quit renting the heated bathroom and make everyone use the portable outhouses if people are going to be that ignorant.

Having worked in maintenance, I had a similar situation where the screws of the stall doors were being removed, probably thinking they would cause more work for someone, or be able to complain about the situation. My remedy was to remove the doors from the stalls. Many complaints followed, and citing inability to get the correct parts ordered, it went on for about 2 weeks. When I finally got the screws and replaced them there was never another problem.

It's a shame, as you say, grown men acting like children. Treating them as such generally solves the issue.

 

[groundwire]

Is supply of CB radios ie Galaxy, Uniden , Cobra, Ranger etc fairly steady & consistent in the US now, or are there still covid related manufacturing issues with the Asian factories?

Same could be said for amateur radio equipment.

Thanks & 73's

radio equipment clothes, housewares, machine parts and just about everything else is in short supply. music gear is very hard to get now. guitars, drums etc all out of stock with like 3 - 6 month wait till only a few arrive. its just ridiculous already. thats what we get because the shitty government killed ALL manufacturing and now we are slaves to foreign countries. just wait, its all about to get ALOT worse than you could ever imagine.

 

[Smokinone]

Went to Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for a 12 piece family dinner. Used to be like $19. Now $35. Walked out without the chicken.

 

[RT431]

My sister needs a new door for her car, dealer said it would be June before they could get it. Didn't surprise me.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

The factory that I work in is having a hard time getting parts for the machinery. Parts that the distributor would normally stock are not on their shelves, and the 3 week lead time on the parts that they didn't stock has turned into 3 months. Which is better than what we had, the 3 week parts were 6 months. So it's getting better, but not very quickly. Of course we stock a ton of parts in house, but our min/max quantity on our shelves is based on the lead time to replenish. Which is based on the distributor actually having parts on their shelves....

On the radio front, Galaxy radios are available, but it is hit or miss. President and Anytone seem like they never missed a beat.

 

[TIN_CAN]

We have some collision jobs at the shop that have been sitting around for months waiting for parts to finish the job, customers have been driving rentals. we cant get the filters for the bottom of the down draft booth, sometime we go weeks with out some pigments need for the paint. It is what it is.

 

[G-Golly Wally]

I ordered a camper shell for my Nissan Dec 22, 2022. It just came in last week, picked it up today.

 

[Brother DXer]

So, speaking about the supply chain... Many years ago, a friend who works in the import/export business heard me bitching about something I had broken while using it. I then started going off on the cheap Chinese crap I bought and will NEVER buy another item that's been made in China. He starts laughing. I mean Laughing Hard!!
I said what's so funny. He said you'll understand if you start looking at the manufacturer tag/stamp on most things. He said look at your clothes, dishes, pots and pans, tools, .. EVERYTHING you own. Look at the made in tag. Then come back to me and tell me that you will never buy anything else made in China.
After a few weeks of noticing where all of the things are made, I realized we are totally dependent on China!! And a few other countries, but WOW.. "Made in China" is stamped on almost everything!
Ugh.... This is bad.... so bad.. and it's also very sad. This was 24 years ago and if it was that bad then, it's down right depressing now!
And as I understand it, China is now having massive issues due to Covid 19.

 

[TM86]

And as I understand it, China is now having massive issues due to Covid 19.

I've heard the same thing, but I'm sure the communism isn't helping.