I finally replaced the broken light bulb in my Yaesu G-450C rotator controller

It has been bugging me for a long time, so yesterday I finally decided to do something about it. Several years ago, the illumination lamp in my Yaesu G-450C rotator controller failed. I read some articles online about how to replace the bulb, but was daunted because it seemed a complex job to access the bulb.

The new-look Yaesu G-450C with blue LED fitted. I think it looks great!

17 screws had to be removed to access the 
G-450C bulb.

Yesterday, I plucked up the courage to open the unit and to attempt to at least see what might be involved in replacing the failed bulb.

This required the removal of SEVENTEEN screws. When 13 of the screws had been removed, there was a delicate operation involved in removing the last four, which kept the display plate mounted to the front of the control unit.

Because there were lots of wires connected to this front part, I had to be careful not to pull it away from the unit very much in case I snapped any of the wires.

A short time later, I finally had access to the display plate, and could see the tiny (failed) bulb. I'll be honest and say that at this point, I was feeling quite daunted about my ability to complete this job. However, I decided to go to some local electronic/motor supply stores to see what kind of bulbs they had that could operate on 12V and provided a low wattage (preferably 2w or less). I was able to find a pair of blue LED lights which run on 12V and give out 0.35w.

However, those bulbs were too big to fit in the "holder" where the burnt-out bulb was located. I would have to come up with a solution whereby the new LED bulb would sit in a different location than the old bulb.

The old bulb.

The azimuth indicator display plate.

By carefully snipping some cable ties that kept the small wires bundled together, I was able to get some extra length on the two wires that feed 12V to the bulb. Having done this, it was time to get the soldering iron out for some delicate soldering of the wires to the two copper pins on the LED bulb. I stretched these out, and made a sort-of "hook" on each of them to better support the power wires.

With all that done, I taped up the wires, and began thinking about where I would position the bulb so that it would illuminate the rotator's azimuth indicator. The only place that suited was to the right of the indicator (the original bulb was in the upper-left corner), and with a bit of careful manipulation and some red electrical tape, I was able to fasten the bulb into its new position.

Now I know this might sound silly, but getting the unit back together with 17 screws was by itself a tedious and delicate job. The four screws that hold the azimuth indicator display plate to the front of the controller unit were, in particular, difficult to access - again because I had to be careful not to stretch wires.

The entire job - to replace one small bulb - took me about two hours.

Anyway, eventually I got everything back together and it was time for a quick test. Would it work? I made a short video, which you can watch below.

There's a bit of stray light showing through the 'left' and 'right' switches, but I can live with that. What do you think?

Rotator up, ZL9 worked twice again, and HV0A

It was a good day in the shack here today. I could hear ZL9HR, the Campbell Island dxpedition, on 17m SSB on the long path. They were light enough, not moving the needle much. Within a couple of minutes I was in the log. It really was an easy QSO. That was 9.58am. A half an hour later - having tried for a short time on 40m CW without success - I tried on 15m CW. Again, they were better on the long path. I was calling 3 Khz up, where others seemed to be calling them, but then I heard ZL9HR working EI6FR, Declan, who is based in Dublin.

The ZL9HR Campebell Island dxpedition team

So I messaged Declan on Facebook assking for the split and he said he worked them 7 Khz up. So I went up to 21.042, and could indeed hear him working one or two Europeans. So I went down slightly, to 21.041.2 and within a couple of minutes I could hear "EI2KC 5NN" coming back through the ether! It was my sixth slot with ZL9, which was more than I could have anticipated. Thanks for the help Declan EI6FR! The ZL9HR dxpedition has since gone QRT, so six slots is my total. I am a happy man.

At shortly before 11am Tony EI4DIB and Pat EI2HX arrived at my QTH to help me put up the Yaesu G-450C rotator. Thankfully we had done a lot of work on Wednesday, including the wiring, and we were all ready to get it on the pole and under the hexbeam. It only took about an hour, but thankfully the hexbeam is so light that I could manage lifting it off the pole, and back onto the rotator, on my own.

Within a short time I was turning the beam from inside the shack and watching the signal meter as the various signals came up while the beam was turning towards them. First into the log was 3B8CF on 15m CW, followed shortly thereafter by J28NC (Djibouti). I was absolutely chuffed, upon turning southeast for HV0A, Francesco in the Vatican City, to work him on my FIRST CALL on 17 metres SSB through a simplex pile-up. He was a signal strength of 30dB over 9 here, as you can see in this short video, which I made immediately after working him:

Others to make it into the log before the bands closed this evening were SU9VB, Vlad in Egypt, on 17m CW with just one call using only 100 watts. I also nabbed 5X1NH, Nick in Uganda, on 20m CW. He has been very active, and has given me five bands so far. 

I did not participate in the ARRL 10 metres contest, and I'm so glad about that because propagation on 10m  is awful. I could only hear a few signals on the band today. It wouldn't have been much fun to be trying to ratch up a decent QSO rate in that contest . . .

Down goes the MA5B . . . up goes the Hexbeam!

Yesterday, after a long time thinking about it, I finally decided to take down the MA5B minibeam in favour of a second hand hexbeam. Although the MA5B has served me very well, being my first beam and being a big improvement over the Butternut vertical in many cases, the gain figures for the hexbeam are better and those who have them swear by them.

The Hex Team! Thos EI2JD, Pat EI2HX, Anthony EI2KC
and Tony EI4DIB. What a crew!

So it was with mixed feelings that I finally decided to swap them. My antenna team swung into action here on Tuesday and consisted of Thos EI2JD, Pat EI2HX and Tony EI4DIB, without whose help it would never have happened.

I already had the arms and the stay ropes of the hexbeam assembled to move things on a little bit. Working in a very confined space with the hex was difficult, but we worked well as a team, ironing out the problems as we went along.

We discovered too, regrettably, that my old Moonraker rotator is kaput, and had to make the decision to erect the hexbeam on an armstrong rotator for the moment. (For non hams, this simply means the pole is manually rotated, using just the strength of one's arm!!)

The whole operation took about four hours, with tea breaks! It was a lovely sunny day which made it easier and we got to work on our sun tans too HI! The hexbeam is lighter than the MA5B, and without the weight of the rotator the new structure does not need stay wires.

Upon completion, we did the SWR test. SWR is flat across the 20m band, and is around 1.5 - 1.7 on 17m, 15m and 12m. It is a bit high, inexplicably, on 10m, but at 3:1 the ATU will tune it and also the Acom 1000 will handle it if needed.

Who's a happy boy then?

Although band conditions have not been great since it was erected, I worked a good bit of DX yesterday evening and last night, and was impressed with the many 59+ signals I was seeing on the FT-1000MP. Here is a summary of DX worked:

Japan 20m CW 400 watts

Asiatic Russia 20m CW 400w

Sumatra (YB4) 15m SSB 400w

India 15m CW 100w

Svalbard 17m SSB 100w

Swaziland 15m SSB 100w

Tanzania 10m SSB 400w - new country on 10m!!

Few Stateside QSOs on 15m CW 100w

Dominican Republic 15m SSB 100w

Peru 12m SSB 400w (new band slot)

Nicaragua 15m CW 400w

Gibraltar 17m SSB 100w

St Lucia 15m SSB 100w

Venezuela 17m CW 100w

6 metre beam installed - just in time for the first opening!

On Saturday I finally upgraded my 6 metre (50 Mhz) antenna. I have been using a simple aluminium dipole since the sunmer of 2010. It has served me well, giving me 54 DXCCs over two seasons. But I have been hungry for something with a little more gain so that I might notch up some new DXCCs this year. So when I chanced upon a three-element beam for 50 Mhz I snapped it up! Tony EI4DIB and Jim EI2HJB, who have been involved in so many antenna installations at my QTH, made themselves available on Saturday afternoon and we set to work. It was cold and windy but sunny. So typical Irish weather !

Tony EI4DIB and Jim EI2HJB installing the 3-element 6 metre beam

This was not a complicated installation in that we were swapping out a 6m dipole with a beam, so we could use the same coax. We were also swapping my 4m folded dipole for a 4m dipole made from my recycled 6m dipole shortened down. Tony and Jim managed to get the SWR of the beam between 1.5-2 so that was fine. It is under the 2m XY beam on the same rotator. I am now well set up for VHF activities!

This afternoon, Sunday, the 6 metre band opened for the first real Sporadic E opening of the year. Very timely too! I put the beam through its paces. I worked a number of stations in Poland and Lithuania and Latvia. Some of the signals were very strong indeed. I was delighted. Below is a video of me working SP3OCC, Ted in Poland, on SSB. I had just worked him on CW. He was 10dB over 9 at times. Very strong.

Below are maps from DX Sherlock showing just how active the band was today. It really opened up for a while in Europe, although the openings to EI were limited along a narrow path to Poland and the Baltic area.

6 metres open in Europe, with my first QSO mapped

Activity was intense for a time on 50 Mhz

This was an unexpected opening, especially such a big one. My first QSO of the E season in 2011 was on May 1st, so we are just a few days short of that date and the band has opened properly for the first time. While 50 Mhz was active last summer there wasn't so much DX to be worked so we are hoping that this year there will be some new countries floating around. And with the three-element beam now instead of the dipole, here's one op who's chomping at the bit for some extra DXCCs! Happy DXing . . .