Hello all,

Thank you for the feedback. The overwhelming consensus is that a 7-8' dish is a BAD IDEA for a G-5500, mostly because of wind load. I got some interesting links and pictures of folks with big dishes. Most "rotators" were a variation of the standard dish setup, and a few folks mentioned the Alph Spid as a viable option for such a dish.

I currently have the following on my G-5500: short M2 2M array, short M2 435 array, 8 turn 435 helix, 20 turn 1.2G helix, and a 32" dish. It's a pretty full load :)

Guess I'll store the dish for while and dream....

73,

Mark N8MH

At 09:25 AM 3/7/2009 -0500, Mark L. Hammond wrote:

Hi All,

Recently I acquired a 7.5' dish. It's aluminum with a steel ring mount. I estimate the dish weights maybe 50 lbs?

What is a realistic limit for a Yaesu G-5500 rotator? Would it handle a dish of this size/weight if carefully counterbalanced? Or is it too big and silly to even consider?

I know wind load is a concern of course, too. But I imagine keeping it close to the ground...

I've thought about cutting it down in size to reduce weight and wind load, but would rather not go that route...

73,

Mark L. Hammond [N8MH]