PCT International 9521 Channel Master Antenna Rotor Remote Control System

by PCT International

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches ; 5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BSGCY4
• Item model number: 9521
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 17, 2005

Product Description

Channel Master Antenna Rotor Remote Control System

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Channel Master antenna rotator, October 14, 2007

By 

J. Tietz (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PCT International 9521 Channel Master Antenna Rotor Remote Control System (Electronics)

The product is easy to install and operate, and it performs basically as advertised, but there are a few things to grumble about.

First, communication over the control cable is one-way, from the control box to the motor. That means that the controller doesn't really know where the antenna is pointing. Rather, it knows, or thinks it knows, how fast the antenna rotates and figures how long it should take to get to where you want it and then assumes that it got there. My experience is that if it is really pointed where the controller thinks it is and you command it to rotate 180 degrees in one continuous motion, it will go somewhere between 170 and 190 degrees or so, but if you use the UP and DOWN buttons to "tweak" the pointing for best reception, the allowance for acceleration is not all that great, and you can easily have the antenna pointing 20 degrees from where the controller thinks it is. Second, the errors accumulate: if it starts from an inaccurately known position, it will end up with even less accuracy.

There is a "resync" feature, which consists of commanding the motor to turn counterclockwise long enough to give confidence that it's reached the "zero-degree" stopping point. That gets things back to a known condition, but it takes about a minute every time you resync, which is a pain. It would be much handier if the display reflected an actual MEASUREMENT of the position rather than a dead-reckoning guess.

Nevertheless, the unit does its job, and I have had no problems with it. If it's a little off in pointing, you can always do a fine adjustment with the UP and DOWN buttons. Maybe I was expecting too much for the price paid.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's great - when it works, December 4, 2008

By 

Michael B. Marshall "mikeymars" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: PCT International 9521 Channel Master Antenna Rotor Remote Control System (Electronics)

I have this Channelmaster model, which I installed about a year and a half ago. It received moderate use for a seven foot FM-only antenna. I found the accuracy to be good when given occassional resets.

Why the past tense? Well, about a month ago I started having serious problems with the 9521 motor unit: it was not responding properly to the remote commands (the motor unit wouldn't turn past about 200 degrees even when a higher rotation was specified through the controller).

First stop was back to the owners manual. The troubleshooting section in the latter is very thin (a half a page of rather general suggestions, the most annoying being one that says "if you rotator is working but not properly aligning the antenna, either realign the antenna on the mast or re-coordinate it through the remote control." The manual contains no information whatsoever on how to do the latter!!!) So I ended up googling to find general rotator troubleshooting support. That led to more helpful info that allowed me to bench test the motor unit, which turned out to have become defective .

So I then had to shop for a complete replacement of the 9521 rotator unit. In the process of doing that, I learned that while these used to be manufactured domestically (in Ohio) a few years ago ChannelMaster started sourcing them from China. So what?

Well, according the the rotator experts in the shortwave community, there have been ongoing quality control issues (similar to what I experienced) with the Chinese made 9521 motor units. In fact, so much so that the particular retailer I ended up buying from now extensively tests each one before putting them up for sale. So stand advised and if you buy one of these make sure you keep all warranty documentation!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good for 2 years max., March 21, 2009

By 

Jay S. "Jay S." (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PCT International 9521 Channel Master Antenna Rotor Remote Control System (Electronics)

I have now owned two of these units. When the first failed I purchased a second on the assumption that I must have had a weak one that glitched and that it would be easier to hook up the same unit. Like clock-work, or rather poorly made Chinese clock-work, the second unit has failed after only 1 1/2 years. We live in Maryland, a moderate climate with a medium size antenna on a short mast. The unit was not heavily used nor heavily stressed. After two failures in less than 4 years, I am convinced the Channel Master is not the brand it used to be and is now just another example of cheap Chinese junk packaged under a once venerable American brand name. Sad.

Jay S.