It took a couple of years for “QST” magazine to publish a review of DX Engineering’s RT4500HD Rotator. Here’s why: If you want to write an informative assessment of a piece of equipment’s durability and performance, especially one that’s designed to be a DXing workhorse, you put it through its paces in real-life operating conditions to see how it delivers and holds up over time. A rotator is not something that can be judged right out of the box.
Prior to the release of the RT4500HD, DX Engineering’s technical team had already subjected the rotator to extensive testing that far exceeded normal amateur radio use. The final version of the device—appropriately dressed in DX Engineering red and black—was the culmination of years of research and development by DX Engineering, standard procedure for all DX Engineering-produced gear before it ever gets installed at a customer’s station.
The ARRL had professional installers mount the device for use at its Radio Laboratory, W1HQ. It was frequently used there for more than two years “without any incident or problems” before Joseph Carcia, NJ1Q, reviewed it in the May 2025 issue of “QST,” calling it “a fine product and station addition.”
“The DX Engineering RT4500HD Heavy-Duty Azimuth Rotator is a solid, well-built rotator that will handle 25 square feet of wind load,” he wrote. “The DXE RT4500HD will accommodate the smallest single-band rotatable dipoles to large multi-element log-periodic antennas or Yagis currently available commercially, along with homebrewed antennas.”
The RT4500HD currently rotates a multi-element five-band Yagi, a five-element 6-meter Yagi, and a 30-meter rotatable dipole at W1HQ. Plans are in the works to add an additional multiband Yagi to the station’s antenna setup.
In his review, NJ1Q notes the RT4500HD’s solid construction, accuracy, big power in a smaller size (4,400 inch-lbs. rotational torque; 18,500 inch-lbs. braking torque), smooth travel with no jerking, well-designed packaging (including instructions on how to remove it from the box), and comprehensive 19-page manual.
The review’s bottom line: “The DX Engineering RT4500HD Heavy-Duty Rotator is impressive, as it can rotate more than 25 square feet of antenna wind load, with up to one ton of vertical load while providing 0.1-degree accuracy.”
