I have built the FOD-Track, and can vouch for its ease of construction and it's functionality. I am currently building the SatTracker688 (recently featured in the AMSAT Journal) interface by Mark Spencer of the ARRL, and it is also fairly easy to build (1 surface-mount IC if you build it for USB instead of RS-232). The FOD-Track will cost about $20 in parts, while the USB version of the SatTracker688 will run closer to $40 (unless you have a well-stocked junk box...)
I had a quantity of FOD-Track boards made, and sold them on rec.radio.amateur.space several years ago. I have 1 left, if you are interested. The schematic, parts layout, and instructions are all available from the AMSAT software page.
73,
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Raas" sraas@optonline.net To: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 8:13 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control
Hello everyone,
In interfacing the radio to the PC with sat pc32 it dawned on me that I need to have rotor control as well. I think initially I will manually aim the antennas, but soon I will want full pc control. I will have a serial & USB connection available for this and am looking for a fully featured interface that I can build in a kit form or from easily obtainable parts. What exactally 'fully featured' is, im unsure of.. but Im sure I'll want it. Trying tp keep cost down as well.
Thanks
Steve Raas
N2JDQ
FN20vg
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