Amen on InstantTrack!! IT!!!
I was fortunate enuff to be one of the beta testers, many moons ago.
I use SatPC32 to control my rotors now, but I always parallel it with IT on another computer to do some of the things that PC32 does not do...
I don't know how any serious satellite operator would be without either one, for the pittance they cost in comparison to what they need to do anything on any amateur bird!!
Or if one has ANY interest in either the sun or the moon....
73, Dave wb6llo@amsat.org Disagree: I learn....
Pulling for P3E...
At 02:52 PM 9/30/07 -0700, Dave Guimont dguimon1@san.rr.com wrote:
Amen on InstantTrack!! IT!!!
I was fortunate enuff to be one of the beta testers, many moons ago.
I use SatPC32 to control my rotors now, but I always parallel it with IT on another computer to do some of the things that PC32 does not do...
I don't know how any serious satellite operator would be without either one, for the pittance they cost in comparison to what they need to do anything on any amateur bird!!
Or if one has ANY interest in either the sun or the moon....
73, Dave wb6llo@amsat.org
Dave, Does PC32 work with the SASI Tracker? (the tracker that plugs into the parallel port.) I use it with Nova, but I might switch to PCsat. What do you use for tracker hardware?
KB7ADL
Page 10/11 describes the LVB Tracker and page 4 has a price list.
However, it is unclear to me what the page 4 " Ethernet interface capable" references. Is it an alternative/addition to the USB and serial computer interface? If so, is there a daughter board that must be added? At what cost? Is there a schematic for the DYI crowd?
IMHO the IP connection will out live the serial/parallel/USB/firewire etc and it seems to me that the LVB, as a network device, is the way to go especially for those running their sat programs on a PC behind a hardware firewall. Extra ports on the firewall are often available and if not, the addition of a hub or switch will give you enumerable ports. The time has come that, for me, 4 or 6 USB ports are not enough. To me this is also preferable to adding USB hubs if your PC is already using all the USB's ( as in my case, printers, scanners, blue tooth RX/TX for wireless mice and keyboards, external USB drives and the occasional spare USB for digital camera downloads and thumb drives ).
And now the second "however": are there IP drivers or shims for programs such as SATPC32 and Nova as these program do not specifically talk to IP addresses.
Thanks for any input y'all can offer. Enquiring minds need to know
This LVB Tracker is a serious contender for a Xmas present to myself :-)
73, Alan VE4YZ AMSAT 35968 blocked::http://www.mts.net/~ve4wsc/ http://www.mts.net/~ve4wsc/ AMSAT A-485
Hi Alan
However, it is unclear to me what the page 4 " Ethernet interface capable" references. Is it an alternative/addition to the USB and serial computer interface? If so, is there a daughter board that must be added? At what cost? Is there a schematic for the DYI crowd?
I apologise that until now I have never documented the Ethernet interface. Tonight I reverse engineered the module that I built and tested about 3+ years ago. As you'll see it's not a rocket science module, being based on a Lantronix XPORT device http://www.lantronix.com/device-networking/embedded-device-servers/xport.htm l, a couple of potential dividers to do the 5V to 3.3V conversion and a low dropout regulator.
You will need a fairly decent heatsink on the main board's 5V regulator with the Ethernet header device. ISTR that the LDO was fine without a heatsink.
http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/Ethernet/IMG_0057small.jpg http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/Ethernet/IMG_0058small.jpg http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/Ethernet/IMG_0059small.jpg http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/Ethernet/IMG_0061small.jpg
You will see in the photos a couple of transistors. These are not used. You should still endeavour to program the PIC on the motherboard using a real hardware RS232 port rather than this Ethernet device or the USB header: this is to do with the way that the handshaking lines are emulated. Once programmed, remove the MAX232 and insert either the USB or the Ethernet module into the header and the device will operate directly with your favourite tracking software.
Like the USB header, the Ethernet uses COM port emulator software on the host, although the transport to the device is IP.
Hope this helps.
73, Howard G6LVB
participants (4)
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Alan -
Dave Guimont -
Howard Long -
Vince Fiscus, KB7ADL