I recently bought a FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB rotor interface for my Yaesu G-5500 rotor. I have the ST-2 communicating with the rotor just fine. I can see the azimuth and elevation readout and using the ST2 pushbuttons, I can control both just fine. However, I can't get it to communicate properly with my computer. I am running a Dell desktop under Windows 10 and have installed the CH360G driver. The ST2 shows as COM8 according the the device manager. If I unplug the USB cable, the Device Manager confirms that COM8 goes away and when I plug the cable back in, COM8 returns. I initially was trying to use Nova for Windows (which I have used for 20+ years). I tried every software interface setting (using COM8) and the best I could get a couple weeks ago was Azimuth display and control (no elevation display, but it appeared that it tried to control elevation), but can't manage to replicate that today. Everything shows either 0.0 / 0.0 or ---- / ---- for the rotor pointing in Nova. Somewhat out of desperation, I downloaded SatPC32 and can't even get that far. As far as I can tell, every rotor type is expecting a parallel port interface. Keep in mind that I have never seen SatPC32 until an hour ago, so that may be my issue.
My preference would be to use Nova for Windows, but if that can't be made to work, I CAN switch over to SatPC32. In either case, the software will be used exclusively for rotor control and not doppler correction (not using a radio that supports that).
Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Jim,
What about opening the com port in a serial terminal program and sending and receiving commands and feedback from the interface? If you built your interface, make sure the voltage regulator is soldered in correctly and everything is running at 5V. I managed to have my regulator in backwards and everything including the USB chip was running at about 9V. After I fixed the regulator, I had to replace the USB chip before things behaved correctly. Maybe the interface only has communications in one direction?
I never had any luck with connection to Satpc32, but PSTRotator works great and can be controlled by Satpc32 over DDE.
Charlie N3CRT
On Wed, Jul 8, 2020, 10:29 PM Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB [email protected] wrote:
I recently bought a FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB rotor interface for my Yaesu G-5500 rotor. I have the ST-2 communicating with the rotor just fine. I can see the azimuth and elevation readout and using the ST2 pushbuttons, I can control both just fine. However, I can't get it to communicate properly with my computer. I am running a Dell desktop under Windows 10 and have installed the CH360G driver. The ST2 shows as COM8 according the the device manager. If I unplug the USB cable, the Device Manager confirms that COM8 goes away and when I plug the cable back in, COM8 returns. I initially was trying to use Nova for Windows (which I have used for 20+ years). I tried every software interface setting (using COM8) and the best I could get a couple weeks ago was Azimuth display and control (no elevation display, but it appeared that it tried to control elevation), but can't manage to replicate that today. Everything shows either 0.0 / 0.0 or ---- / ---- for the rotor pointing in Nova. Somewhat out of desperation, I downloaded SatPC32 and can't even get that far. As far as I can tell, every rotor type is expecting a parallel port interface. Keep in mind that I have never seen SatPC32 until an hour ago, so that may be my issue.
My preference would be to use Nova for Windows, but if that can't be made to work, I CAN switch over to SatPC32. In either case, the software will be used exclusively for rotor control and not doppler correction (not using a radio that supports that).
Do you have any suggestions?
-- 73
Jim Walls - K6CCC [email protected] Ofc: 818-548-4804 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/ AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 07/08/2020 21:48, Charles Reiche wrote:
Hi Jim,
What about opening the com port in a serial terminal program and sending and receiving commands and feedback from the interface?
Good idea. Had to find a reference for the GS-232 command set, but Google quickly found that. As far as I can tell, the only commands that work are C, C1, & C2 which gives the Azimuth, Azmuth, & Azimuth and Elevation (although not in the format that the reference I found says it should be). The numbers match what the FoxDelta display shows - which also match the G-5500 control box meters. All other commands result in a response of: ?>
If you built your interface, make sure the voltage regulator is soldered in correctly and everything is running at 5V. I managed to have my regulator in backwards and everything including the USB chip was running at about 9V.
This was a purchased completed unit from FoxDelta.
SatPC32 is a bit odd in how you set up the rotor. You chose the COM port in the separate application that it runs, not in the main window's setup (which indeed shows only LP ports). Could that be your SatpPC32 problem?
On Thu, Jul 9, 2020 at 1:49 AM Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB [email protected] wrote:
On 07/08/2020 21:48, Charles Reiche wrote:
Hi Jim,
What about opening the com port in a serial terminal program and sending and receiving commands and feedback from the interface?
Good idea. Had to find a reference for the GS-232 command set, but Google quickly found that. As far as I can tell, the only commands that work are C, C1, & C2 which gives the Azimuth, Azmuth, & Azimuth and Elevation (although not in the format that the reference I found says it should be). The numbers match what the FoxDelta display shows - which also match the G-5500 control box meters. All other commands result in a response of: ?>
If you built your interface, make sure the voltage regulator is soldered in correctly and everything is running at 5V. I managed to have my regulator in backwards and everything including the USB chip was running at about 9V.
This was a purchased completed unit from FoxDelta.
--
73
Jim Walls - K6CCC [email protected] Ofc: 818-548-4804 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/ AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Jim, I use SATPC with a serial/usb adapter so cannot speak to your specific set up. However, I recently set up my FoxDelta (serial) for full az/el and noting worked. It really stumped me until I realized I neglected to match the FD 9600 baud rate with the associated SATPC server baud rate. Once I corrected that, all worked as it should. So be sure baud rate is correctly set.
73, Craig N6RSX
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 7:21 PM To: Amsat-BB [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB setup help
I recently bought a FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB rotor interface for my Yaesu G-5500 rotor. I have the ST-2 communicating with the rotor just fine. I can see the azimuth and elevation readout and using the ST2 pushbuttons, I can control both just fine. However, I can't get it to communicate properly with my computer. I am running a Dell desktop under Windows 10 and have installed the CH360G driver. The ST2 shows as COM8 according the the device manager. If I unplug the USB cable, the Device Manager confirms that COM8 goes away and when I plug the cable back in, COM8 returns. I initially was trying to use Nova for Windows (which I have used for 20+ years). I tried every software interface setting (using COM8) and the best I could get a couple weeks ago was Azimuth display and control (no elevation display, but it appeared that it tried to control elevation), but can't manage to replicate that today. Everything shows either 0.0 / 0.0 or ---- / ---- for the rotor pointing in Nova. Somewhat out of desperation, I downloaded SatPC32 and can't even get that far. As far as I can tell, every rotor type is expecting a parallel port interface. Keep in mind that I have never seen SatPC32 until an hour ago, so that may be my issue.
My preference would be to use Nova for Windows, but if that can't be made to work, I CAN switch over to SatPC32. In either case, the software will be used exclusively for rotor control and not doppler correction (not using a radio that supports that).
Do you have any suggestions?
-- 73 ------------------------------------- Jim Walls - K6CCC [email protected] Ofc: 818-548-4804 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/ AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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A little follow up report.
Several people responded either direct to me or via the AMSAT-BB. Thank you to each of you. Between all the various responses I was eventually able to both Nova for Windows and SatPC32 to be able to read the antenna positions and control the rotors. I have a very strong preference of using Nova over SatPC32 so very happy I was able to get that working. I have enjoyed watching the antennas follow several passes of various satellites over the past day or so. Now I need to get new feedlines to the antennas, and fix the radio. One step at a time, but I'm getting there.
Jim K6CCC
On 07/08/2020 19:20, Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB wrote:
I recently bought a FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB rotor interface for my Yaesu G-5500 rotor. I have the ST-2 communicating with the rotor just fine. I can see the azimuth and elevation readout and using the ST2 pushbuttons, I can control both just fine. However, I can't get it to communicate properly with my computer. I am running a Dell desktop under Windows 10 and have installed the CH360G driver. The ST2 shows as COM8 according the the device manager. If I unplug the USB cable, the Device Manager confirms that COM8 goes away and when I plug the cable back in, COM8 returns. I initially was trying to use Nova for Windows (which I have used for 20+ years). I tried every software interface setting (using COM8) and the best I could get a couple weeks ago was Azimuth display and control (no elevation display, but it appeared that it tried to control elevation), but can't manage to replicate that today. Everything shows either 0.0 / 0.0 or ---- / ---- for the rotor pointing in Nova. Somewhat out of desperation, I downloaded SatPC32 and can't even get that far. As far as I can tell, every rotor type is expecting a parallel port interface. Keep in mind that I have never seen SatPC32 until an hour ago, so that may be my issue.
My preference would be to use Nova for Windows, but if that can't be made to work, I CAN switch over to SatPC32. In either case, the software will be used exclusively for rotor control and not doppler correction (not using a radio that supports that).
Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Jim , it will good to hear you back on the air....
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2020 15:32 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB setup help
A little follow up report.
Several people responded either direct to me or via the AMSAT-BB. Thank you to each of you. Between all the various responses I was eventually able to both Nova for Windows and SatPC32 to be able to read the antenna positions and control the rotors. I have a very strong preference of using Nova over SatPC32 so very happy I was able to get that working. I have enjoyed watching the antennas follow several passes of various satellites over the past day or so. Now I need to get new feedlines to the antennas, and fix the radio. One step at a time, but I'm getting there.
Jim K6CCC
On 07/08/2020 19:20, Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB wrote:
I recently bought a FoxDelta ST2-0417 USB rotor interface for my Yaesu G-5500 rotor. I have the ST-2 communicating with the rotor just fine. I can see the azimuth and elevation readout and using the ST2 pushbuttons, I can control both just fine. However, I can't get it to communicate properly with my computer. I am running a Dell desktop under Windows 10 and have installed the CH360G driver. The ST2 shows as COM8 according the the device manager. If I unplug the USB cable, the Device Manager confirms that COM8 goes away and when I plug the cable back in, COM8 returns. I initially was trying to use Nova for Windows (which I have used for 20+ years). I tried every software interface setting (using COM8) and the best I could get a couple weeks ago was Azimuth display and control (no elevation display, but it appeared that it tried to control elevation), but can't manage to replicate that today. Everything shows either 0.0 / 0.0 or ---- / ---- for the rotor pointing in Nova. Somewhat out of desperation, I downloaded SatPC32 and can't even get that far. As far as I can tell, every rotor type is expecting a parallel port interface. Keep in mind that I have never seen SatPC32 until an hour ago, so that may be my issue.
My preference would be to use Nova for Windows, but if that can't be made to work, I CAN switch over to SatPC32. In either case, the software will be used exclusively for rotor control and not doppler correction (not using a radio that supports that).
Do you have any suggestions?
-- 73 ------------------------------------- Jim Walls - K6CCC [email protected] Ofc: 818-548-4804 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/ AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (5)
-
Burns Fisher -
Charles Reiche -
D. Craig Fox -
Jim Walls -
kb2mjeff＠att.net