G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

Steve Raas

24 Jan 2007 24 Jan '07

9:13 p.m.

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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Michael Tondee

25 Jan 25 Jan

4:46 p.m.

New subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

Hi Steve,

Here's three things I know off that you can look into. The first is called a Saebrtrack which is a DIY interface. I don't remeber the website url but plugging the word as it's spelled above into google should get you there. The next thing is an interface by Mark Spencer WA8SME that appeared in the Sept. 2005 QST. It is based upon the Saebretrack concept, with both units using a Basic Stamp in the design of the interface. The third design is also by Mark Spencer and appeared in the May/June 2006 AMSAT journal with a follow up in the July/August issue as well. It uses a PIC micro controller and is supposed to be quite cheaper than the Basic Stamp versions. I'm not sure but there may be a kit available for it. There is also the FODtrack but I have no experience with it although I have heard that it is simple to construct and use. Hope this helps. I use a slightly different version of the Saebrtrack to control a pair of old Gemini orbit 360 TV rotators. I blew all my dough on my TS-2000X and can't afford a G-5500. :-) Wish I could!!!! 73, Michael, W4HIJ AMSAT # 36017 Steve Raas wrote:

...

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

Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Michael Hatzakis Jr MD

9:17 p.m.

New subject: [amsat-bb] G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

Steve,

I've mentioned this one on the list before, but I use an ICOM IC-910H, G-5500, SatPC32 and ARS Win interface box. This works flawlessly, but is a little more expensive, if you want a turn-key, no hassle solution. Uses a Parallel port as well, so it will not occupy a serial or USB port and is pretty fast and reliable.

http://www.ea4tx.com/products/ars.htm

Michael

-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Tondee Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 1:46 PM To: Steve Raas Cc: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

Hi Steve,

...

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

Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

George Henry

26 Jan 26 Jan

12:02 a.m.

New subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

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" [email protected] To: [email protected] 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

Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb

Alan P. Biddle

5:09 p.m.

New subject: [amsat-bb] Re: G5500 / SatPC32 / Rotor control

Steve,

I have used a Labjack U12 with a NLSA Piggyback board, which can be seen here: http://www.nlsa.com/labjack/labjack_piggyback.html It was an absolutely plug and play system, powered by the USB port, which would give you 12 bit ADCs. It is supported by NOVA and SATPC32, among other tracking programs. Serial and parallel ports are slowly going away. My new desktop computer has neither, though I have installed some PCI cards to give me back some functionality. Of course there are USB converters, but I liked something which eliminates the possible need for yet another lump of electronics. ;)

Unfortunately, it looked as if the Labjack people had discontinued the U12, and as you will see above, NLSA is no longer carrying the Piggyback board. It was one of the great bargains, BTW. Labjack has done another U12 production run, and apparently plans to keep it available as long as there is sufficient demand. Anyway, it is not hard to home brew an interface between the U12 and the antenna controller, even using discrete transistors. However, on the SATPC32 web site, is an originally developed schematic, using a very standard buffer chip. No PC board, but you could easily duplicate it on a bit of perf board. The driver chip and the 8 pin DIN jack are not Radio Shack parts, but you can get them at most parts sources. Exclusive of shipping, about $10 for everything except the DIN cable. Of course you will need to get the U12, but this is still a very reasonable cost given the performance. So if you are willing to do a bit of very easy construction, the combination is definitely worth a look.

Alan WA4SCA