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Re: [TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator

To: "Kelly Johnson" <n6kj.kelly@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator
From: "B. Nowak" <n8snm@comcast.net>
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:31:44 -0400
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Kelly,
Try N1MM rotor control.  I cannot control my rotor (Alfa Spid) with DX4WIN 
but works FB with N1MM.
GL
Brad - N8SNM
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kelly Johnson" <n6kj.kelly@gmail.com>
To: <TexasRF@aol.com>
Cc: <guy_molinari@hotmail.com>; <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator


That's a good point, however, the rotator controller does not respond
to the commands I send it through hyperterm.  Clearly, I could have
entered the wrong commands, but the mere fact that I can't get the
rotator to respond correctly OR output printable characters OR respond
to CAT programs which has native support for this controller suggests
that something isn't right :-)

I'll log the non-printable characters tonight and see if they make
sense.  Thanks for the suggestion.



On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:39 PM,  <TexasRF@aol.com> wrote:
> Would those unprintable characters perhaps be the data you are looking 
> for?
> Many devices like this return ascii values that require further 
> manipulation
> to derive actual position data.
>
> US Digital encoders for example return three characters, first is device
> address, second is most significant byte and finally the least significant
> byte. The address is discarded or used for verification, the ascii value 
> of
> the second character is multiplied by 256 and added to the ascii value of
> the third character to give position data. That number is further
> manipulated to allow for the resolution of the sending device.
>
> I don't have first hand experience with the M2 unit so all of this may 
> well
> be irrelevant.
>
> 73,
> Gerald K5GW
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/27/2010 2:29:45 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> n6kj.kelly@gmail.com writes:
>
> As I mentioned in the original e-mail: this port was known to work
> properly with other applications in the past. I will double-check
> when I get home to make sure that is still the case.
>
> I am not using a null modem cable. If I were, then I'd get no data
> from the rotator controller rather than a response that appears to be
> sent at a different baud rate. Everytime I power cycle the rotator
> controller, it outputs data that I can see in hyperterm.
> Unfortunately, the data is just a few unprintable characters; the kind
> of thing I usually expect to see when the port configurations are not
> correct.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 12:05 PM, Guy Molinari <guy_molinari@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>> Have you verified that the port on the computer works when connected to
>> another device?
>>
>> Also, another problem is proper cabling. Are you using a "null modem"
>> cable (pins 2 and 3 reversed at each end)? Or is it a straight through
>> cable (not reversed).
>>
>>
>>> Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:02:41 -0700
>>> From: n6kj.kelly@gmail.com
>>> To: guy_molinari@hotmail.com
>>> CC: towertalk@contesting.com
>>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator
>>>
>>> Yes, I'm aware of that. I have hyperterm set up for 8-N-1. I've
>>> tried that combination with nearly every baud rate possible, but still
>>> nothing.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 11:49 AM, Guy Molinari 
>>> <guy_molinari@hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > There are 3 parameters for RS-232 communication.
>>> >
>>> > 1) Baud rate
>>> > 2) Parity bit (0 or 1)
>>> > 3) Number of stop bits (0, 1 or 2).
>>> >
>>> > I believe the M2 rotator is expecting none for the parity bits (0) and
>>> > 1
>>> > stop bit.
>>> >
>>> > 73,
>>> > Guy, N7ZG
>>> >
>>> >> Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:31:04 -0700
>>> >> From: n6kj.kelly@gmail.com
>>> >> To: towertalk@contesting.com
>>> >> Subject: [TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator
>>> >>
>>> >> I'm trying to remote my home station. The last piece of the puzzle
>>> >> for (non-QRO) operation is the rotator. I've tried several things to
>>> >> get RS-232 control of my M-Squared rotator to work, but so far no
>>> >> luck. The rotator control box seems to be trying to communicate. I'm
>>> >> using the standard M-Squared control box. I see data coming back from
>>> >> the rotator, but it appears to be the wrong baud rate. I've tried
>>> >> every baud rate (including the one that the manual claims should 
>>> >> work)
>>> >> so far with no luck. I've tried controlling it with Hyperterm and
>>> >> with DX4WIN. Neither works. This serial port works fine for other
>>> >> purposes. This is a real RS-232 port; not a USB-to-serial converter.
>>> >> Anyone got any tips before I call M-Squared?
>>> >> _______________________________________________
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>> >> TowerTalk@contesting.com
>>> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> >
>>> >
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