[TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator

[TexasRF at aol.com]

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 at 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 at 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 at gmail.com
>>  To: guy_molinari at hotmail.com
>> CC:  towertalk at 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 at 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 at gmail.com
>>  >> To: towertalk at 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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