[TowerTalk] RS-232 control of M2 Rotator

Ryan Jairam rjairam at gmail.com
Mon Sep 27 17:27:16 PDT 2010


I use HRD rotator. It works GREAT with what I have (Green Heron/Prosistel).

Ryan, N2RJ



On 9/27/10, B. Nowak <n8snm at comcast.net> wrote:
> 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 at gmail.com>
> To: <TexasRF at aol.com>
> Cc: <guy_molinari at hotmail.com>; <towertalk at 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 at 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 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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>>>> >
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-- 
Sent from my mobile device

Ryan A. Jairam,


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