Rotators?

[oneirish]

I am going to buy a rotator soon for a DPD MilTenna 220-400 UHF and wondering if anyone has good/bad experiences with these? I see everything from the cheap Magnavox, Channel Master models to $800 Yaseu's.

I would really like to find one that I can interface in to my computers to control - the Yeasu has an add-on for this but it looks like obsolete and limited use. I did see some software but the controllers they work with are more than the rotators.

I am surprised there's no software to just click on Google Earth/Maps and have an interface/controller rotate the antenna to that direction. Would just be a matter of passing the coords to the controller?

Anyway - appreciate any input!

Thanks

 

[digitalanalog]

Sounds to me like you have a good idea.
But i don't ever recall seeing any such interface .

Good luck with your search and please
let us know if you find something.

 

[radiopro52]

That would be an excellent product. But, as you indicated, such a product would cost a pretty penny. I use a Channel Master 9521A rotator with a DPD LP antenna, and it works well with it. The control box uses a compass (000-360) which is good for pointing it at the source of a signal. The problem is that the control box really doesn't know where the antenna is pointed. It just assumes you have it pointed in the correct starting position and have the antenna aligned perfectly. Therefore, when you have it pointed at, say, 180 degrees, it probably isn't pointed perfectly at 180 degrees. But its still close enough to do the job. But it would be neat to have a computer controlled box that you can just simply click on a location, and it will point the antenna there.

 

[oneirish]

Thanks

Thanks for the info - I think I might go with the Channel Master or Radio Shack (Magnavox) to start and see how it goes. I really only need to point west, NW and SW. The Yeasus are nice but expensive and looks like pretty involved to put up.

But I am going to look into some interface for map control and talk to the engineers/programmers at work about it. I see some sat -tracking azimuth rotator programs out there so a Google plug-in must be possible.

 

[DPD1]

This kind of looks close... http://www.ea4tx.com/products/ars.htm

It says it supports various software. I'm not sure what that means. You might not be able to do map, but I think it does coordinates. So if it does that, there's probably an easy way to store real locations somehow.

There's also this... http://www.ham-radio-deluxe.com/Programs/Future/NewRotatorSupport/tabid/116/Default.aspx

Dave
www.DPDProductions.com
Antennas & Accessories for the RF Professional & Radio Hobbyist

 

[oneirish]

Cool

Thanks Dave - I forgot all about Ham Radio Plus! I'll check them out.

John

 

[byndhlptom]

Rotor options

You might want to search some of the HAM satellite forums. They often use computer control for antenna aiming (both azmuth and elevation). Also the Moon bounce stuff.....

my $.02

tom

 

[oneirish]

Good idea

I never thought of that - they must put theirs through some heavy use, especially sat -tracking.

Thanks Tom!