Re: [Hamlib-developer] Hamlib supported rotators

[Andrej F. <an...@fa...>]

Hi Stephane,

>  - Dirt-cheap TV rotator, 100$, needs soldering

Fine by me, but finding a rotator is just a part of the issue; I need
to be able to control them from Linux, using shell scripts.

So the issues are:

1) No controller that can be attached via USB provides explicit
support for TV-grade rotators
2) No controller that can be attached via USB provides support for
Linux, or is supported by Hamlib

If I understand correctly, I can probably make more or less any 3 wire
rotator work with most controllers, with the emphasis on the PROBABLY,
 BUT, I cannot make controller work on Linux without your help...

ATM, it seems I will need to get one of this two:

http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmmatv.htm

http://www.rotorservice.com/AR38%20specs.htm

...and use there IR via Lirc using http://www.usbuirt.com - as
described here:
http://osdir.com/ml/hardware.lirc/2004-10/msg00045.html ... far from
ideal. Plus, I'll need at least 3 of them to work in same location,
which will make preventing IR from triggering the wrong interface a
lot of fun indeed...

>> The only "simple" interface that can be used with a laptop (using
>> parallel to USB adapter) is
>> http://www.ea4tx.com/products/ars.htm at incredible 110 Euros. And it
>> has no Linux drivers (they where "abandoned" with an exclamation mark)
>> so it's useless to me anyway.
>
> Provided we get some information about the interface, we should be able
> to develop a Hamlib backend for the EA4TX controller. Anyone has the
> product manual?

This interface seems to be to most popular currently, if reviews have
anything to do with it:

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/954

If I can get ARS, or FUNKBOX
(http://www.rotorsteuerung.de/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=66&osCsid=c035bad71dccd2aba473e964e68a67fe)
people to provide specs, what do I need to do to get Hamlib devs to
support them? Would flattering help? :-)

> Beaware these controllers
> don't have feedback reading. The computer is totally blind, and
> sometimes, it can be off the target.

Oh dear, thanks for pointing that out - I did not know that. Would I
be safe to assume that the two IR controlled ones above have it - as
they have LED display of current direction?

> 179 AUD, that's kind of pricy.

Yeah, thats a tax for living down under

>> BUT - can it be made to work with HamLib?
>
> At least PcRotor is present in v1.2.8. I haven't finished building
> mine, but should done one of those days :-)

The link for PcRotator
(http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=11173) seems to
describe Windows software, not hardware?

Is this the interface: home.austin.rr.com/wa6ufq/pcrotor.html  ?

-- 
Andrej Falout
NZ: +64 (21) 2800 206 AU: +61 (410) 463 735 US: +1 (360) 488 0970