wireless rotator
 

Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

wireless rotator
 

Andrea,
I'm not aware of any, but don't see why it wouldn't be possible.
'Bluetooth'?
I'm sure there will be problems with it, but...
- 'Doc

wireless rotator
 

Hi Andrea

I have never seen one. You could of course use a wireless based terminal
server RS232 thing. Many of these boxes also have I/O ports to turn
things on and off with and some of these even have analog inputs.
Cyclades make them but so do a lot of other manufacturers. They are
commonly used to extend regular RS232 over an unwired distance. They
normally map a local PC virtual serial port to the remote one but you
can also just "join" a local RS232 port to the remote one. Kind of like
a long serial cable! I would suspect that analog to analog wireless
boxes would also be available but havent checked.

Your biggest issue then will be powering the whole system remotely. If
you are running separate power wires from the control position there is
no reason you couldnt piggy back control signals onto it. In fact with
some thought you could put everything onto one piece of coax!

Cheers Bob VK2YQA

Andrea wrote:
Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

wireless rotator
 

Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

I haven't seen a commercial rotator with wireless control.

I'm sure it would be possible to adapt a standard rotator system
(rotator module plus control box) to incorporate wireless control.
There are plenty of wireless-control modules available on the market
which can be used to operate small relays - a two-channel wireless
control module could drive a couple of relays which take the place of
the clockwise / counterclockwise directional switches in an existing
rotator controller.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

wireless rotator
 

"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

Hi Andrea

Since there is power at the rotator, I assume there are power lines there.
I think you can figure a way to rotate thru an X-10 device.

Jerry

wireless rotator
 

Thanks for all the comments.
But the problem is how to get the control signal of the position back to the
shack.

Andrea.

"Jerry" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:l7P9k.231$bn3.123@trnddc07...

"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

Hi Andrea

Since there is power at the rotator, I assume there are power lines
there. I think you can figure a way to rotate thru an X-10 device.

Jerry

wireless rotator
 

Hi Andrea

If the power for the rotator is related to the AC system that powers your
house, you dont need "wireless". There is a common connection already
available to you, X-10.

Jerry KD6JDJ


"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the comments.
But the problem is how to get the control signal of the position back to
the shack.

Andrea.

"Jerry" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:l7P9k.231$bn3.123@trnddc07...

"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

Hi Andrea

Since there is power at the rotator, I assume there are power lines
there. I think you can figure a way to rotate thru an X-10 device.

Jerry

wireless rotator
 

On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:18:51 GMT, "Andrea" wrote:

Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

Channel Master makes a remote controlled rotator that works with an IR
remote like TV sets use. It is not a heavy duty unit and it is not
expensive either.

John Ferrell W8CCW
Beware of the dopeler effect (pronounced dope-ler).
That's where bad ideas seem good if they come at you
fast enough.

wireless rotator
 

Yes, but how I can see the position of my antenna?
Maybe I'm missing something, but with the X10 I can move the antenna but I
cannot "see" the position.

Andrea.

"Jerry" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:YeQ9k.100$Ae3.45@trnddc05...

Hi Andrea

If the power for the rotator is related to the AC system that powers your
house, you dont need "wireless". There is a common connection already
available to you, X-10.

Jerry KD6JDJ


"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the comments.
But the problem is how to get the control signal of the position back to
the shack.

Andrea.

"Jerry" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:l7P9k.231$bn3.123@trnddc07...

"Andrea" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,
Does enyone know if exist is a wireless rotator?
I cannot run the control cable between the control box and the rotator.
Any advice is very appreciated.

Thanks

Andrea.

Hi Andrea

Since there is power at the rotator, I assume there are power lines
there. I think you can figure a way to rotate thru an X-10 device.

Jerry

wireless rotator
 

In article ,
Andrea wrote:

Yes, but how I can see the position of my antenna?
Maybe I'm missing something, but with the X10 I can move the antenna but I
cannot "see" the position.

For a lot of the simpler rotator designs (e.g. most TV antenna rotator
systems I've seen) there isn't actually any positional feedback at all
between the rotator and the control box. The connection is entirely
one-directional (controller to rotator).

With these rotators, the position is deduced, rather than measured.
The rotator turns at a fairly constant speed when energized in either
direction, and its rotation is limited by clutch-stops in both
directions. When it's first installed you rotate it in one direction
for long enough for it to hit the (e.g.) clockwise stop, then manually
align the mast so that it's pointing due north (usually) and tighten
the U-bolts.

Thereafter, when you tell the controller to rotate the antenna, the
rotator turns the antenna, and a separate motor-gear arrangement turns
an indicator on the controller - presumably, at the same rate, so that
the indicator shows you something close to the actual antenna position.

The indicator and the antenna can drift out of alignment over time, so
it's necessary to resynchronize them occasionally... usually by
rotating the antenna for long enough that it hits the end-stop (and is
thus pointing north) and then manually adjusting the indicator
position on the controller box.

I think that you have two basic choices for your design approach:

- Do a wireless version of this simple arrangement... have your
wireless controller (X-10 or whatever) turn the rotator motors on
and off, *and* turn on and off a motor- or logic-driven position
indicator which deflects at the same angular rate that the rotator
moves. Occasionally re-synchronize the antenna and indicator.

- Use a rotator which has a true positional readout (e.g. a
potentiometer which can deliver a variable DC voltage, like the
Yaesu TailTwister types), plus a bidirectional radio link of some
sort. You'd need a couple of bits of control information going from
the controller to the rotator (to run the relays), and some sort of
analog-proportional coming back down.

The former is probably going to be easier to achieve.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!