Arduino based antenna rotator – Part1

Rotator de antenă cu Arduino – Partea 1

EN:
I started this project out of curiosity and ambition to learn myself some Arduino, because it is so praiseworthy and cheap, that you almost feel guilty you don’t have one 😀 .
As far as coding, you can find everything you want, the web is full of examples and explanations and people are willing to help you in need.

Some HAM-ers appreciate partners for how much money they put into equipment, the radios and antennas they bought. The more money, the more serious the fellow is. I find it more interesting to see things made and imagined by themselves, simple or complicated. That, I think is a more correct appreciation. This interface for the antenna rotator, plus the motors and the antenna to come, is part of this philosophy.

RO:
Am început proiectul acesta mai mult din curiozitate și din ambiția de a învăța și eu Arduino, că așa e de lăudat și de ieftin, că aproape te simți vinovat că nu ai și tu unu 😀 .
Cât despre programe, găsești tot ce vrei, e plin netul de exemple și explicații și oamenii sunt gata să te ajute la nevoie.

Unii radioamatori apreciază partenerii de hobby după câți bani bagă în scule și ce bombe de stații sau antene și-au mai luat. Cu cât mai mulți bani, cu atât omul e mai serios. Mie mi se pare mai interesant să văd chestii făcute și gândite de ei, simple sau complicate, asta cred că e o apreciere mai corectă. Această interfață pentru rotatorul de antenă, plus motoarele și antena care or să vină, se încadrează în acestă filozofie.

Orbitron DDE Azimuth-Elevation-To-Serial plugin
Arduino code and schematics
Part2 – Motors, gears, tracking software
Part3 – Tracking software update

6 comments

  1. Hi Racov, Thank you for sharing your rotator project, yours is the only one that I have tried that the code actually works without issues, I only need azimuth and see that I can just leave the elevation out. You indicated that the code would work with a ac motor, do you have details on how I can do this please.
    Peter. G6ZRV

    1. Hello Peter.
      Yes, other people were interested in a version for AC motors, so I came up with another one.
      It offers dry contacts you can use to activate an AC motor and change the direction.
      If there’s anything I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
      I’ve sent you an email.

  2. Hi Racov,
    Thankyou very much for posting and updating your Arduino rotator / elevator controller.
    I am proud to report, that I’ve successfully adapted it to work with my Kenpro Kr400 and kr500 rotator and elevator and have been happily tracking the ISS, NOAA and AO-02 Sat for the last week.
    As you can imagine I had to make various alterations to the sketch to adapt it to my needs, and would be happy to upload a copy to you with a couple of questions on some final tweaks I’d like to make.
    If you could email me, I’ll forward it to you along with some pictures / video of the working setup.
    Best regards,
    Dan VK6NAD

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *