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AlfaRadio AlfaSpid MD-01, Manual

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AlfaRadio AlfaSpid MD-01 Manual Download Page 50

Alfa Radio Ltd.

11211 - 154 St. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5M 1X8

[email protected]

   780-466-5779   

www.alfaradio.ca

8 ORBIITRON Satellite Tracking Program 

8.1 Using the MD-01/02 with the tracking program ORBITRON 

The MD-01/02 rotator controller has a built in driver to connect with Orbitron track
software. There are many satellites to track, as well the moon and sun, etc.

First download the Orbitron program and MyDDE driver from 

http://www.stoff.pl/  

(links may be found on the 

A

lfa Radio Ltd. website).

Install the program and place the driver in the same directory that the program is 
installed in.  Go through the following steps:

#1 Open the MD-01/02 program and start the ORBITRON program. 

#2 Go to the Rotator/Radio tab and select MyDDE from the Driver menu.

#3 Click the refresh button right of the text. 

Page  50 of 55  AlfaSpid_MD-01-02_12APR2022.odt 

Copyright 

Alfa Radio Ltd.  2022

Summary of Contents for AlfaSpid MD-01

Page 1: ...Controller Revised 12 APR 2022 http www alfaradio ca This manual is for use with units sold by Alfa Radio Ltd of Edmonton Alberta Canada on or after March 1 2022 Units sold by others may have differe...

Page 2: ...3 Wiring for BIG RAS or RAS 12 2 4 MD 01 02 connectors 13 2 5 Mouse Controller 15 3 SETUP MD 01 02 controller 16 3 1 COMMUNICATION between MD 01 02 and PC 16 3 2 SETUP MD 01 02 controller 16 3 2 1 Us...

Page 3: ...EL MAP 30 5 2 5 Start 30 5 2 6 Stop 30 5 2 7 Mouse Control 30 5 2 8 External control CONTROL xx 40 5 2 9 Protocol PROT xx 31 5 2 10 PAIR 32 5 3 Set motors SET MOTOR 1 SET MOTOR 2 32 5 3 1 STATE 32 5 3...

Page 4: ...WARE UPDATE 38 6 1 Update Step by step 38 6 2 Firmware versions 40 7 Optional Ethernet Module 41 7 1 To install the optional Ethernet module 41 7 2 Setup the Ethernet Module 43 7 3 Ethernet Board Firm...

Page 5: ...tings The Controller may be connected to two single rotators e g two Azimuth rotators or one Azimuth and Elevation rotator and operates with direct current motors The MD 01 and MD 02 controllers are i...

Page 6: ...ly voltage for rotators 13 8 to 24 VDC Imax 40 Amps The maximum current of a single motor is up to 20 Amps 2 x RS 232 ports 1 x USB host port 1 x USB device visible in the system as a virtual COM port...

Page 7: ...he Rotator motor and pins 3 and 4 are connected to the mechanical sensor on RAU RAK Real and RAS rotators The motor output is FUSED at 20 Amps maximum depending on the motor used 7 Supply outputs for...

Page 8: ...tch 11 USB HOST port type A plug and DEVICE port type B plug 12 RS 232 ports COM 0 and COM 1 COM 0 is also used to update the controller software see item 8 13 Input used for a specially designed RAS...

Page 9: ...is not equipped and not used The second cable has a 3 pin connector which should be plugged into the Power 1 connector on the controller This cable is used to supply power to the controller electronic...

Page 10: ...a There are a number of different combinations of the MD 01 02 controller and AlfaSpid Rotators as shown below MD 01 02 controller and BIG RAS HR MD 01 02 controller and one or two BIG RAK HR MD 01 02...

Page 11: ...5779 www alfaradio ca MD 01 02 controller and one or two RAK BIG RAK RAU or Real Note The pictures on this and the previous page show older units Refer to sections 1 3 3 and 1 3 4 for current connecto...

Page 12: ...1 Wiring for BIG RAS HR and or BIG RAK HR See Applicable Alfa Radio Rotator Manual 2 2 Wiring for BIG RAK RAK RAU or REAL See Applicable Alfa Radio Rotator Manual 2 3 Wiring for BIG RAS or RAS See Ap...

Page 13: ...needed the following pictures show the part numbers for the various connector shells and pins used with the MD 01 02 controller These connectors are standard Tyco Electronics Corp Mate N Lock connecto...

Page 14: ...D 02 3 1 480700 0 350766 1 1 4 1 480702 0 350779 1 1 5 1 480763 0 350809 1 2 6 1 480704 0 350715 1 1 Wire Size Pins Spid Recommended 926894 1 18 20 14 Alternate 350547 1 18 20 14 Alternate 640309 3 12...

Page 15: ...ally equivalent to the corresponding front panel controls The Mouse Control Switch section 5 2 7 must be set to ON for the mouse controller to work Left Decrease Up Increase Down Decrease Right Increa...

Page 16: ...ler as well as use it to communicate between the ORBITRON satellite tracking program and the MD 01 02 More programs will be supported in the future How to start communication from MD 01 02 to PC 3 2 S...

Page 17: ...imes Then select USB with the Up or Down buttons Set Protocol Press Right button 1 more time and select SPID ROT2 with the Up or Down but tons protocol SPID ROT2 The SPID ROT2 protocol is installed as...

Page 18: ...Install the FTDI USB drivers on the PC USB D Driver Use the Driver appropriate for your operating system Consult FTDI Website http www ftdichip com Drivers VCP htm This USB driver will install a USB...

Page 19: ...M 1X8 sales alfaradio ca 780 466 5779 www alfaradio ca 5 For USB connection click on Com Port 6 Double click at port not selected to choose the USB Serial port which must be used Page 19 of 55 AlfaSpi...

Page 20: ...te Pooling Time or Timeout at this time 8 Click on Connect Box 3 3 2 Using ETH Communications 1 Connect the MD 01 through ETH port to the local LAN with an Ethernet Cable 2 Start program spidMD01dde e...

Page 21: ...J45 Port 5 Determine the IP address of the MD 01 02 controller by using a program such as NETSCAN or KT ETH Manager from a PC 6 Enter the IP address of the MD 01 02 controller in the IP Box This addre...

Page 22: ...es a different baud rate then the setting on the screen below will need to be changed to match When the settings are uploaded to the MD 01 02 controller communications between the setup program below...

Page 23: ...01 02 and rotator 3 4 More functions available in MD 01 02 software With the MD 01 02 software you are able to configure the MD 01 02 controller How does this work Click at an item you want to change...

Page 24: ...this is 250 ms Timeout ms This is an interval that the program expects to receive a complete response from the controller The default value for this is 500 ms The default values generally work out fi...

Page 25: ...gned to any communications port COM 0 COM 1 USB D and ETH in the settings YAESU protocol may not support the full capability of AlfaSpid rotators The Right and Left buttons are used to adjust the azim...

Page 26: ...ero push the F1 and Down buttons simultaneously To change the azimuth angle use the buttons Left and Right To change the elevation angle use the buttons Up and Down After completing the calibration le...

Page 27: ...motor connected to the Azimuth connector has the fault This picture indicates that the motor connected to the Elevation connector has the fault This picture indicates that both motors have the fault T...

Page 28: ...memory press the Left button To go back to previous configuration press the Right button 5 1 Motor configuration The number before the in the name of the template determines which connector on the re...

Page 29: ...ture on AZ Rotators or the azimuth portion of an AZEL Rotator ON Enables Shortest Route feature on AZ Rotators or the azimuth portion of an AZEL Rotator 5 2 3 Use EL MAP Use elevation map This is a ma...

Page 30: ...set for each motor separately in modules SET MOTOR 1 and SET MOTOR 2 as described later in section 5 3 9 IMMEDIATELY motor starts with max speed soft start is not active SOFTLY soft start is active S...

Page 31: ...also be controlled manually COM 1 external control with selected protocol Can also be controlled manually USB controlled through USB D with selected protocol Can also be controlled manually ETH contro...

Page 32: ...cted see Motor configuration TEMPLATE It displays whether the motor is switched on or switched off 5 3 2 TYPE Type of motor return signal DIGITAL controller counts pulses ANALOG future feature where t...

Page 33: ...efault 180 5 3 8 MAX POWER Maximum power as a percentage of full power that the controller can provide to the rotator motor 5 3 9 START POWER START TIME Used if you want to obtain a soft start You can...

Page 34: ...1 30 Set the time to reach maximum power MAX POWER START TIME 1 5 seconds In this example set START TIME 2 0 seconds This will specify that the motor start is a single step Set MAX POWER to 100 This...

Page 35: ...2 30 START POWER 3 50 START TIME 1 3 seconds START TIME 2 3 seconds START TIME 3 3 seconds MAX POWER 100 This means that the rotator starts with 20 power within 3 seconds power reaches 30 followed by...

Page 36: ...s when SOFT STOP is selected in MOTOR CONFIGURATION 5 3 12 PULSE TIMEOUT Specifies how long the motor will run if it does not receive motion pulses from the rotator Applies only to motors of type DIGI...

Page 37: ...ith this port is done with the help of one of the protocols SPID ROT1 SPID ROT2 SPID MD 01 or YAESU For example the MD 01 02 controller receives the IP address from a DHCP server e g 192 168 0 10 Conn...

Page 38: ...ml for the latest version Note A firmware update file will be available on our web site Check the MD 01_MD02 Static Firmware page for the latest version 6 1 Update Step by step 1 Turn the MD 01 02 con...

Page 39: ...rest of parameters as shown in screen shot below 7 Click Start button to start update firmware The LCD screen on the MD 01 02 will turn off during update When update is complete the screen will light...

Page 40: ...veral versions of firmware for the MD 01 02 Controllers They are filed in three subdirectories Current This is the current version of Firmware approved by Alfa Radio Ltd for customer use Archive These...

Page 41: ...tional Ethernet module Step 1 Unpack the module and note the MAC address printed on a paper sticker on the RJ45 connector Step 2 Remove the top cover of the MD 01 02 controller Locate the area of the...

Page 42: ...ign the 14 pin connector with the 14 pin socket on the motherboard Push the 14 pin connector down and replace the two screws to secure the module Step 4 Set the two switches as shown if DHCP IP addres...

Page 43: ...the MD 01 02 controller to the local LAN Switch Turn the MD 01 02 controller ON and with a PC connected to the LAN determine the IP address of the MC 01 02 controller using a network scanning program...

Page 44: ...e When all the parameters are entered check the Make these the default settings box and then click the Submit Button The setup is complete Turn off the MD 01 02 controller re install the top cover and...

Page 45: ...779 www alfaradio ca To configure the Ethernet controller for a static IP address access the controller using a web browser as described above Click on the Miscellaneous icon At the Address Type selec...

Page 46: ...on 7 3 Ethernet Board Firmware Update To update the firmware on the Ethernet Board first download the Ethernet Manager program KT ETH Manager 1 2 zip from the Alfa Radio Ltd website Unzip the executab...

Page 47: ...ndy during Controller Setup Click on the OPEN button and find the copy of the firmware stored on your Computer Highlight the Ethernet board the IP and MAC addresses will show up next to the Firmware U...

Page 48: ...11211 154 St Edmonton Alberta Canada T5M 1X8 sales alfaradio ca 780 466 5779 www alfaradio ca Different positions of the Ethernet Module Page 48 of 55 AlfaSpid_MD 01 02_12APR2022 odt Copyright Alfa R...

Page 49: ...Alfa Radio Ltd 11211 154 St Edmonton Alberta Canada T5M 1X8 sales alfaradio ca 780 466 5779 www alfaradio ca Page 49 of 55 AlfaSpid_MD 01 02_12APR2022 odt Copyright Alfa Radio Ltd 2022...

Page 50: ...ck as well the moon and sun etc First download the Orbitron program and MyDDE driver from http www stoff pl links may be found on the Alfa Radio Ltd website Install the program and place the driver in...

Page 51: ...n My DDE Client will appear and display tracking data for the satel lite selected in Orbitron Click on Exit Now go back to the MD 01 02 program and select the ORBITRON tab in the MD 01 02 pro gram Dou...

Page 52: ...80 466 5779 www alfaradio ca The parameters from Orbitron should now appear in the MD 01 02 screen AZ EL and the rotator should start to move the correct position Parameter AZ EL must be a positive nu...

Page 53: ...erta Canada T5M 1X8 sales alfaradio ca 780 466 5779 www alfaradio ca MD 01 Controller Dimensions Controller MD 01 Dimensions FRONT Controller MD 01 Dimensions BACK Page 53 of 55 AlfaSpid_MD 01 02_12AP...

Page 54: ...erta Canada T5M 1X8 sales alfaradio ca 780 466 5779 www alfaradio ca MD 02 Controller Dimensions Controller MD 02 Dimensions FRONT Controller MD 02 Dimensions BACK Page 54 of 55 AlfaSpid_MD 01 02_12AP...

Page 55: ...ERED by this limited warranty Repairs in these cases will be subject to normal service charges 4 Damage to a Alfaspid rotator or controller caused by using said rotator or controller with a rotator or...

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