15
•
*** For example, 2002/03/14 19:45:30 40 60<
Enter
> stores into the controller’s internal
memory that at 19:45:30 on 14 March, 2002 the antenna system should be pointed to
an azimuth of 40 degrees and an elevation of 60 degrees. The controller will cause this
to happen if automatic motion is enabled. If automatic motion is disabled, the controller
will not move the antennas at the appointed time.
The Sat
EL
system is backward compatible with the VE5FP system and will behave in
exactly the same way except for one command that doesn’t apply: that is the ‘c’ or
Calibrate command. The Sat
EL
system does not need calibrating in the same way as the
VE5FP system did so this command does nothing.
Using a separate terminal or running a program such as
Kermit
which turns your
computer into a terminal, and using all the above commands, you can run the rotors, clear
the memory, set the time in the controller and do everything you need to do. But, to try to
load the controller with an ephemeris by hand this way is a slow, tedious, finicky and error-
prone process. It is much easier to use
AzElControl.exe
to do it automatically
.
For the Sat
EL
system, three new commands have been added. These are summarized
in the following table.
*
Resets the controller – the same as turning the AC power to the controller off and
then back on
?
Asks for identification. The controller responds by sending back
SatEL
cx Sets azimuth and elevation and clears internal EEPROM
The ‘cx’ command (the characters ‘c’ and ‘x’ typed without any spaces between them) is
only used during setup. It causes the controller to drive the azimuth to the closest counter-
clockwise 10 degree point and the elevation to drive downward to the nearest 10 degree
point. It then sets the internal EEPROM values for azimuth and elevation to zero. This is
the
only
command that affects the internal stored values azimuth and elevation in the
EEPROM. The EEPROM is normally only changed by the running program inside the
controller and then only in response to motion of the rotors.
You would normally never use the cx command except if somehow the internal
EEPROM got scrambled or you want to reset the apparent position of the rotors without
actually moving them very far.
The reset command, *, is used as a convenient way to get out of a situation where you
may have put the controller into an undefined state. This will never happen if you are using
AzElControl.exe
but might if you make a mistake while typing in one of the long commands
directly to the controller. One remedy is to just unplug the power supply. Doing so causes
the controller microprocessor to reset itself but does not lose track of where it is pointed.
The * command (typing just a single asterisk) does exactly the same thing. This command
may be given at any time and it acts immediately.
Summary of Contents for Az-EL
Page 1: ...SatEL Az EL...
