EME Controller OE5JFL May 2009
Page 13 of 13
ASCII command set for remoting the controller via PC
Although the main intention for this controller was to have a system independent of a PC, it might
be useful sometimes to remote it.
You can read/set each parameter by a row of 6 ASCII characters via the serial port. The speed is
fixed to 115200 Baud.
The principle is, to send from the PC to the controller a question mark (?) if you want to read a
parameter, an exclamation mark (!) if you want to set a parameter. Then one letter (a…z) must
follow to specify the parameter. In the case of reading you will get back four ASCII coded digits
for the parameter itself, when setting you have to send four ASCII digits after the letter.
For not overloading the controller with commands, you should wait at least 20ms between each
read/set action. When reading many parameters, limit it to 20 per second.
Parameter table:
( a….m, u….z both read with ? and write with ! )
a: Of100) b: Of100) c: Step d: Target
e: Az 1 f: El 1 g: Az 2 h: El 2
i: RA man j: DE man(+900) k: Lon(+1800) l: Lat(+900)
m: Encoder
u: Sec v: Min w: Hour x: Day y: Month z: Year
?n: 5000) : read only ?o: Az Ant : read only ?p: El Ant(+900) : read only
?q: Az Target : read only ?r: El 900) : read ?s: Decl (+900) : read
?t: Comp*32+Auto*16+motorbits : read
!r: calculate antenna position offset for compensation : write (without number)
!s: toggle antenna position indication comp./no comp : write (without number)
!t: toggle automatic mode on/off: write (without number)
Most parameters are in 1/10deg.
c: 0000,0001,0002 means High, Medium, Low resolution
d: Target 0000:moon, 0001:sun …. 0010:Az1/El1
m: Encoder 0004:A2-S-S, … 0008:MAB28_12bit
Examples:
read antenna Az: send ?o, wait for 4 ASCII digits. 1234 means 123.4 deg
set target to sun: send !d0002
set longitude to 13.4 deg East: send !k1666 (1666= -134+1800)
toggle AUT/MAN status: send !t
