Time Error

[Steve GJ6WRI]

Good morning. I'm experiencing a timing error and I've attached a screen shot and my log in hope you can see what happened and when. In this example, I started the rotator and rig control and lastly the SkyRoof app. I didn't select any satellite, I just left it as it was when it opened.

73 Steve

[Alex VE3NEA]

CAT control works fine, according to your screenshot, but rotctld.exe returns error -8 ( Protocol error ), as can be seen in the log. This means that when rotctld talks to the rotator, it does not receive a reply, or receives a wrong reply, or it is not even able to start communication with the rotator. You can ask for help with this on the Ham Radio Control Libraries / Discussion page.

[Alex VE3NEA]

With rotctl.exe you can control the rotator manually. This program accepts commands from the terminal, not from a network connection.

[Steve GJ6WRI]

Hello Alex.

The timeout issue still persists, but I've done some testing during the week which I'm hoping may help you to resolve the issue.

As a recap, I tried a different computer, I have tried powered internal and external USB hubs, USB2 & 3, and 3 controller PSUs, all to no avail. I have also tested it with a different controller. I had previously used PST Rotator without error, so I set that up as a Hamlib server and the problem still persists.

What I have noticed is after launching SatRoof, if I select a satellite to track, be it within the next 10 minutes of the next ten hours, the program patiently waits until the AOS event. However, shortly after the pass completes, SkyRoof throws the same error. If I click ignore and select the next pass I want to track, SkyRoof just waits until AOS, and then shortly after the pass completes, the error displays again.

I'm out of ideas Alex. Can you throw any light?

[Alex VE3NEA]

As I already explained, the timeout error means that the controller does not reply to a command sent by rotctld.exe. Switching the computers is not going to fix this because the problem is at the controller side. The best you can do is examine the rotctld.exe log, find out which command does not produce a reply, and ask for help at the HamLib forum.