Skyroof with AZ-GTI azimutal mount as rotor.

[Luca EA8DJR]

Hi everyone,

I apologize if the subject is off topic, but i think can be interesting.

I am trying to use an alt/az mount AZ-GTI from Skywatcher for satellite tracking with Skyroof...

It's an alternative to  commercial rotors for portable or not fixed use . You can buy used for 250 € and hold until 5kg (11 lbs). No special cables, just 12v power supply or battery, you can control it via wifi. It comes with a solid tripod and riser that allow to support antennas and  have enough clearance for a 5 el yagi for 144 and a 12 el uhf.

I've built a support for mounting an arrow like antenna on the telescope support, but some doubt arise when setting up Skyroof for use with my az-gti. Especially when it ask for degrees in azimuth and altitude ( i put -180 +180 and 0-90).

Anyone is already using this mount or Alex can explain me the meanings of the rotor setup lines?

Thanks in advance

Luca 

EA8DJR

[moonjock Clark]

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[vk2...@gmail.com]

I use one with SatDump V1.2.3 & V2 running in Linux.  I had to compile rotctld with a custom skywatcher.c and h files to get it to work with SatDump (not created by me).

What do you need to know?  The AZ-GTi has been in the rotctld library for the last few releases and should work when selected.  No need to convert ra/dec to az/el.

In SatDump my setting are: "rotator_az_max: 360" & "rotator_az_min: 0".  Nothing is need for elevation as the AZ-GTi is 180 °.  rotctld only wants to know if the rotators are 360

° or 450 ° and 0-90 °  or 0-180 ° .  So I figure Min Az 0, Max Az 360, Min El 0, & Max El 180

I guess I should test it with SkyRoof.

[Luca De Biase]

Thanks VK2??? I don't know your name... Interesting, please let me know your test with skyroof...

Here in the screenshot my settings for skyroof, i learned that with rotctrld i need to use a serial cable connected to the mount. i bought one of 6mt, waiting for it...

with skycat 1.7 i use: C:\SkyCat_1.7\skycatd.exe -m TS-2000 -r COM6 -s 57600 -t 4532 -vvv

with rotctrld i use: "rotctld -m 2801 -r COM10 -s 9600 -vvvv -t 4533"

Any other suggestion?

[JF9SOM]

Hi,

I am continuously using Sky-Watcher AZ-GTI as a rotator.  I proposed a fix for Sky-Watcher backend last December on Hamlib github, and its PR was merged.  Now it works by serial cable with hamlib newer than 4.7.1 very well. 

I was using systemd before, but since it is a little bit complicated, I developed GUI based ctld-launcher for all platforms.  Rigctld/Rotctld can be easily launched by GUI.  

See: https://github.com/JF9SOM/ctld-launcher

Best regards,

Sadatoshi Koike

JF9SOM

R8/08/20 21:10、Luca De Biase <lucala...@gmail.com>のメール:

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<Captura de pantalla (32).png>

[Luca De Biase]

Hi Sadatoshi-San, thank you very much for the link, i will try your program when coming back home...

As long time user,  you keep the mount outside with some protection or you take out the mount just when you make activity? I plan to take out on my terrace the tripod every time i use it (az-el mode).

The question is to ask you how do you perform alignement of the mount. I was thinking to make a previous north alignement then a single star alignement with let's say Jupiter, roughly aligning the antenna to the planet (in alternative i was thinking to use my guide scope in place of the antenna. Or maybe is unnecessary, and a simple North align is enough? I always used AZ-GTI in eq mode.

Thank you again.

Luca

[vk2...@gmail.com]

I  mostly use mine on L Band or S Band so I align for best SNR from a strong satellite like GK-2A.  Or if you don't need single digit degree accuracy you could use Align north after turn on, after the rotator has done it's spin around and ends pointing North and 0.

Word of warning about powering the AZ-GTi.  Don't use 13.8V like in your shack supply etc.  You will see that PC connects and they start talking to each other but the rotator will not move when commanded.  Drove me nuts!  I made a DC-DC converter that outputs 11.9V regardless or I use 10.9V battery pack.

[JF9SOM]

Hi, Luca,

I am using it with the tripod every time when I use it with az-el mode.

Accurate alignment can be provided by an AR app on a smart phone using SynScan Pro if it is necessary to track L/S/C band satellites with Parabolic antenna.

But normally, such accurate alignment is not needed for V/U satellite with some elements Yagi.  Just put it for 0/0 degree for North when it is switched on. Simple North alignment is sufficient enough.

Sadatoshi

JF9SOM

R8/08/21 0:06、Luca De Biase <lucala...@gmail.com>のメール:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skyroof/61b05aaa-500a-4214-834e-2cd1fc272176n%40googlegroups.com.

[vk2...@gmail.com]

That is brilliant.  A GUI for rotctld very nice.  I'll be testing it out for sure.

[vk2...@gmail.com]

Works a treat.

Thanks.

[Luca De Biase]

I also tested ctld-launcher, rotctld it works with AZ-GTI with serial connection via eq-mod cable, just tested communication and motor driving. I set also rigctld with ts-2000 but it's better to use skycat 1,7 for this rig.

Now i have to check the correct tracking during passes after correct alignment, i hadn't enough time atm.

For Alex:

For people that are using alt/az rotor in portable or without a fixed installation , it's very useful  the button PARK in the rotor control window. So people can set the rotator on position 0,0 when ending the session, or if some adjustment are needed.
Thanks again to everyone for the support.

[Alex VE3NEA]

SkyRoof has a Park button, please see https://ve3nea.github.io/SkyRoof/users_guide/rotator_control.html#manual-control

[Luca De Biase]

Thanks Alex.

I already told it during my previous message:

 "it's very useful  the button PARK in the rotor control window."

It was a compliment because I discovered it clicking on the rotor control panel.

I have to tell that any function i start to need during the use of this program, already was there!
Regards

Luca