[WT-support] Rotor question

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

I think W7UPF intended to send this message to the Win-Test reflector, but
it only went to me:

On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 1:46 PM, w7upf <donsay2 at cox.net> wrote:

> Thanks very much for your response....I now have rotor control working
> under Win-Test 4.0.1 and although I had tried it once in my past attempts, I
> again "enabled" Ethernet network with 127.255.255.255 and port 9871 with no
> Comm port selected (for the rotor) and apparently that resolved my problem.


Congratulations on getting it working, but I don't understand how wtRotators
can work if COM port is set to NONE.  You will get a message

COM0 to HyGain:  Failed to open.

Maybe you meant "Antenna name" wasn't specified?


> As you suggested the "settings" in Win-Test 4.0.1 and in "wtRotators " have
> to be in agreement.  So what can I gripe about now, but some might say
> someone will always find fault with something and I guess I am in that
> latter group for the time being.  Specifically my problem is this:
>
> If the "base" for the "integrated" rotor function in Win-Test begins with
> and is dependent on settings in "wtRotators" then how can a user fully
> depend on azimuth results after typing in a "call" in the log?  In my case,
> it would appear the resulting azimuth degrees are in error by some 25
> degrees.


It sounds like your Grid Square or "Locator" is not set properly.  Type the
text command REOPEN in the data entry window in the callsign column, and
press [Enter].  Then correct your Locator (all six characteres if you know
them), then press [OK].  Enter a callsign and press [F10] to make sure the
"Az:" (short path azimuth) is correct in the "Check Country" window.  If
not, make sure you are using CTY_WT_MOD.DAT instead of CTY.DAT (use the text
command CTRYFILES to select this country file instead of the default, as it
has more accurate callsign-to-location info than CTY.DAT).  If you are doing
all of this and the beam headings are still wrong, please send specific
examples (your Locator, and the callsign you are entering).

Since the only settings that might somewhat determine my relative location
> to an entered DX call  letters are my grid square, and my own call letters
> (entered when first installing Win-Test) could that explain the error?  Too,
> due to antenna mounting slippage relative to the rotor in my tower over
> time, could that too individually or in combination account for an azimuth
> error in wtRotators results?
> In certain other rotor control programs, you can enter your Lat and Lon
> degrees and also enter an +/- "offset" degree to compensate for any
> "slippage" in antenna mounting.  Am I missing something in  regard to
> wtRotators?


Yes.  In the wtRotators window, click on the "Offset" column and enter the
number of degrees of error in your heading indicator.  I can't tell whether
you should enter +25 or -25 degrees, but you should be able to figure out
which value causes Win-Test to properly compensate for slippage in your
mast. Win-Test will still say "moving rotator to xx" but it will actually
move it to xx plus or minus 25 degrees.


>  I would appreciate your further comment....it is appreciated.   73s  W7UPF
>


I hope this helps.

73,
Bob, N6TV

>
> Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote:
>
>> There seems to be a bug in wtRotators version 1.0.  It doesn't seem to
>> accept any Win-Test commands if the "Antenna Name" column is left blank.
>>  Try putting a name like "Yagi" in there:
>>
>>   1. wtRotators window: Controllers | Edit | /your rotator name/
>>   2. Select an unused COM port
>>   3. Enter a rotator name like "HyGain"
>>   4. *Enter an Antenna name like "Yagi" on line 1*.  Leave everything
>>      else blank.
>>   5. Do not check "rotation limits" unless you have a side-mounted
>>      antenna that can't rotate the full 360°
>>   6. Press [OK]
>>   7. Back in Win-Test, enter a callsign and press [Ctrl]+[F12]
>>   8. Do you see any messages in the wtRotators Window?  If not,
>>      verify that both Win-Test and wtRotators are using the loopback
>>      address 127.255.255.255 port 9871.
>>
>> Note:  wtRotators opens /two /windows, and one is minimized at start-up.
>>  The minimized window is the one you want to look at, so activate it from
>> the Windows Task Bar.
>>
>> I see messages like this when I enter a call in Win-Test and press
>> [Ctrl]+[F12]:
>>
>> COM1 to HyGain: opened
>> Set HyGain rotator to: 304
>> Set HyGain rotator to: 028
>>
>> But the "Set" messages stop if I blank out the "Antenna Name" column.
>>
>> 73,
>> Bob, N6TV
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 8:30 AM, Don Richards W7UPF <donsay2 at cox.net<mailto:
>> donsay2 at cox.net>> wrote:
>>
>>    Has anyone successfully installed the file (wtRotators.exe) for
>>    both the
>>    stand-alone operation and as an integrated feature of Win-Test 4.0.1
>>    when using a Hy-Gain DCU-1 rotor  (Yaesu G-1000DXA rotor with the
>>    Idiom
>>    control card)?  W7UPF
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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