Satel Az-EL Instruction Manual
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Satel Az-EL Instruction Manual

Satel Az-EL Instruction Manual

Azimuth-elevation rotor system, rotor controller module, and windows control program
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SatEL Az-EL!

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Summary of Contents for Satel Az-EL

  • Page 1 SatEL Az-EL!

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    The SatEL Az-EL! Azimuth-Elevation Rotor System, Rotor Controller Module, and Windows Control Program Instruction Manual Index Page Introduction: Overview of the System Hardware Assembly - Assembling the table mount and the rotor stack - Connecting the rotor controller to the wall power supply - Connecting the rotor controller to the rotors and the computer III.

  • Page 3: Introduction: Overview Of The System

    Begin by assembling the table support mount. The table support mount will be useful during the assembly and testing of the Az-El system until you mount it outdoors. The support mount is made up of a 10” gray PVC mast with a...

  • Page 4: Connecting The Rotor Controller To The Wall Power Supply

    While setting up the Az-El rotor indoors, it may be more convenient to use a short length (~1.5 feet) of boom, made from the same 1” electrical conduit. We drilled a ¼” hole transversely at one end of a such a short boom and inserted a 6”...
  • Page 5 screw terminals are, numbers associated with the four terminals of the rotor. These numbers are molded into the aluminum casting of the adjacent case. Pin 1 on the azimuth rotor goes to pin 1 of the controller terminal block, 2 to 2, 3 to 3 and 4 to 4. The four wires to the elevation rotor consecutively go to pins 5- 8 of the terminal block: pin 1 of the elevation rotor goes to pin 5 of the terminal block, 2 to 6, 3 to 7 and 4 to 8 respectively.

  • Page 6: Installing The Software On Your Computer

    All communication between the SatEL system and your computer is via a serial RS-232 port, as it was in the earlier VE5FP system, This improved version of the system is backward compatible with the original system.

  • Page 7: Installing The Windows Control Program, Azelcontrol.exe

    RS-232 connector on your computer and the RS-232 connector on the SatEL controller and then power up the SatEL system by plugging in the wall wart. The rotors should not move – if they do, you have a problem and it is likely with the wiring between the rotors and the controller.

  • Page 8: How To Use Kermit To Aim Your Antennas During Setup

    Once you have determined the correct port for your interface, you can use the Kermit program to interact directly with the SatEL controller at any time. Normally, however, you will just want to use the AzElControl.exe program which you can run by selecting Start | Programs | AzElControl.exe.

  • Page 9: Operating The System

    Operating the System The AzElControl.exe program This program provides some of the simple controls to handle the SatEL azimuth-elevation rotor system and to upload data into the system controller. When the program is running, you will see the window adjacent. You will notice that there are three main areas of the window.

  • Page 10: Running The Program The First Time

    If it was port 1, you need do nothing more. If not, you will have to edit the SatEL.ini file. To do so, close AzElControl.exe and, using a simple text editor like Notepad, change the number in the SatEL.ini file to the value that you previously determined.

  • Page 11: Preparing Satellite Pass Data Using Instanttrack

    current” to set the “Start Date/Time” to the current UTC. Select the number of days (the “Duration”) you want to collect data for: one or two days for LEO satellites, up to 4 or 5 days for AO-40 and similar slow, deep-space satellites. Set the “Increment” to perhaps 1 min for LEO satellites, 5 to 10 min for AO-40.

  • Page 12: The Data File Controls

    A hint about ephemeris data files. The SatEL rotor system only moves in steps of ten degrees in either azimuth or elevation so the AzElControl.exe program automatically rounds off satellite azimuth and elevation into steps of ten degrees.
  • Page 13 the InstantTrack or Nova programs, make sure the time steps are fairly small – typically, one minute. The resulting file may be extremely large with very many lines but the AzElControl.exe program will pare them down to the minimum possible number. If that is still more than the 50 that can be uploaded into the controller, the controller will ignore the excess.

  • Page 14: Appendix A Running The Controller With A Terminal

    QST. This article has been subsequently republished in the ARRL Satellite Anthology. The VE5FP Az-El system was designed to be operated by a terminal connected to the controller by an RS-232 serial port. There were a number of ‘commands’ each of which consisted of a single letter typed at the terminal.
  • Page 15 The SatEL 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 SatEL system does not need calibrating in the same way as the VE5FP system did so this command does nothing.

  • Page 16: Warranty

    $130 plus a $20 handling fee. Please ship the faulty unit, along with a note describing the problem and a copy of the purchase receipt showing the date of purchase to: SatEL, 763 Franklin Dr., Brentwood, CA, 94513.

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