Introduction to Visual Rotor (VR)
Visual Rotor consist of two elements:
- Hardware
- Software
Basically, the software supports the controller of 4 antenna rotors. Regardless of if you are using azimuth or elevation rotors. It is even capable to show and control 2 rotors simultaneously. This makes SAT-tracking easy. It can be controlled by LCD touchscreen (presently only one specific type from Raven), rotary encoder, IR-remote, joystick, LAN or USB-port. With the last one VR is al able to talk to third party software that support Prosistel D protocol. E.g. PSTRotator is an awesome software package that let you interface with logbook software like LOG4OM V2. So far VR is the most complete solution available right now.
Hardware.
The basic hardware which is needed:
- Arduino Mega 2560 R3, Original version(NO CLONE!)
- Relay board
Optional hardware:
- TFT shield (LCD touchscreen 4.3â€). highly recommended, but not necessary.
- Rotary encoder interface (Arduino compatible)
- LAN interface (Arduino compatible)
- IR-remote control (Arduino compatible)
- Relayboard with at least 2 relays ((Arduino compatible)
- Joystick interface (Arduino compatible)
- USB to TTL serial interface (Arduino compatible)
- VR-Kit from EA7HG.
- Speed control. This depends AC or DC rotor and can be a DIY- solution (see manual)
All hardware with the acceptation of nr. 8 can be bought on the internet in many stores. I is advised to stick to the version mentioned in the manual but alternatives may work too.
For customers outside Europe we advise to buy the most expensive part, which is the TFT shield directly from Mouser or Digikey US.
All products can be purchased as a kit. You can create your own kit by letting us know what options you would like to include in the kit. Please send an email to info@more4ham.com.
Software.
The VR software-license key can be bought directly at EA7HG (www.ea7hg.com) or at www.more4ham.com (please send an email to info@more4ham.com).
Present price for the software-license is €25,- or USD 30,-