School Amateur Radio

Club Network

Mini Satellite-
Antenna Rotator
Mk1
This project is a portable device used to automatically point a
directional antenna towards an orbiting satellite. It takes all the effort
out of little kids holding the antenna and figuring out where to point it.
It allows students to talk through Amateur Radio satellites or
download weather satellite images.

H i th h l SARC t th l d t l hti
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 Here is the whole SARC crew out on the playground at lunchtime
with Julie and Mr. Michael Day, their principal. They are using our

solar-powered, portable, amateur radio satellite receiving station to

communicate through AMSAT FO-29. Let's see what they've got
going:
20W solar panel
10A MPPT Solar Charge Controller
12V 7AH SLA Battery
12V-USB Power Converter
Raspberry Pi, running Gpredict and Hamlib rotctld/rigctld
LCD Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard
Dual-band Arrow antenna
Yaesu FT-817 transceiver
Our Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator

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 Table of Contents
Description
Parts List (Mk1a Version)
Parts List (Mk1b Version)
Parts List (Mk1c Version)
Project Status
Latest Software
Status reported by builders
Problems experienced by some builders
In the news
Hardware Build Notes
Mechanical
Sensor Orientation
Electrical (Mk1a)
Electrical (Mk1b)
Electrical (Mk1c)
Testing the Arduino Pro Micro stand-alone
Compilation Instructions
Set to work instructions (Part 1)
Calibration Instructions
Set to work instructions (Part 2)
Installing Gpredict and HAMLIB
Operating Instructions
Scaling it up
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 Scaling it up

Description
Here is the draft of our original article which appeared in the May
2016 edition of Amateur Radio magazine. Warning: The Mini
Satellite-Antenna Rototor is not suitable for unattended operation or
permanent outdoor installation. Any malfunction can cause harm or
serious damage.

This is the original version. A cheaper version is shown below. You

can even mix and match components if you like. All prices shown in
Australian dollars.

Parts List (Mk1a Version)

This is the original version. A cheaper version is shown below. You
can even mix and match components if you like. All prices shown in
Australian dollars.

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 Parts List (Mk1b Version)
This is the half-price version, specifically developed for the schools
involved in the Melbourne Space Program. It uses a polycarbonate
enclosure with a cheaper sensor, motor driver and no fancy PCB
connectors.

Parts List (Mk1c Version)

This is the AC Motor version for the Channel Master TV antenna
t t It A ti 4 h l t i l t d Ti Di
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 rotators. It uses an Aptinex, 4-channel, opto-isolated, Triac, Driver
Board. Note that the Azimuth rotator has to be modified using this
modification procedure to remove the 360-degree stop pins. Caution:
This modification will void the warranty. Note: The last step in the
procedure requires you to drill out the two stop pins without leaving
any metal swarf in the gearbox - piece of cake :-).

Project Status (Updated: 29

June 2020)
Total number of reported builders: 801

Please update your status by e-mailing us. You can send us pictures
and reports of your progress.

Latest Software
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 Release 6: Arduino Software for Mk1 and Mk2 Mini Satellite-
Antenna Rotators

Release 1: Original release.

Release 2: Added support for hamlib 3.0.1. Added debug mode.

Release 3: Improved calibration and operation.

Added a low pass filter to the sensor data to improve calibration.

Reinitialised the I2C bus and sensor prior to each read to avoid I2C
lockups caused by power glitches
Changed Serial to Serial1 for RS-422 operation

Release 4: Improved calibration and operation.

Fixed a bug reading the EEPROM calibration data on some

versions
Made the SerialPort configurable to support both the Mk1 (USB)
and Mk2 (RS422) rotators
Added a speaker output to help with the calibration process
Removed the overshoot inherent in the anti-windup algorithm
Initialised the sensor filters at start up
Added a pause command, as requested
Added a help menu, as requested
Clarified sensor axis definitions

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 Release 5: Changes to support the half-price Mk1b version.

Added compiler option for either the original LMD18200T or the

cheaper L298N DC Motor H-Bridge Driver Boards
Added compiler option to set the driver board type and the pins
used
Note: Only PWM pins 5, 6, 9 or 10 can be used for PWM motor
drive output
Added compiler option for either the original LSM303D or the
cheaper LSM303DLHC Accelerometer/Magnetometer
Replaced the passive piezo speaker with an active piezo buzzer to
help with the calibration process (since there were not enough
PWM outputs)
Better object-oriented architecture

Release 6: Changes to support the AC Motor

Added compiler option to support the Aptinex 4-Channel, Opto-

Isolated, Triac Driver (also available on eBay) and the
ChannelMaster Rotators
Added a non-blocking timer class
Fixed a bug to support Version 1.8.8 of the Arduino IDE for Linux

P.S. To use it, simply unzip the Rotator6 folder to your Arduino IDE
sketchbook folder. Please don’t forget to configure the Rotator6.ino
file for the correct motor type, sensor type and serial port as follows:

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 //User configuration section:
//Please uncomment only one of each of the following
MotorTypes, SensorTypes and SerialPort types:
//const int MotorType = PWMDIR; //Please uncomment this
line for the LMD18200T DC motor driver.
//const int MotorType = FWDREV; //Please uncomment this
line for the L298N DC motor driver.
const int MotorType = ACMOTR; //Please uncomment this
line for the triac AC motor driver.
//const int SensorType = LSM303D; //Please uncomment this
line to use the LSM303D sensor.
const int SensorType = LSM303DLHC; //Please uncomment
this line to use the LSM303DLHC sensor.
#define SerialPort Serial //Please uncomment this line to
use the USB port.
//#define SerialPort Serial1 //Please uncomment this line to
use the TTL port.

The motor drive pins are: 5, 6, 9 and 10. Note: The Mk1a break
pins are no longer supported or required.
The piezo buzzer pins are 16(+) and 14(-).

Get the latest software here. Please do NOT email the kind folk below.
Please be patient. We both work full time. It may take us a week to
reply.

St t R
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 Status Reported by Builders
The following is a list of some of the builders who have completed the
rotator and sent us their comments or pictures:

Brian VK2XTC - Brian was the first to complete assembly in May

2016: "Just letting you know the new motors arrived yesterday.
These ones are now the correct 0.6RPM rather than 6RPM. They
drive correctly, slow to the correct point etc. It all seems to work."

Adrian VK4KL - "Woohoo!! It's working."

Roger VK4YB - "Built it for Owen, VK4FADW and the kids at

the Caboolture Historical Village." Good job Roger! Here is the
result.

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 Frank VK2FRW Well done Frank! "Had a problem with one
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 Frank VK2FRW - Well done Frank! "Had a problem with one
motor gearbox." Frank reports it works OK with HRD. Here is a
photo

Colin VK3VGB - "I have completed your Mini Satellite - Antenna

Rotator project and it’s just the best !!"
Keith VK3VKS - "I purchased all the material for the Mk1
rotator and am now interested in the Mk2."
Warren VK6HM - "I have previously built your first rotator and
enjoyed it immensely."
Mark VK3ZQ - "Just building a version of the Mk2 electronics to
mod my original Mk1."

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 Robbie VK3XIN - "Great to see it working!" Robbie
demonstrated his working rotator at Moorabbin and District
Radio Club. It is shown here with the new piezo speaker
t d
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 connected:

David G4FEV - "I have been quit brutal changing parameters

and changing satellites while still tracking and everything is rock
solid and performing perfectly. Frankly I am astounded. It is a
thi fb t t t h it t k h t I t ll it t t k
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 thing of beauty to watch as it tracks whatever I tell it to or track
manually using GPredict Rotator Control." Here is David's Mk1a

version with the LSM303DLHC sensor and L298N motor driver

board:

Hank AB2XG - "I can't say thank you enough for this project!
I've wanted to try satellites for a couple of years now and have
tried hand held antennas a couple of times, always seemed like
there were just too many things to do all at the same time! Made
my first contact today via SO50 using this. This setup takes
aiming the antenna right off of your plate of things to do! Work
the radio and adjust the polarization and your into the satellite."
Here is Hank's setup with the Elk antenna:

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 Ed WA6WGS - "Many thanks for your patience. Your project is
my first Arudino project... It is up and running, and wish to thank
you again for the project." Here is Ed's setup with the Arrow
t
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 antenna:

Dave EI4HT/M0GIW - "Hey all. Success today! It works! Thanks

for your help! I'm on a Cypriot vessel between Ireland and UK. It
works great here on the ship, fun to watch it compensate for
heading and roll."

We are pretty sure Dave would have the first maritime mobile
application of our Mini Satellite Antenna Rotator. In our original
Amateur Radio Magazine article we said: “Even if the rotator
mounting is moved during operation it will automatically
reacquire the correct position, potentially making it suitable for
land mobile or maritime applications.” But we never expected
someone would actually try it! So well done Dave. Good job mate!

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 Dave EI4HT/M0GIW - More pictures of Dave's setup. He actually
machined the hubs out of brass. Read his article about it in the
Spring 2019 edition of AMSAT UK's Oscar News.

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 Alex ON5NV - We are very impressed at the way Alex has
strengthened the mechanical parts with bearings.

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 Ronny ON5NR - A very professional build with what looks like a
nice home-brew antenna. Ronny helped us update the Mk1a
schematic to match the latest version of software. Thanks Ronny.

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 Eddie AE4TQ - "Just a quick email to follow-up and report that I
have successfully finished constructing the Mini Satellite-Antenna
Rotator project using the Mk1b design (L298N motor driver) this
weekend. I have to say it is a real thing of beauty to watch it
gracefully tracking satellites via Gpredict. Thank you again for
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 g y g p y g
sharing this project, I can't wait to show it off at one of our

upcoming NFARL club meetings and to be able to use it for 2019

ARRL FD next summer!"

"I have made numerous contacts on the CAS-4A/B and XW-series

satellites since I built this project, and it created a lot of
excitement and interest when I demonstrated it at our recent N4N
ARRL Field Day group gathering. Seems I've inspired a group
project! I eventually settled on using a Raspberry Pi 3B to run
gPredict 2.2.1 Ubuntu using standard USB connection, (since 2.2.1
supported the satellite auto-track feature, as well as the
Easycomm II protocol for antenna feedback). It also nicely
controlled my FT857D for tracking doppler-shift." I'm looking
forward to using the set-up during Field Day in June to get some
additional bonus points, and I have promised my local club,
NFARL, an article for their eNewsletter, as well as offering to do a
presentation at the September club meeting."

"I gave a presentation this month at my radio club, the North

Fulton Amateur Radio League about the rotator project, which
was very well received by the attendees, and thought I’d share a
few pictures. I’ve received a lot of emails from club members both
before and after the presentation. I can’t thank you again for
sharing this project with everyone."

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 Bob VK2BYF - A very impressive looking antenna farm now with
a Mk1 Mini Satellite Antenna Rotator.

Bob VK2BYF - Also this heavy-duty AC motor version running

on the same Arduino code. He says both are working perfectly.
Well done Bob!

Béla HA4BM - Showing some real creativity and skill from

Hungary, Béla has done an outstanding job designing his own 3D-
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 Hungary, Béla has done an outstanding job designing his own 3D
Printed cases for the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator and the 3D
Sensor.

He says "It is easy to reproduce using cheap 3D printers and PLA

filament. The box is solid and meets the basic expectations. The
dimensions are: 140mm x 100mm x 54mm."

Béla has kindly published his work, so that you can view his
design and download his .stl files from here.

In testing his design, Béla noticed that using small steel screws to
secure the 3D Sensor caused an offset in the position of the rotator.
The solution is using non-magnetic, brass screws or just silicone
adhesive for this purpose.

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 Kent K5WTS - Kent has an ingenious soulution for the lift-arm,
with an integrated counterweight. By placing the sensor on the lift
arm, away from the antenna, he also reduces RF interference from
the I2C bus. Looks like a great portable setup Kent. Well done!
Kent says: "Field day last weekend. It was a hit and a real
attention getter. I have really enjoyed this project. Twelve years a
ham and worked my first pile up on it. Five sat contacts in about
three minutes. It's a hoot. Thanks for all you do with this
Organization. 73s K5WTS Kent"

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 Denis VK6AKR from the West Australian VHF Group, based at
the Wireless Hill Museum in Western Australia, reports that
"Robert VK6FRDM is very well advanced with the construction
of both the Mk1 and Mk2 Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotators. To the
extent that he has demonstrated the Mk1 rotator to a group of
school students and will possibly be establishing a continuing
group at a local school. Robert's rotators were both on display at a
HAMfest in Perth, where they attracted considerable interest
from fellow operators." We know that Denis is also well on the
way to completing his own Mk1 and Mk2 rotator. Well done and
good luck to Denis and Robert!

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 Bagus YD1DDK from Indonesia said "I have tried the Mini
Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk 1 - Arduino Light Duty and it has
been successful and I have implemented it in JOTA 2019." We
were really excited to see the Scouts at the demonstration. We are
impressed at the way Bagus has experimented with the motor
position and enclosures, too.

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 Mike K4TWM - "I added a few cool features to my set-up. I
wanted a completely self-contained portable box that I could take
camping to the beach or to the mountains. I included a 3.3Ah
LiFePo4 battery and Raspberry Pi inside the box. I also wanted
to see what was happening so I added a display so I can see the
azimuth/elevation set points and sensor readings at a glance. I
modified your program slightly to send az/el data serial data to
the display. Starting with a full battery charge, I was able to run
the system in demo mode (constant motion) continuously for 8
hours. Thanks again for the software, this has been a really fun
project!"

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 Jon W2JON - "I am currently in the process of replicating your
awesome project to work the birds with my 10-year-old son. My
kid is chomping at the bit to get into some satellite and we are
even building our own arrow style antenna. The work I have read
on the site is phenomenal and I commend everyone involved and
am especially touched by the efforts to help the children explore
the wonders of ham radio and especially the satellite
communications. We got the ESP8266 wireless serial bridge
working well. Thank you for your consideration and thank you so
much for sharing this project. 73, Jon W2JON." We note that Jon
3D printed the case by Béla HA4BM and also has the ESP8266
WiFi link working. Great work Jon!

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 J W2JON "Thi i l d i ( i t bl ) f th
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 Jon W2JON - "This is my scaled up version (semi-portable) of the
MK1C. I built 2x 2 meter 4 element quads with nested 7 element

70cm yagi's built into the booms. Several custom 3d printed parts
were made for the 2m element spreaders and feed point
stabilizers. The 70 cm driven element has a custom 3d printed
insert that centers the dipole and secures it as well. The rotators
are old alliance U-100 style units which I totally tore down and
rebuilt. This build uses the Aptinex 4 channel triac board and just
like my portable build, it also has the wireless serial bridge in it
via an ESP8266." - Jon's restoration of these old AC rotators was
meticulous. The quads look amazing, too. Very impressive Jon!

Tony M0GLU - "Many thanks for the development. This is a great

project. I didn't have any problems in the building process. It was
d th d t ti i t! 73 db t i h !T "
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 easy and the documentation is great! 73s and best wishes! Tony."

Problems Experienced by
Builders
The following problems were reported by some builders and we have
added our comments in bold.

Original version of software assumed the EEPROM was

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 initialised. Fixed.
The m command does not work: The m command won't work
properly until the calibration is completed. Try the b command
instead.
Ordering the wrong parts on eBay: 2 motors (reordered). Oops!
eBay parts dead on arrival: 1 motor, 2 driver boards (reordered).
That's a worry!
Trouble finding a suitable satellite antenna: We use the Arrow II
146/437-10W from here:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html.
The 6mm hub is closer to 6.5mm. Yes, frequently 1/4" is sold as
6mm and vice-versa. Cut a soft drink can for shim to pack the
gap.
The rotator azimuth and elevation motors just turn continuously.
The sensor needs to be attached to the antenna boom and the
rotator mounted on a sturdy tripod.
Better serial monitor support: A help command. A stop and start
command. Motor test command. Command error handling. All
good ideas! We added Help and a Pause command.
The rotator wobbles too much. We have found that the original
soft-brass shaft coupler used for the azimuth mounting wears
out after repeated assembly/disassembly. It seems never tight
enough: The rotator wobbles from side to side and at high
elevation angles the lift arm hits the tripod upright. We have
tested the following 4-screw steel shaft coupler from eBay and
can report much better stability with it. However, using a
second shaft hub for the azimuth mounting is by far the best
and cheapest mounting method. For ease of tightening the
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 shaft hub mount, the two small grub screws were replaced with
3mm cheese-head or cap screws. Some readers have re-tapped
the holes to 4mm.

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 Gpredict versions later than 1.4 crash when engaging the rotator
control via HAMLIB. Something has changed in Gpredict since
version 1.4. It no longer gracefully handles the read error
encountered by HAMLIB when polling the rotator via the USB
port. The bug has been reported, but the only solution for the
time being is to use Gpredict version 1.4.
Gpredict does not display the rotator position on a Windows PC,
but the rotator works fine. Easycomm II rotator position
feedback does not work on a Windows PC because of a
handshaking issue when using Hamlib with the Arduino IDE
USB port driver. A work-around is to use a USB-TTL
Converter connected to the TX, RX, GND and VCC pins on
the Arduino and changing the code to use the Serial1 port
instead of the Serial port. It works OK using the USB port with
a Linux PC.
RFI and EMC problems: The electronics generates RF
Interference, which can be heard in the receiver while tracking
satellites. Transmitting as little as 10W into the antenna can lock
up, reset or even fry the electronics. We have done a lot of
investigation in these areas and have a lot of feedback ranging
from there is no problem at all through to unworkable
situations. The fact is that every assembly and installation is
different and we can't address every situation. So here are
some tips for you to try: Place the sensor on the boom away

from the driven elements - or better still on the lift arm. Try
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 overall-shielded cable for the I2C bus. Add 0.1uF caps from
the motor terminals to the motor chassis. Run a couple of turns
of the antenna, I2C and USB/RS422 cables through ferrite
toroids. Use low power, shielding and grounding techniques.
The motors from China did not work: The motors brushes have a
propensity of lifting off the commutator due to shock and
vibration in transit. They can often be restored to operation
simply by "tickling" the brushes with the power applied by
inserting a squashed wooden toothpick through the crescent
shaped holes.

In the News
We demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk1 to the
Amateur Radio Victoria Homebrew Group.
We presented and demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator
Mk1 at GippsTech 2016 on July 9th & 10th 2016.
AR Magazine, June 2016. SOTA and Parks News by Allen
Harvie VK3ARH. VK3 Show and Tell - Sunday 17 April 2016 -
Brisbane Ranges National Park: "... Another highlight, among
many, was provided by Joe VK3YSP. Joe set up his Portable
Satellite gear, complete with mini computer controlled rotator for a
demonstration earlier in the day and was ready and waiting for an
early afternoon pass of amateur satellite designated FO-29. Right
on cue, FO-29 came over the horizon and Joe completed what is
believed to be the first WWFF contact from an Australian VKFF
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 believed to be the first WWFF contact from an Australian VKFF
Park via Satellite. Joe exchanged greetings from the Park, the Park
designator and name, and a valid signal report with Geoff
VK2ZAZ. This was an effort by Joe and enjoyed by all present."

We demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk2 to the

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 Amateur Radio Victoria Homebrew Group
We demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk2 to the
Melbourne Space Program team on March 18 2017.
We demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk2 at the
Wireless Institute of Australia AGM on May 21 2017.
We presented and demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator
Mk2 at GippsTech 2017 on July 1 2017.
We demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk1 to the
South East Radio Group on June 10 2018. It won first choice of
the Home Brew prize!
We presented and demonstrated the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator
Mk3 and 4 at GippsTech 2018

Hardware Build Notes

Mechanical
1. The hardest part of the build was precision-marking and drilling
the motor mounting holes. We recommend sticking adhesive paper
labels to the diecast box, scribing construction lines on them using
a digital vernier caliper, center-punching and drilling pilot holes
first. A drawing of the motor mounting holes can be found in the

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 motor datasheet here. Check three times - drill once.
2. Countersink the motor shaft holes on the inside of the rotator case
and slip 5mm o-rings over the motor shaft before assembly for
ingress protection.
3. Add two flat washers to the AZ motor mounting bolts on the side
near the lid to counter the chamfer in the rotator case.
4. Install a cable gland on the bottom of the rotator case for the
PC/Battery and Sensor cables.
5. Install the Motor Drivers to the case using countersunk bolts and
stand-offs.
6. Install the Arduino Pro Micro against the case wall using two
layers of double-sided tape on its flat side.
7. Prepare an Extra Heavy Duty Speaker Tripod. Try Jaycar CW2860
or Altronics C0524. Remove the speaker bracket.
8. Attach a 6mm shaft-hub to the top of the tripod using a 25mm
irrigation-pipe threaded plug, 3mm cheese-head bolts, flat washers,
spring washers and nuts. Fix with self-tapping screws to the tripod.
Replace the grub screws on the shaft hub with cheese-head bolts or
cap screws to obtain additional torque.

9. Attach the rotator's AZ motor shaft to the tripod and tighten the
hub screws.
10. Round the sharp edges of a lift arm made from 500x30x30x3mm
aluminium angle.
11. Make a counterweight from a 101x51x25mm diecast aluminium
box: Altronics H045, or similar. Filled with lead.
12. Attach the counterweight to one end of the lift arm with self-
tapping metal screws.
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 tapp g eta sc ews.
13. Attach the Arrow antenna to the lift arm using Velcro. This is for
quick release of the antenna and hand-held operation, if required.
14. Attach a 6mm shaft-hub to the lift arm close to the balance point.
Ours was 140mm from the antenna end. A slight front-heavy
balance offset will reduce backlash.
15. Attach the lift arm to the rotator's EL motor shaft using the 6mm
shaft-hub and tighten the hub screws.
16. Enclose the sensor in 12mm double-wall heatshrink tube and crimp
the front end. Mount the flat side of the sensor against the boom
with a velcro strap around the boom. See: Sensor Orientation for
details. Keep the sensor away from the VHF/UHF driven elements
to avoid RF interference to the sensor. Don't use high power for
satellites. Use ferrites on the I2C lines if necessary.
17. Here is an extreme close-up of the enclosure showing assembly
details. Both the original shaft-coupler and new shaft-hub
(recommended) mounting methods are shown:

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 Sensor Orientation

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 The sensor is attached to the antenna boom and is aligned with the
antenna reference axes (X, Y and Z) as follows: With the antenna
horizontal and pointing North, X points due East, Y points due North,
along the antenna boresight, and Z points up.

Because the flat side of the sensor board is attached on the top of the
antenna boom, with the long side of the sensor board parallel to the
boom, the sensor axes (X', Y' and Z') are not the same as the antenna
reference axes (X, Y and Z) as used in the software and our original
article. Instead, X = -Y', Y = X' and Z = Z'.

Also, the gravity field vector G is the opposite of the device

acceleration vector A.

Therefore the following transformations are applied by the software:

MX = -MY', MY = MX', MZ = MZ', GX = AY', GY = -AX', GZ = -

AZ'.

There are two types of sensor boards supported: The first shown is the
LSM303D, the second is the LSM303DLHC. The diagrams show their
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 , g
correct orientation.

Electrical (Mk1a)
1. Important: Bridge Jumper J1 on the Arduino Pro Micro.
2. Solder the four 6-way headers on to the TOP of the Arduino Pro
Micro.
3. Crimp hookup wires into the housings.
4. Connect Pro Micro SDA, SCL, GND and VCC to the Sensor SDA,
SCL, GND and VIN pins via a long flexible unshielded cable. We
use flat telephone cable.
5. Connect Pro Micro pins 5, 6, 9 and 10 to the Motor Driver
terminals (AZ PWM, AZ DIR and EL PWM, EL DIR
respectively).
6. Connect Pro Micro pins 16 (+) and 14 (-) to a Piezo Buzzer to
assist with calibration.
7. Connect Pro Micro GND to each Motor Driver GND and BRAKE
terminal (The one on the same terminals as PWM and DIR).
8. Connect Motor Driver OUT1 and OUT2 terminals to the Motor
terminals (be prepared to reverse these during testing as the motor
pins are not polarised).
9. Connect Motor Driver V+ and GND terminals to your 12V supply
via a cutoff switch and fuse (Caution: Don't connect until safe: The
motors may move)
10. Connect Pro Micro USB port to the PC USB port. To fit the cable
through the gland, cut a standard micro USB cable in half and re-
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 g g
terminate it. This port powers both the Pro Micro and Motor
Driver electronics.

11. This schematic diagram has now been updated to support Version
6 software.

Electrical (Mk1b)
1. Important: Bridge Jumper J1 on the Arduino Pro Micro.
2. Connect Pro Micro SDA, SCL, GND and VCC to the Sensor SDA,
SCL, GND and VIN pins via a long flexible cable. We use flat
telephone cable.
3. Connect Pro Micro pins 5, 6, 9 and 10 to the Motor Driver
terminals (IN1 IN2 IN3 and IN4 respectively)
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 terminals (IN1, IN2, IN3 and IN4 respectively).
4. Connect Pro Micro pins 16 (+) and 14 (-) to a Piezo Buzzer to
assist with calibration.

5. Connect Pro Micro GND to the Motor Driver GND terminal.

6. Connect Motor Driver OUT1, OUT2 to the AZ Motor and OUT3,
OUT4 to the EL Motor (be prepared to reverse these during testing
as the motor pins are not polarised).
7. Connect Motor Driver 12V and GND terminals to your 12V
supply via a cutoff switch and fuse (Caution: Don't connect until
safe: The motors may move)
8. Connect Pro Micro USB port to the PC USB port. To fit the cable
through the gland, cut a standard micro USB cable in half and re-
terminate it. This port powers both the Pro Micro and Motor
Driver electronics.

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 Electrical (Mk1c)
1. Important: Bridge Jumper J1 on the Arduino Pro Micro.
2. Connect Pro Micro SDA, SCL, GND and VCC to the Sensor SDA,
SCL, GND and VIN pins via a long flexible cable. We use flat
telephone cable.
3. Connect Pro Micro pins 5, 6, 9 and 10 to the Motor Driver
terminals (IN4, IN3, IN2 and IN1 respectively).
4. Connect Pro Micro pins 16 (+) and 14 (-) to a Piezo Buzzer to
assist with calibration.
5. Connect Pro Micro GND to the Motor Driver COM terminal.
6. Connect Motor Driver LOAD-1, LOAD-2 to the AZ Motor and
LOAD-3, LOAD-4 to the EL Motor (be prepared to reverse these
during testing as the motor pins are not polarised).
7. Connect a 100uF 50V Bipolar Capacitor across each of the motor
windings.
8. Connect the LOAD-1 and LOAD-2 Common and Motor Common
to the 20VAC plugpack that comes with the AZ Channel Master
rotator.
9. Connect the LOAD-3 and LOAD-4 Common and Motor Common
to the 20VAC plugpack that comes with the EL Channel Master
rotator.
10. Install an AC Mains safety cutoff switch. Do not use AC Mains
voltages outside.
11. WARNING: These AC Rotators are so powerful that they will

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 cause severe damage and harm due to any malfunction or error.
Never to be used unattended.

12. Connect Pro Micro USB port to the PC USB port. To fit the cable
through the gland, cut a standard micro USB cable in half and re-
terminate it. This port powers both the Pro Micro and Motor
Driver electronics.

Testing the Arduino Pro

Micro stand-alone
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 Micro stand-alone
1. Install the Arduino IDE from
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software. Note: Give the drivers
ample time to install.
2. Connect the Arduino Pro Micro via a micro USB cable to the PC
USB port.
3. Open the Arduino IDE
4. Select File | Examples | 01.Basics | Blink
5. Select Sketch | Verify/Compile (Ctrl+R). You should see
"Compiling sketch..." followed by "Done compiling"
6. Select Tools|Board: Arduino Leonardo
7. Select Tools|Port: COMnn (Arduino Leonardo)
8. If you don't see COMnn (Arduino Leonardo) you may have to
determine the virtual serial port used by the controller:
a. On Linux start a terminal window and type: dmesg | grep
"USB ACM device" Make a note of the tty device.
b. On Windows start device manager and look under "Ports"
for "USB Serial Device" or "Arduino". Make a note of the
"COM" number.

c. Select Tools | Port and the COM port number you noted
earlier.
9. Select Sketch | Upload (Ctrl+U). You should see "Uploading...".
The Arduino Pro Micro LEDs will flash 3 times. Then "Done
uploading".
10. This indicates that you can successfully compile and upload an
Arduino file.
11. Note: The Blink sketch does not blink the Pro Micro LED unless
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 you add "#define LED_BUILTIN 17" to the start of the program
and accept the compiler warning
12. If you can't upload. May we suggest: Closing the IDE.
Disconnecting and re-connecting the controller. Starting the IDE
again and repeating steps 4 onwards.

Compilation Instructions
1. Open the Arduino IDE.
2. Select File|Preference to find out your sketchbook location.
3. Open the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Arduino code file
(RotatorX.zip)
4. Copy the RotatorX folder to your sketchbook location.
5. Select File|Open|RotatorX|RotatorX.ino. You should see eleven
files open in the IDE as shown below.

6. Select Sketch Verify/Complile (Ctrl+R). You should see "Done

compiling" and no errors (but please ignore any compiler
warnings) as below.

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 Set to Work Instructions
(Part 1)
1. Check the motor and sensor configuration. Click on the Rotator6
tab and find the following lines. The line with the motor or sensor
you are using should start with const the other unused types should
start with //const. I.E. Comment out the devices you don't use. The
following shows the configuration for the type 1b with L298N
motor driver and LSM303DLHC sensor.
//Constants
//User configuration section:

//Please uncomment only one of each of the following

MotorTypes, SensorTypes and SerialPort types:
//const int MotorType = PWMDIR; //Please uncomment this line
for the LMD18200T DC motor driver.
const int MotorType = FWDREV; //Please uncomment this line
for the L298N DC motor driver.
//const int MotorType = ACMOTR; //Please uncomment this line

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 for the triac AC motor driver.
//const int SensorType = LSM303D; //Please uncomment this line
to use the LSM303D sensor.
const int SensorType = LSM303DLHC; //Please uncomment this
line to use the LSM303DLHC sensor.
3. Connect the Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator controller USB port to
a PC or Raspberry Pi or whatever, but do not connect the 12V
motor supply.
4. Start the Arduino IDE and open the rotator sketch
5. Press Upload to reboot the Arduino and start up the IDE Serial
Monitor (button at top right). Select "Carriage return" from the
dropdown box.
6. Type b<Enter>
7. You should see the raw sensor data (six numbers) as shown below.
If you see "nan" or "ovf" there is a problem with the sensor or
sensor connection.
8. Type a<Enter> to abort debug mode.
9. You now have to run the calibration procedure at least for the first
time before you can proceed.

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 Calibration Instructions
A workable calibration can be achieved by just holding the sensor in
your hand and turning it around to point in 12 different directions. The
piezo device stops beeping and the data stops changing when you have
completed each point. The more care you take with the procedure the
better the calibration will be. Once you have done the calibration

properly it will not need to be repeated unless your magnetic

declination or the magnetic conditions near the sensor change. A video
of the calibration process is shown here.
1. For version 4 software: Attach a piezo speaker to pins 10 (+) and
16 ( )
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 16 (-).
2. For version 5 software: Attach a piezo buzzer to pins 16 (+) and 14
(-).
3. Go on-line to calculate the magnetic declination in your area. Go
to http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/. Enter your country
and city. Press "Add Lat/Lon" then press "Calculate" to get your
magnetic declination. Say it is 11 degrees, 40 minutes, East.
Convert this number to decimal degrees by dividing the minutes
part by 60 and adding it to the degrees part, so that's 40/60=0.7
plus 11 equals 11.7. Use a negative number (-11.7) if it says West
instead of East.
4. Make sure the 12V motor supply is disconnected. Connect the PC
to the rotator using the USB cable.
5. Start the Arduino IDE and open the rotator sketch.
6. Press Upload to reboot the Arduino and start up the IDE Serial
Monitor.
7. Type in e11.7<Enter> to enter the magnetic declination (make sure
you type in your own value). Then s<Enter> to save it.
8. Now start the calibration process by typing c<Enter>.
9. You can abort the process at any time by typing a<Enter>.
10. When you have completed the calibration process, properly, just
type s<Enter> to save the calibration data to non-volatile memory.
11. To calibrate the sensor you have to move it around very, very
slowly. Don't bump it or even think about changing hands.
12. It helps to tape the sensor and the sensor cable to the back of
plastic or wooden ruler and hold the ends of the ruler in each hand.
13. Move the sensor around. The piezo device will beep and you will
see the 3D magnetometer (M) and accelerometer (G) errors and
li f h i h
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 scaling factors changing on the screen.
14. You can pretty much keep moving the sensor all around until the
piezo device stops beeping or the data stops changing, but there is
a trick to doing it properly.
15. Think of the sensor as a cube with six faces. You need to point
each face in the direction of the Earth's magnetic field and again in
the direction of the earth's gravitational field. The gravitational
field points straight down, while the magnetic field points up (in
the Southern hemisphere) to the North at an angle of about 70
degrees to the horizontal. There are 12 directions and you have to
move the sensor a little bit around each point until the piezo device
stops beeping or the data stops changing.
16. For extra fun have someone video the whole process and then play
it back at high speed!
17. Don't forget to type s<Enter> when you have finished.
18. You can then type r<Enter> to reset the controller and reload the
stored calibration data.

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 Set to Work Instructions
(Part 2)
1. Once calibration data is saved to the EEPROM you can continue to
set the rotator to work.
2. Make sure the 12V motor supply is disconnected. Connect the PC
to the rotator using the USB cable.
3. Start the Arduino IDE and open the rotator sketch.
4. Press Upload to reboot the Arduino and start up the IDE Serial
Monitor.

5. In the IDE Serial Monitor type m<Enter> to enter the monitor

mode.
6. You should see the rotator data as shown below, comprising:
Current AZ and EL, Setpoint AZ and EL, AZ windup angle, AZ
windup state, AZ and EL error.
7. Verify the Current AZ and EL numbers reflect the sensor true
azimuth and elevation
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 8. Make sure the lift arm is disconnected. Connect the 12V motor
supply.
9. Observe the IDE Serial Monitor display and observe the motor
movement while looking directly at the motor shafts.
10. Point the sensor North East. The first number should be between 0
and +90. The AZ motor should turn CCW.
11. Point the sensor North West. The first number should be between 0
and -90. The AZ motor should turn CW.
12. Point the sensor 45 degrees Down. The second number should be
between 0 and -90. The EL motor should turn CW.
13. Point the sensor 45 degrees Up. The first number should be
between 0 and 90. The EL motor should turn CCW.
14. If a motor moves in the wrong direction, reverse the motor wires
by swapping the OUT1 and OUT2 connections on the appropriate
Motor Driver board.
15. Disconnect the 12V motor supply. Attach the rotator to the tripod.
Attach the lift arm to the rotator. Attach the sensor along the
boresight of the lift arm.
16. Disconnect the USB cable.
17. While carefully monitoring the lift arm, ready to disconnect the
12V motor supply if something goes wrong. Connect the 12V
motor supply - there should be no movement.
18. Connect the USB cable. The lift arm should swing around to 0
degrees AZ/EL and stop.
19. Turn and tilt the tripod. The rotator should restore the lift arm to
this home position.
20. In the IDE Serial Monitor type 30 45<Enter>. The lift arm should
swing around to approximately 30 degrees AZ and 45 degrees EL.
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 21. If everything is working properly you may like to repeat the
calibration procedure more carefully if you wish.

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 Installing Gpredict and
HAMLIB
Windows Installation
Download the Gpredict Version 1.4 for Windows from: Gpredict
Version 1.4 Note: Use version 1.4 as later versions of Gpredict do
not work.
Download the latest HAMLIB for windows installer from:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/hamlib/
Install Gpredict and HAMLIB (using Run as Administrator)
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 p ( g )
Plug the mini satellite-antenna rotator into a USB port. Use
Windows Device Manager to find out the COM port number of it.
To start HAMLIB so you can control the rotator from Gpredict,
create a windows batch file called rotctld.bat containing the
following lines (make sure you insert the rotator's COM port
number from the last step):
cd \Program Files (x86)\hamlib-w64-3.2\bin\
cmd /k "rotctld -m 202 -r COM8 -s 9600 -T 127.0.0.1 -t
4533 -C timeout=500 -C retry=0 -vvvvvvvv"
Always run this batch file before starting Gpredict.
Note: The rotator emulates the AMSAT Easycomm II protocol. It
permits GPredict to set the AZ-EL angle of the rotator and it is the
only rotator protocol which supports rotator position feedback,
allowing GPredict to display the rotator position as well. However,
because the Arduino Pro Micro uses the USB port handshaking
lines for resetting the microcontroller, the position feedback part
does not work properly with HAMLIB on a Windows PC. It works
OK on Linux. While the rotator positioning will be OK the
position display will not work. A work-around is to connect a USB
to TTL serial adapter board between the PC and the Pro Micro
VCC, GND, TX and RX pins (remember to cross-connect the TX
and RX lines). This board will power the Pro Micro from the PC.
Don't forget to change the COM port to suit in the rotctld.bat file
above. Then open the Arduino IDE and the rotator.ino file. Follow
the instructions in the file to change the SerialPort from Serial to
Serial1 and re-compile.
Start Gpredict. Select Preferences|Interfaces|Rotators.
Add a new rotator and select: Az type 0 -> 180 -> 360
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 yp
if you want you can also plug in your FT-817 via a Yaesu CT-62
CAT cable into a USB port. Use Windows Device Manager to find
out the COM port number of that too.
To start HAMLIB so you can control the rig's frequency/doppler
etc from Gpredict, create a windows batch file called rigctld.bat
containing the following lines (make sure you insert the rig's COM
port number from the last step):
cd \Program Files (x86)\hamlib-w64-3.2\bin\
cmd /k "rigctld -m 120 -r COM15 -s 38400 -T 127.0.0.1 -t
4532 -vvvvvvvv"
Always run this batch file before starting Gpredict.
Start Gpredict. Select Preferences|Interfaces|Radios.
Add a new radio and select: Radio type FT817/857/897

Raspberry Pi Installation
Use a RPi Version 3 with built-in WiFi, or a version 2 with a USB
WiFi dongle. Add a PiFace Real Time Clock if you want to use it
portable.
Start with the latest Raspbian - Stretch operating system.
Download it from
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
Unzip the .img file and use Win32DiskImager or Etcher to write it
to a micro SD card.
Select Menu|Preferences|System: Extend the Filesystem. Select
Localisation and set your locale information.
Select the WiFi configuration and log into your WiFi access point.
Startup a Terminal and execute the following commands.
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 p g
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install gpredict
Please install HAMLIB manually to get the latest version as rotator
position feedback will not work with the cached version.
cd ~/Downloads/
mkdir hamlib
cd hamlib
wget
https://sourceforge.net/projects/hamlib/files/hamlib/3.3/haml
3.3.tar.gz

tar -xvzf hamlib*

cd hamlib-3.3
./configure
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
Plug the rotator into to a USB port and start the HAMLIB rotator
control daemon in a terminal window:
rotctld -m 202 -r /dev/ttyACM0 -s 9600 -C timeout=500 -
vvv
Plug the Yaesu CT-62 USB CAT Cable into a USB port and start
the HAMLIB rig control daemon in a terminal window:
rigctld -m 120 -r /dev/ttyUSB0 -s 38400 -T 127.0.0.1 -t
4532 -vvvvvvvv
Start Gpredict. Select Preferences|Interfaces|Rotators.
Add a new rotator interface and select: Host: localhost, Port 4533,
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 , ,
Az type 0 -> 180 -> 360
Add a new radio interface and select: Host: localhost, Port: 4532,
Radio type: FT817/857/897 (auto)

Operating Instructions
Serial commands:
Enter two integers AZ and EL in degrees separated by a space to
manually control the rotator. e.g. 270 45<Enter> Note: AZ here works
in either 0~180~360 or -180~0~180 degree format.
r - Reset. Prints the calibration data. Resets the rotator to the home
position and resets the windup value.
b - Debug mode. Prints the raw sensor data: Mx, My, Mz, Gx, Gy
and Gz.
c - Calibrate mode. Displays the calibration data only when it
changes.
d - Demo mode. Tracks linearly through the following AZ/EL
points in a cycle: 0/0, 90/90, 0/180, 90/90 0/0, -90/90, -180/0,

-90/90, 0/0
m - Monitor mode. Prints current AZ and EL, set points for AZ
and EL, the AZ windup angle, the AZ windup state, the AZ and
EL error.
a - Abort Calibrate, Monitor or Demo mode
e - Enter Magnetic Declination. e.g. e11.7<Enter>. It is positive for
East or negative for West.
S M ti D li ti d C lib ti D t
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 s - Save Magnetic Declination and Calibration Data.
h - Help
p - Pause

Scaling it Up
As we said in the article: "It should be noted that this particular rotator
is very light duty as it uses small and inexpensive motors. It would
certainly not take the rigours of prolonged external use nor support a
larger antenna". Some readers have asked us how the mini satellite-
antenna rotator can be scaled up for larger antennas. Here are our
thoughts:
Note: Our mini satellite-antenna rotator would not be suitable for
EME (moon bounce) stations with narrow beam-width (parabolic)
antennas.
See our Mini Satellite-Antenna Rotator Mk2 to check if that meets
your needs.

There are two types of H-bridge motor drivers: Single PWM input
with DIRection control (designed for DC motors) and Dual, FWD
and REV, PWM inputs (designed for stepper motors).
The L289N (FWD/REV) motor driver will handle 2A at up to 35V.
The LMD18200T (PWM/DIR) motor driver will handle 3A at up
to 55V.
You can drive pretty big DC motors with those, especially at 24V.
If that is not enough there are larger motor drivers available
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 If that is not enough, there are larger motor drivers available.
The following is a dual channel PWM/DIR 10A motor driver.

The following is a dual-channel FWD/REV 60A motor driver.

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 The sensor and Arduino should be located close together (about
1m max) because of the I2C bus interface. We can’t do much about
that unfortunately. So the electronics box must be up at the
antenna.
The Arduino and the tracking computer can only be about 5m apart
because of the USB interface. USB over CAT-V cable extenders
are available for cable runs up to 50m. A more reliable option is
RS-422 over CAT-V cable described in our Mini Satellite-Antenna
Rotator Mk2. A better option is to use some ESP-32 WiFi devices.

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