Rot2Prog Controller Setup - BenningtonCS/Telescope-2014 GitHub Wiki

The antenna controller may need a bit of setup in order to work properly with the software. Full documentation for the controller and its settings can be found here.

To properly set up the controller, three things must be done:

Make sure the controller has no limits set
Set the controller to SPID mode
Set the controller to Automatic mode so it is able to communicate with a computer via serial

Setting Limits

The easiest way to be sure there are no limits set on the controller is by doing a controller reset. To do this, turn off the controller, hold down the 'F' button, and while still holding down the button turn the controller on again. When this happens the display should look like this:

To change the remaining settings, we will use the buttons on the controller, designated by the red arrows. (F, S, >, <, v, ^)

If there are limits set, it is possible that when the software is run, a buffer overflow may occur, and that the GUI logic breaks, leading the program to be ineffective. If no radio data is being displayed on the UI and large values/NaN appear on the readout, having limits set is a potential cause.

Setting to SPID

In the controller's program simulation setting, two options are available, SPID or Yaesu. Since the controller we used is SPID, the controller should be set to SPID. To set, press the 'S' button until the readout says PS. Then, if the readout does not say PS SP, press the < or > arrows to change it to SP. It should look like:

If the controller is not in SPID mode, nothing will happen and the program may hang, as it is unable to communicate with the controller.

Set to Automatic

In order for the computer to be able to communicate with the controller, it must be in automatic mode. To do this (from where we left off in 'Setting to SPID'), you would press the 'F' button until an A shows up on the readout. The readout should look like:

Controller Wiring

While the controller does not have many/complicated connections, and the documentation is fairly good for what connects where, below is a picture detailing our connection setup, for reference.