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Title: Using Part 15 Wireless Devices for Remote Control of Rotors, Ant Tuners, etc Post by: W9GT on August 07, 2009, 03:02:48 PM I have been playing with a remote antenna tuner that is located some distance from the ham shack (250'). I have also been contemplating a new antenna rotator control that will control my prop-pitch rotator. With the fairly long distances involved, it will be somewhat expensive and difficult to install all the necessary cabling to link these devices to the control units in the shack.
The thought occurred to me that, with wireless networking of computers in the home and the ready availability of a lot of Part 15 wireless stuff, it might be possible to utilize some of these things for remotely controlling devices in the station , perhaps via my computer. I have seen some "home automation" devices that might have some application for remotely controlling equipment. Has anyone here been playing with any of this stuff? Could you point me in the direction of any resources available? I know of a couple of stand-alone prop-pitch rotor control units that are nice, but very expensive. It would really be fun to come up with a scheme for controlling the rotor, the remote tuner, and maybe some remote antenna switches via the computer and wireless links. That stuff operates in the 2 GHz band and higher frequencies, so RFI considerations may or may not be a problem to resolve when dealing with an HF and VHF station. Anyway...just trying to come-up with ways to cut the cost and maybe make use of some modern technology to handle some tasks controlling some old-buzzard devices. 73, Jack, W9GT Title: Re: Using Part 15 Wireless Devices for Remote Control of Rotors, Ant Tuners, etc Post by: K3ZS on August 08, 2009, 09:13:32 AM Why not try using a RC system used for model cars. They operate on 75 MHz. You can get solid state motor controllers capable of handing many amps of current and servos that you can find all kinds of ways to control things. They are usually under $100. Try Tower Hobbies web site or your local hobby shop for more info. They have much better range than Part 15 devices.
Title: Re: Using Part 15 Wireless Devices for Remote Control of Rotors, Ant Tuners, etc Post by: W9GT on August 08, 2009, 09:22:14 AM K3ZS, AMfone - Dedicated to Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur Radio Bands
That's not a bad idea, however, wouldn't lend itself to control via the computer. I also wonder if RFI would be an issue with the 2M and 6M stations? There certainly is a lot of hardware available...servos, etc, that might be adapted to control various devices. hmmm...food for thought Thanks for the suggestion! 73, Jack, W9GT |