I did some searching for pictures and realized dad has a U110 rotator from back when we had an antenna. He's going to send it out. The control box will look a little strange in my shack, but the price is right.

thanks all.

Sport Mobile: http://www.sportsmobile.com/

Used broadcast remote truck (comes with 50' telescoping mast):
http://alliedbroadcastgroup.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&page=1&categoryID=3&productID=1349&pstart=0&recNum=4

Sparkfun.com has a lot of different magnetometer modules available. I'm sure when transmitting the magnetic field would go a little screwy, but how often does one rotate an HF antenna while transmitting? I was also thinking since I'll be using this in an attic, I could just get a strong magnet and use it for a reference instead of magnetic north.

I've looked at CCD camera mounts in the past, but mostly for Az/El positioning of a satellite antenna, and figured they weren't quite there. I ended up using a telescope mount for that, which works well, but isn't waterproof. Looking forward to springtime so I can get it set up and make some contacts again.

Ultratorch UT-100Si:
http://www.masterappliance.com/heat-tool-products/butane-powered/ultratorches/ultratorch-ut-100si

Gets plenty hot, very quickly and doesn't need an extension cord out at the antenna side.

Glad to be wrong.  I hope they post the manual online soon, because I'm interested in this radio.

You made it to the APRS-IS network through a D-star gateway. You weren't transmitting on 144.390 using 1200 baud AFSK though, and I don't know that iGates on the APRS side will transmit your position to the local APRS RF users like the RF digipeater/iGates will.

I'm not trying to bash D-star, just pointing out that it's not quite the same as APRS and the 2 systems, while combined on the Internet, are not so compatible in the RF world.

That's very interesting. I figured the controller was acting just the opposite: in my head each click was sending a signal to the rotator telling it to move "one click" clockwise or counterclockwise, depending. If it's the other way around I wonder if I could ignore that feedback and just use something like a potentiometer or even an electronic compass module?

I had it mounted horizontally in the past and it was great for NVIS but not much else.

I've been following that thread too. Were you able to post some pictures somewhere? I'd really like to see how you mount everything to keep tension on the belt to keep it from slipping.

From an Arduino standpoint, it would be much simpler to build using servos or steppers, since the libraries are easy to find and there are off the shelf shields for interfacing, but that moves the difficult part over to the antenna end.

As far as auto tuning goes, I first plan on using the external meter jack on my FT-897 as an easy way to get S-units and SWR to the Arduino, just by taking a sample of the voltage and adjusting for peak on receive (course) or null on transmit (fine). If/when I upgrade to another radio I'll likely either use an external SWR/Power meter like the Elecraft W1 or poll the radio through the CAT port.

I'm going to be mounting  a magnetic loop in an attic at the new QTH. Wind load won't be a factor, but the weight of the butterfly capacitor (~15lbs) will be. I'm guessing most rotators are built for wind load (side to side weight) not vertical weight. I'd like to use something small and inexpensive if possible. I might be able to rig something to suspend/support the antenna from the roof to hold some of the weight too.

The other question is, are there any standards for rotator cables? Most of the inexpensive rotators have controllers that look like the one we had on the TV in the 1970s. For those of you too young to remember, these beasts were loud, inaccurate and slow. I'm fairly handy with a soldering iron and Arduino, not so much with machining gears. If I can determine what the rotator needs in order to run, I'd like build my own interface.

Gnome Predict (Gpredict): http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/download.php

free, open source, uses hamlib for rig/rotator control, built for all the popular OSs.

There's also a few Android apps. I use HamSatDroid, which works fairly well, although could be better.

AIS utilizes GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying) modulation at 9600 bit/s. Adjacent channels can be spaced either 12.5 kHz or 25 kHz. Data is encapsulated in HDLC like packets, which are NRZI encoded, see fig 5 and fig. 6.

D-Star uses GMSK and has position reporting built in, although it doesn't have much in the way of packetization. It would be nice if the community viewed the protocol as more than a voice mode, so maybe we could retire our Bell 212 modems.

If you have the Direct TV "Genie" system, it uses a system called multimedia over coax, or MoCA, for signaling and transferring A/V between boxes (it will also connect to some TVs).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia_over_Coax_Alliance

Make sure all the connectors are wrench tight, splitters are grounded, etc. Dual shield coax with 100% foil braid should be used as a minimum, as should compression-type fittings. Most importantly, wall plates should be checked to make sure they aren't hex crimp on the back, and replaced if they're the typical poor quality I've found over the years in most houses. Also try disconnecting cables from the splitter one at a time and see if the problems go away.

The frequencies used are all above 500MHz, so I doubt there's any direct interference from your radio (assuming you're operating on HF). Also the fact that your cable modem is working fine would lead me away from the radio and more to ingress on the satellite cabling.

good luck!

You must not have worked for a audiophile-level amplifier company! 

The other question is, will the population support a company that takes a chance on a radical new design? The IF DSP was a no-brainer, but I remember a lot of complaining about audio DSP being inferior to other filtering techniques. But we had to get audio DSP to prove the concept and get some R&D started on how to improve it, which led to IF DSP.

SDRs are generally in the same boat. Look over in the QRP forum to see a very long debate over the merits of the KX-3 vs the FT-817. The KX-3 is a very popular radio, and a great leap forward in shrinking technology, but there doesn't seem to be enough of an improvement for a consensus. Why is the Flex radio still a niche product if it is so much better? It can't all be the way the company is run.

I think many people look at Moore's law and try to apply it to everything. While it does lead to innovation in just about all technological areas, physics and economics will grind innovation to a halt once you get past the silicon chip level. Why don't we have direct-sampling SDRs? The technology exists and has for some time now. Well, because the chips and real-time processing power are still at a price point that is too high for most amateurs.

Thanks for the advice. I figured it was all overkill, but you never know. Much easier to type it out than do it and find out it doesn't make a difference (or make things worse).