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| Reviews Summary for EA4TX Antenna Rotator System |
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Reviews: 34
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $120. USD
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Description: The ARS will allow to control ANY antenna rotator (Azimuth &
Elevation) from a computer. Even if you are only interested on HF arrays,
the ARS will allow it. Supported from most programs as DX4WIN, WriteLog, Nova, ...
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More info: http://www.ea4tx.com
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You can
write your own review of the EA4TX Antenna Rotator System.
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KB5BOB
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 11, 2007 07:59
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Excellent Product
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had this controller since 2006 and what a dream it has been controlling the Yaesu 5500 and my satellite system. The installation was quick and easy. The instruction manual is concise and very helpful.
Anyone wanting to have automatic rotor control should add this to their shack.
Craig L. Wright
NX50
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W5DAV
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 21, 2007 08:41
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Greatest Product
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have been using this controller for over 3 years and have been totally impressed with the functionality of this product. I use the 10-bit system with my Rotor yeasu 5400b.
Not only does it work perfectly, but when I have had a problem, I have ALWAYS had great support with EA4TX's expertise.
The software installs easily will little knowledge of installations procedures. Just follow the prompts.
This is a super product and is worth it's weight in gold. For anyone that uses computers with their antenna system, this is a MUST additive to your Shack.
I actually placed mine in it's own box I made with Radio Shack's "build a box stuff". With a little bit of my own creativity, this box looks great with my setup.
73's
de
w5dav
david tausworthe
friendswood, tx
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DL1AKP
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 30, 2007 10:30
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Big device - big service
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Hello there.
I just got my ARSWIN interface and tried to get it working with the HAM IV rotator. It worked, but it showed 180° wrong, mean if S it showed N, if E it showed W. Couldn't find out, how to fix it, no hint in the manual. I droped EA4TX a mail and got a reply 30 mins later!!! Was quite easy to change and everything is fine. It works really perfect, and the service from Pablo is excellent.
Anyway, until now it will NOT work with Windows Vista.
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KB5YXQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 17, 2007 23:08
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Best around and with great support
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I put the board in a projec box and installed 9 pins din for all wiring to connect from the board.
then installed wires inside my Rotor box to another 9 pin din.
Then connected it all up with 1 serial cable and WOW it works like a champ, very easy to do.
By the way I'm using a yaesu G450A rotor, but pablo gives easy instructions on how to do it.
This is a great product and for a low price.
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AD5JN
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2007 14:12
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Simple and Clean
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The RCI-SE 10 bit board has replaced my homebrew AZ/EL rotor controller for the Yeasu 5500 rotor. The interface is well documented for many rotors including the 5500. Simple and clean. The ARSWIN software works great with PCSAT32. I have not had any problems. I am very please with this board.
Great Job Pablo!
Ronn Folk
AD5JN
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WA7SCH
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 31, 2006 09:21
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Awesome setup
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have found this board and setup to be a great addition to my station.
Pablo was always very helpful when I had a question about configuration and usually responded to e-mails in a day.
Be careful though about what computer you hook it up to and verify that the computer parallel port supports EPP mode. This can be determined by looking at the BIOS settings. A lot of the new computers, including my very expensive Dell did not support port configuration outside of the ECP mode. This is not a parallel port issue as much as a BIOS issue.
I ended up hooking this up to a computer that I bought for the purposes of rig control and rotor control. That wasn't my intention but I'm happy with it now.
The connections are pretty straight forward as long as you follow the directions and make sure you understand that the DIN-8 connector wiring is done by looking at the pin layouts from the back of the connector.
The bottom line is that this is a great addition and it seems to work with SATPC32, Satscape, Ham Radio Deluxe. It's worth the effort.
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G8DQZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 23, 2006 04:00
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GREAT SUPPORT
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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After my earlier review I would like to make this addition.
Within the software there are a number of pre-sets for parking the antennas. I like to park mine at 195 degrees for various reasons. Last Friday I e-mailed to Pablo to see if this could be done. Further I asked him if I could have a button on my desk top, which I hit at station closedown, and that would park the antenna to where ever I wanted.
Pablo said leave it to him over the weekend and he would see what he could do. On Monday I received an E-Mail with a programme called ARSTURN. After installing that (with a few hic cups, my fault not Pablo's) I now have what I want. At station closedown I hit this new button, my antenna moves to the parking position (which the user can select) and the software switches off.
NOW IS THAT SERVICE OR IS THAT SERVICE??
I absoutly 110% reccommend this programme!
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G8DQZ
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 21, 2006 03:06
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Great Product Great Support
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have the original model with just azimuth control, this is operated directly from my logging software DX4WIN. It has worked very well and been everything that I had hoped for. Pablo has replied to my questions within minutes sometimes but never with anyform of delay.
I have had this unit up and running for many years now, I housed it in a small alumninium box hard wired it to my Yaseau DXC1000 and forgot about it! Last saturday my computer crashed, I lost all my loaded programmes and it took me and PC World 2 days to get it running again.
So I spent time reloading all the software, including ARSWIN, this time I loaded the latest vesrion 2.2a, having checked with Pablo first that it would work. So I am an old customer only made this one purchase from Pablo and years later he replies within hours! This new software works perfectly with the older board, just a few words of advice from Pablo was necessary.
One other issue is that I needed 2 LPT ports, using an XP computer the software does funny things to the address for any add on PCI LPT cards, Pablo's new software now allows for this and makes communication easy using a custom LPT port!
The software also now alows the 90 degree overlap to be used.
This product just gets better! Well done Pablo, I 100% recommend this product, go for it !
Tony G8DQZ/M0DQZ
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M5BXB
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 7, 2005 03:18
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Simply superb!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Recently I decided that an excursion to the satellites were in order as a way of trying something new. Working the sats is great fun, but hard work if you don't automate your station.
After finding a suitable satellite tracking program called SatPC32, I set about the task of finding a rotator interface. My rotator is a Yaesu G-1000DXC. Yaesu manufacture a unit called the GS-232A which in the UK is priced at £449 which is the same as buying the rotator! Not prepared to spend this much money, I came accross the RCI-SE and ARSWIN by Pablo, EA4TX.
I had questions so I emailed Pablo a few times before buying the board. Pablo has always been very responsive and informative in his replies. I purchased the RCI-SE AZ 8 bits unit. It arrived within one week of ordering online in a very tidy, but strong box with foam padding to protect the board. Also the board was enclosed in a special anti-static bag. Enclosed with the board was a CD containing the ARSWIN software, instructions in PDF format, details of other compatible programs, and a good quality lead(DB25 to DB25)to connect the board to the PC's parrallel port.
So far so good. I wired the board to my controller, and installed the software. I found the unit would not function correctly. After corresponding with Pablo, we realised the pin-out meanings for the controller were back to front, so after re-wiring, the unit worked. There was still one problem. The speed control was stuck in slow. Again Pablo came up with the answer that the AUX relay needed +V instead of being grounded. So now I have the unit fully working and is intergrated with SatPC32. The RCI-SE needs to be calibrared when you first use it so that ARSWIN and the controller show the same beam heading. This proceedure has been made very simple and takes just a couple of minutes.
ARSWIN has 10 memories which can be easily edited so you can select directions preset by the user by pressing one of the funtion keys with the shift key. You can also get the direction by selecting a country name, prefix, or locator.
This integrates great with SatPC32. Working together, tracking the satellites is very easy and very accurate. My controller has a 90 degree overlap facility which ARSWIN cators for. I know of another interface from Germany (Winroter) which will not allow for overlap. Not good if a satellite travels from NW to NE through north.
Using the interface via the ARSWIN control program has made a world of difference to myself. I suffer from arthritis and holding the left or right buttons on the controller is a thing of the past and means less pain!
Thanks to Pablo for a truly great product and for his helpful assistance both before and after the purchase. Great price too!
Steve M5BXB
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K0KVR
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 20, 2005 09:22
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Great product and support
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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After learning that I could control my 35 year old Cornell-dubilier rotator with the old style HAMM M control unit from my computer, I purchased the EA4TX RCI-SE rotator board and installed it with the Arswin software. It arrived at my QTH within a week of ordering and was well packed. The documentation is great with examples for wiring almost every rotator known to man. Mine, however, had been modified with a homebrew addon due to a faulty switch and bad breaking system so I had to do some extra work to figure out how it would be wired. I emailed Pablo, EA4TX, at least 10 times and he always responded within hours to answer my questions. I used the circuits in the right, aux, and left relays as well as the second circuits in two of the relays to control all the old manual switching. It works great, even with the homebrew control box added by the prior owner. The software installed without a hitch and also works well. In addition the ARSWIN also interfaces to TRX-MANAGER so, now, when I see a spot I can right click for the azimuth from my QTH, and then click on the rotator and it turns my antenna to the exact location I need to be at to work the station.
Thanks Pablo. Great job.
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