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Reviews For: EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL

Category: Antenna Rotators & Accessories

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Review Summary For : EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL
Reviews: 81MSRP: 74
Description:
EASY-ROTOR-CONTROL is a add-on controller for azimuth-rotors. It supports the control of various rotors by a standard RS232-interface. It might be installed directly into the rotor-controllers housing or in an external housing.
Product is in production
More Info: http://schmidt-alba.de
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
10814.9
W6HDG Rating: 2020-12-27
(Very) Easy Rotor Control Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased the ERC-M USB interface with aluminum case for my G1000DXA rotor. I mounted it to the back of the control box. It future proofs me since it can handle a 2-axis rotator or a second rotator. Easy connection with the provided DIN plug. Calibration is totally intuitive and takes a couple of minutes. I'm using it with the HRD Rotator app which recognized it immediately as a GS232B interface. An elegant solution.
9A2X Rating: 2020-05-20
Great Product Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I assembeld ERC v4 kit 18 months ago and built it in rotor control box of G-450C. Profi style PCB. Calibration was done flawlessly with provided utility and manulas are piece of the art. Suported in last versions of N1MM and Logger32 (YAESU RS232B protocol). It can be controlled via provided Rotor Control app. too.
N5UP Rating: 2020-02-02
Great piece of engineering! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the ERC 4 SMD USB to drive a Yaesu G-450ADC via SatPC32 for satellite work. After acquiring a Nibbler tool and a step drill bit to make a nice square hole for the USB connector and soldering 6 wires, I installed the board inside the rotator control box, installed the Windows 10 drivers, and it worked perfectly. What a nice piece of engineering. Imagine developing a controller that works with virtually all the rotator control boxes out there. Class act! Nicely packaged with everything you need. I had my SatPC32 steering the rotator through several satellite passes in short order.
K7NNV Rating: 2019-12-16
Great product and great support Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the ERC USB assembled and tested. The instructions to install it were clear easy to follow. I installed the Srevice Tool program and some where along the line entered the wrong information. When I ran the Remote Control program it wouldn't work. I sent an email to the maker in Germany and received a reply within a couple of hours. He explained where I had entered the wrong information and gave me the correct values to enter.
Once I corrected my errors the unit performed great. My station is remotely controlled via RemoteHams and this unit works great through it.
VA2CST Rating: 2019-10-07
Good product but horrible support. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received the ERC-M (assembled kit at 129USD) to control the G5500. Hook it up and it works great under PC or Mac, detected USB with no issue. Calibration software is helpful. The unit perform as it should. I got the control board with the tiny enclosure (without the LCD readout). Good clear documentation included on CD.

The negative, we are told to get the ERC-M through Vibroblex for Canadian or USA costomers. EXPENSIVE shipping charges for that tiny parcel and it took 3.5 weeks to get that little board to Canada from USA. HORRIBLE support from vibroplex, 4 email got NEVER ansered.

2/5 star, the product is doing it's job properly, well documented but it is the most expensive product out there for rotor control. Other solution should be considered over that ERC-M in my opinion. Total cost in $CA turned out to be way out of budget for this tiny part. I could have get 3 other controllers WITH LCD readout for the same price of one ERC-M without LCD readout...

I would not buy again base on the bad communication and horrible shipping charges from Vibroplex. First and last item I get from Vibroplex.
IW1AYD Rating: 2019-05-21
Seamless integration Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi all.
I'd just started to work with ERC-mini connected to a YAESU 2800 DXC. The worst thing was the bad quality of the YAESU mini-din female on the rear panel of the control box. Inner plastic and outer metallic shield weren't not centered. But special whale fat make the trick. This had spread the elapsed time to go on air of some minutes.
Sice opening the box the first click onto a target is a bunch of minutes, no more than a handful without that damned YAESU back panel minidin.
The usual USB driver horror movie went solved flawlessly, just to set up a spare COM port number. At home I use Microham USB & ELTIMA drivers, other FTDI drivers and a physical COM port for K3 FW upgrades. Arduino and Raspberry also have their FTDI ports to be used over time. Well, after one minute of checkout, rotational extremes and firmware, the the ERC application was ready to point targets on the whole round scale.

The used time to go on air was of five minutes, including connections but not the whale fat spreading, USB driver & COM setup, checkout and preliminary overview.

After some usage I switched from the ERC app to the N1MM+ rotor application, with and without the main N1MM+ fired up, since it is well known for me: from the very first run of this last the ERC-mini was seamlessly working. Still having the YAESU control box relays huffing and puffing, but not my hands on it!

Result a seamlessly integrated box working at all, driven both by hand or purposed application. Why there are no six stars?
For sure ERC and Rene by himself will deserve a sixth star, there is the proof.

There was not any problem even from the commercial/sale side: any mail from me got a prompt answerback.In my personal case Rene also wrote back to me at first, asking details of my address. What's better?
I didn't try to ring him, but there wasn't the need.
RTFM worked? Oh yes, the ERC www site is very well done and maintained, there is plenty of informations.

Thanks Rene by another satisfied customer.

73 de iw1ayd Salvo

PS Not any whale was armed, my reference about is a simple joke ... next, I am wondering to automatize also my YAESU 450 with my ALA1530: hands are much more needed elsewhere where servo driver operations aren't allowed in the shack.
CX2ACB Rating: 2019-03-24
Very good proguct Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I decided to buy the KIT for the 232 V.4 interface to use with a Yaesu G-2800DXA rotor
The assembly was very simple and its small size allowed me to install it inside the rotor control console, feeding it from there
After calibrating it works very well and is recognized as a GS-232B by the programs in which I have tested it with total success
I recommend the product
Oscar - cx2acb

Yo decidi comprar el KIT para la interfase 232 V.4 a utilizar con un rotor Yaesu G-2800DXA
El armado fue muy sencillo y su reducido tamaƱo me permitio instalarlo dentro de la consola de control del rotor , la alimentacion la tome de alli
Luego de calibrarlo funciona muy bien y es reconocido como un GS-232B por los programas en que lo he probado con total exito
Recomiendo el producto
Oscar - cx2acb
DF2JP Rating: 2018-09-15
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my second review for the ERC.
My module built years ago did not survive a lightning strike. So I needed a new module. Since in the meantime, in addition to the KR-400 still another KR-500 is available, Azimut and Elevation should of course be operated.
So my choice fell on the kits ERC-M and two rotor cards.
One day after ordering the kits arrived here.
The assembly went quickly, but after the check I had to find out that I had soldered the daughter board (USB module) wrong down here. After I had desoldered the module and installed it correctly the first function test came. Although the FTDI driver installed itself immediately, communication with the RC-M was not possible. On inquiry with the designer, Rene DF9GR, I sent back the ERC-M Thursday morning, Friday afternoon the package arrived at Rene (15:30 o'clock) At 18:15 I got a mail, found errors, repaired I send back tomorrow. That's what I call "customer service".
The error was caused by desoldering. A through-plating on the USB module had no contact.
If you are looking for a good, inexpensive computer control for your rotator, have a look at the ERC-System.
Simply excellent.
WU6X Rating: 2018-09-10
Easy Rotor Control Kit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just finished building, testing, calibrating and installing the ERC Easy Rotor Control Kit sold through Vibroplex for my Yaesu G-800S rotator. This kit is engineered in Germany, so you can imagine the precise construction ... the instruction manual wasn't too bad either, and the software works well. Once calibrated, the software presents a compass rose on your computer where you can manually or automatically control the rotor, with available presets for "park" and favorite positions. An intermediate-level build, it was great fun to put it together and it works as advertised. Dennis, WU6X
WM5DX Rating: 2018-04-16
Great product and service. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered the ERC Mini SDX for my Yaesu G-800SDX on Monday from Vibroplex. It arrived on Saturday, well packed with instructions, parts and CD. Installation of the circuit board inside the Yaesu controller case was very quick and easy. The CD had all the needed files but I could not get a new virtual port to come up on the Windows 10 PC. I sent an e-mail to Rene in Germany and had a response (on Saturday) within an hour. Heavy storms stopped everything until Sunday. On Sunday Rene linked up with me on Teamviewer and within a few minutes he had the problem (with my PC) fixed. I purchased the ERC because although it can be controlled by a logging program I wanted to be able to control the rotor independently of a logging program. The included software enables that. I can now hide the controller in a closet or under the desk and control the rotor from the PC screen. It works very well and is very accurate. I am so pleased that I am placing an order for a second ERC to control another rotor on my other tower. The product is great and the service from Rene is outstanding.