I Built A Cheap Satellite Tracking System From Spare Parts

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This is a project I've been working on for a while: automated satellite tracking! The system uses an old security camera pan/tilt mount to aim a small parabolic dish. It's run by an Arduino microcontroller, I think this is the first time I've actually tried one of those for anything useful! The system can be controlled from standard ham radio software like Gpredict or Satdump.
I based much of this project on the SARCNet rotator Mk1, found here: www.sarcnet.org/rotator-mk1.html
Instead of the Aptinex Tricac board, I'm using four 5v relays:
amzn.to/3TokZ1g
The PTZ mount is a Pelco unit I got from Ax-Man Surplus. I actually found most of the parts for this project at Ax-Man, you can find them here: www.ax-man.com/
I'm also using this sensor module:
amzn.to/48COTDu
I use a software-defined radio to listen to the satellite transmissions:
amzn.to/3TolB74
And I have a SAWbird+GOES filter/amplifier on the antenna feed to maximize the signal from L-band satellites (~1.7ghz).
amzn.to/4bXZgEZ
(Buying from the Amazon links gives me a small commission and doesn't cost you any extra! It's a great way to support content like this!)
The dish is a surplus 5.8ghz Wireless network antenna that another ham gave me. The feed is a helical L-band design based on this: sgcderek.github.io/tools/heli...
Software I'm using includes:
Gpredict: sourceforge.net/projects/gpre...
SDR++: www.sdrpp.org/
SatDump: www.satdump.org/
This system could easily be modified for Hamsat / Cubesat use with other antennas. I have a few old security camera mounts around, so I'll probably modify another one in the future to have 2m/70cm antennas for Amsat / space station repeater operation.
It could also be used as a small radio telescope, basically a step up from the Tailgater and Carryout telescopes I've been playing with ( • Hacking Portable Satel... )
Saveitforparts t-shirts and other merch at saveitforparts.myspreadshop.com/
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @saveitforparts
Or support me via Patreon at / saveitforparts
Check out gadgets and devices I like at www.amazon.com/shop/saveitfor...

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12 мар 2024

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Комментарии : 511

@MolsonCnM 2 месяца назад

I will not be surprised when we find out that he actually owns Ax-Man Surplus and this has all been a clever advertising campaign!

@JamesHalfHorse 2 месяца назад

He gets to haul home cool junk they get free advertising. If I am ever that side of the country I would like to stop there. Can easily spend the day and load up a truck at places like that. Unfortunately there aren't any around here.

@PhillipRhodes 2 месяца назад

If so, it's working, as I'm thinking about moving from NC to somewhere in the Twin Cities area just to be close to Axman!

@1islam1 2 месяца назад

@@JamesHalfHorse🔴 What Is Islam? 🔴 Islam is not just another religion. 🔵 It is the same message preached by Moses, Jesus and Abraham. 🔴 Islam literally means ‘submission to God’ and it teaches us to have a direct relationship with God. 🔵 It reminds us that since God created us, no one should be worshipped except God alone. 🔴 It also teaches that God is nothing like a human being or like anything that we can imagine. 🌍 The concept of God is summarized in the Quran as: 📖 { “Say, He is God, the One. God, the Absolute. He does not give birth, nor was He born, and there is nothing like Him.”} (Quran 112:1-4) 📚 🔴 Becoming a Muslim is not turning your back to Jesus. 🔵 Rather it’s going back to the original teachings of Jesus and obeying him. More .....👇 🔴 THE RETURN OF JESUS

@axmanemployees8409 2 месяца назад

oh, no - we just like him, his channel, and all of the interesting uses he finds for our stuff

@BillAnt 2 месяца назад

This guy looks like Abraham Lincoln's great great great nephew. :D :D

@hightechreviewstv 2 месяца назад

"All my screwdrivers are bent for some reason" proceeds to use it as a prying tool.

@SRQmoviemaker 2 месяца назад

Hammers and prying tools are never hammers or prying tools.

@kevinleee3408 2 месяца назад

Same screwdrivers are chisels wrenches are hammers and hammers are keys

@kevinleee3408 2 месяца назад

That camera housing would be great for a high-powered laser mounted on a turret

@dcfuksurmom 2 месяца назад

@@kevinleee3408don't let styropyro see this comment lol

@coreyrobinson9010 2 месяца назад

"And I said yes, sign me up for giant... trash." Oh man are we alike. That made me literally laugh out loud. Been so fun watching your channel.

@DadofScience 2 месяца назад

I've had to make the rule "Only if I have a project for it now" to slow the influx of useful and fun junk into the shed. At the rate I was going I would have had no space left to work in!

@coreyrobinson9010 2 месяца назад

@@DadofScience Thats a good tactic! My old job changed facilities and gave away a ton of stuff... wish I had applied this line of thinking at that time🤣

@RardSFX 2 месяца назад

Something I love about the US, their thrift/surplus stores seem to have everything. I would love something like Axman in the UK but I fear my house/garage would start looking more like yours than it already does. Great channel for a super niche interest. This is what RU-vid should be.

@ChrisCrewdson 2 месяца назад

"extra spicy ethernet" 😂

@SatansPooper 2 месяца назад

I like this kid. He looks like a lovechild of Wolverine and Jack Black and isn't afraid of failure. Keep up making the good content Bub.

@xxepic_swag_gamingxx5238 19 дней назад

“Bub” you are fucking weird

@robertbauer6723 2 месяца назад

"Is this all hacky and amateurish? Yes" But it's also a very clever bit of ingenuity!

@yatooma25 2 месяца назад

Ferrules are an absolute game changer when it comes to getting wires into those little screw terminals! I bought a pack on Amazon that includes the crimping tool for relatively cheap. Definitely worth checking out for future projects!

@KyleQuamme 2 месяца назад

I second using ferrules next time. Came to the comments to specifically mention this!

@matthewellisor5835 2 месяца назад

Here to comment the same so count me third.

@scottpageusmc 2 месяца назад

Came to the comments to say the same. Absolutely can't live without them using TBs.

@mrcomment5544 2 месяца назад

tinning them is great too but takes time

@coltoneverett5074 2 месяца назад

If you don’t have any ferrules i have in the past I have soldered the end of the wires to keep them from fraying

@seanyem 2 месяца назад

Fantastic Job, The serial USB disconnecting is probably due to the spark noise from the relays that are being triggered so rapidly. This would be eliminated by using FETs, Well H Bridge. You could get an Arduino MEGA for more digital pins or opt for an LCD that is SPI or I2C. You used a convertor, but the screen's are pretty cheap online. You should mount 2 cameras, 1 on the dish, 1 facing the whole rig, then livestream it once it's all working. I would watch it for hours. Can't wait for the automated dish pointer for that massive dish from the TV station. You might need to add a few more chilli's to that extra spicy ethernet for that big dish. Much love and geekery! 🤓 ❤

@coreybabcock2023 2 месяца назад

I was thinking the same thing those relays are not good for something like this he should use a mosfet boards to run the motors

@zyeborm 2 месяца назад

H bridge won't work with AC motors

@vannoo67 2 месяца назад

You said pretty much everything I was going to, except for opto-isolation. The original project used an opto-isolated driver for a very good reason, to prevent noise from the motor side messing with the digital side. (The arduino is crashing because of this noise.)

@bornach 2 месяца назад

@@zyebormGood point. Solid state relays would be more suitable.

@bornach 2 месяца назад

@@vannoo67The relay block shown at 11:23 should already provide optoisolation for the microcontrollers, if those 4 pin black squares are what i think they are. But the individual relay modules he swapped them for I didn't get a good enough view at 14:00 to see if they had optoisolators, transistor drivers, and flyback diode. If they were just bare relays, I assume he would have had to replicate the driver circuit that was on the under-spec relay block

@PU7MZD 2 месяца назад

10:01 We have officially entered the "saveitforparts screen recording" age. I'm gonna miss the camera-pointing-to-screen age. Also, the project turned out really nice. I can not wait for the bigger version in the geodesic dome. Another step towards SSP (saveitforparts space program)!

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

I finally have OBS working, but sometimes it's still more convenient to just aim the camera at the screen 😂

@Mhornfeck72205 2 месяца назад

You should look into swapping those mechanical relay boards out for DC solid-state versions that uses mosfets instead. You are probably getting a lot of emf noise from the constant clickity-clacking of the relay contacts and magnetic coil charging/discharging, which could be responsible for your random serial communication issues. I experienced a similar problem on my CNC build where the flood coolant relay would occasionally cause the usb connection to cut out if the coolant turned off, and I would need to power cycle the electronics to allow it to reconnect to the computer again. Also, if you hate screw terminals, you need to try crimping on some wire ferrules. I wish I learned about their existence so much sooner. The chance of having a ferruled wire break off or fall out is reduced to basically zero.

@mrcomment5544 2 месяца назад

CS128

@Peter_S_ 2 месяца назад

Yes! 🏆 I did a project using very similar Pelco pan-tilt heads in the 1990s and your comment reminded me of the problems we had trying to use relays to control the motors. The pan-tilt mechanism was being controlled by a small network I/O node and every time a motor stopped there was a chance the node would reboot. It was quite a pain and MOSFETs were the solution.

@lbgstzockt8493 2 месяца назад

He could also use shielded cable (expensive, unwieldly) or twist the wires (no the best shielding) to improve noise. Or just use solid state components like the 21st century engineer he is.

@Peter_S_ 2 месяца назад

@@lbgstzockt8493 The issue is inductive kickback from the DC motors being directly conducted by the power rails into the control electronics. Lead dress won't help unfortunately. I was able to calm it with two approaches together. One was to add small caps to the SSR MOSFET gates so that they would spend a little time traversing the linear region as the motor turned off and that also requires a guard time between switching motor directions. The second was to add Transzorb bidirectional TVS diodes with a series ballast resistor of several ohms across the motors which more or less clamped anything over the 24 V working voltage to less disruptive levels.

@wd8bdn 2 месяца назад

@@lbgstzockt8493 maybe some clamp on ferrites?

@DrLazurus 2 месяца назад

now you just need that weatherproof dome over your dishes !

@martinlatvian5538 2 месяца назад

Huge sphere made of plastic tubing and wrapped around with lots of food wrap 😂

@DrLazurus 2 месяца назад

maybe a surplus parachute could work too !

@nightbutchers 2 месяца назад

Didn't he get one last year

@guarenchafa4912 2 месяца назад

Can't believe I'm working on this same project but somehow the older I get, the longer it takes me to finish projects. You must never sleep dude..... great video.

@bcadventure8832 2 месяца назад

You just became my new favourite human when you looked up at the camera and said “it wouldn’t be the save it parts channel without zip ties, duct tape and hot glue” lmao

@highseassailor 2 месяца назад

"Extra spicy ethernet" Giggle giggle. Forgetting to patch the wiring harness through the appropriate holes nefore soldering, you are well on your way to being a top notch electronics technician! The fact you remembered to put the heat shrink on in the right place is a great start! You're humility and positive personality are a pleasant addition to the journey. Thank you, and thanks to AxMan, too!

@BigSneakySnake 2 месяца назад

For the 1602 lcd, they make i2c interface boards that work very conveniently with the arduino using just a few pins.

@mucktruck-nz2ps 2 месяца назад

having the dish move after a few key strokes brought me great joy

@RardSFX 2 месяца назад

Something I love about the US, their thrift/surplus stores seem to have everything. I would love something like Axman in the UK but I fear my house would start looking more like yours than it already does. Great channel for a super niche interest.

@SoloSailing77 Месяц назад

The first satellite dish I installed, weighed 600+ pounds and needed a small dish crane to lift it onto the pole. That was in 1983. My Dad was the second satellite dealer in Michigan. I am gonna have to start experimenting! This looks very intriguing! Keep up the great work! Wish I had some old parts, but I moved a few times since then. Moving piles of parts, didn't make any sense at the time! Now I am kicking myself!

@Nice_Lamantin 2 месяца назад

I love that folks at Ax-Man at this point just know you well and give you stuff because they know it will come in handy for your experiments

@patchvonbraun 2 месяца назад

Kinda neat that you're getting your tiny-dish motion-control system working at roughly the same time as we're getting the system for the 12.8m working.

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

I'm enjoying your progress as well 😄

@jmac217x 2 месяца назад

Imagine being the next guy walking into Ax-Man lol

@hightechreviewstv 2 месяца назад

I honestly love this channel! Best find in 2024.

@Woffy. 2 месяца назад

Another can of worms wrangling the digital pixies, Those old CCTV camera mounts are fairly powerful and should easily drive a dish three times that size. Like any kit in the wind avoid slop in the system, make sure worm gears mesh is moderately tight with no backlash or the gears will wear. If you find a spot on the grown gear that is worn you can usually turn it 120 degrees to avoid the worn section. Great project.

@jessederue1418 2 месяца назад

electroboom, saveitforparts, styropro, and backyard scientist collab would be really cool

@LordGooben 2 месяца назад

Great vid, for the screw terminal blocks I would look at getting a Ferrule Crimping Tool Set that will take the headache away from the wire getting frayed

@mnoxman 2 месяца назад

Hello from Mounds view. Linear actuator is DC powered and is reversible based on the polarity applied. That might be the one I saw in the Fridley Axe Man several years ago. For the screw terminals the best advice I can give is use the ferules.

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

Yep that was from Fridley! They still have a few.

@markjarrodhughes 2 месяца назад

Can you imagine what would have happened if Gabe took a different career path and chose mechatronics? We'd have skynet by now! Keep up the work good sir!

@Peter_S_ 2 месяца назад

Wild! If you replace the dish in the starting scene with a video camera and use the same Pelco pan-tilt mechanism you have something very similar to the original authoring systems for what became Quicktime VR which is a direct ancestor of Google Street View images.

@EricWilliamsPhD 2 месяца назад

Man, I really need an Ax-Man in my city

@mr.shellyisaidshelly370 2 месяца назад

For issue with running out of gpio pin outs, you can get arduino hats that can expand the amount things that you attach to it. I do not know much about them, but I would recommend checking them out! Good luck 👍

@jessieray6129 Месяц назад

Tip for reading small lettering on electronics, cameras on most modern phones are really good at taking pictures of small things.

@bazzaar1869 2 месяца назад

Wow! this is a major accomplishment! Its just so cool to have hardware tracking of satellites. Well done.

@Travelinmatt1976 2 месяца назад

This has been one of my dreams, to have a satellite tracker that just automatically downloads satellites as they come by

@karcinogen 2 месяца назад

Love this channel, I have four of those old CCTV cameras I acquired from an abandoned bowling alley, would love to tinker around with them and see if I can get them working one day. Cheers

@AAT30-90 2 месяца назад

Heads-up on those Pelco PTZ units - they a have sizeable capacitor inside that is prone to failure after about 10 years.

@coreybabcock2023 2 месяца назад

Electrolytic cap ?

@AAT30-90 2 месяца назад

Yep. When he takes off the housing, you can see it behind the motors. They were usually yellow from the factory, but because the one in his was blue, maybe it was replaced/upgraded in the past.

@DavidRickard1 2 месяца назад

Loving this project. Totally agree about things being able to be opened and messed about with. Too much electronic stuff going to landfill these days, it's criminal!

@a.dudeman7715 Месяц назад

As someone who works with industrial automation... I feel you on the screw terminals. Though I will say, a lot of it is technique. Don't strip your wires too long, and tin the exposed strands if you can.

@Globss 2 месяца назад

Always a good day when a new saveitforparts video comes out

@QuaabQueb 2 месяца назад

Fun fact: that black pan/tilt mount was actually one of the first pan/tilt system on the market from Pelco. This was before the age of an all in one PTZ camera assembly like you would see today. Some are so small now they fit in your hand. It would have had it's own large dome housing. Typically they were used indoors. Ether hanging on a mount, or installed through a ceiling. They are absolutely massive. It was called the "Harris" dome named after Jim Harris sheet metal department manager who developed and designed the housing outside normal working hours on his own time. Later they came out with the "intercept" dome which was a more compact version, but basically the same thing. Still a rudimentary pan tilt assembly that you would plop a box camera and lens combo in. Later they would go on to develop the "Spectra" dome series which was the iPhone of PTZ cameras. A compact, all in one, dedicated PTZ camera unit. Just about any ptz camera you have seen is probably a Pelco camera. The white pan/tilt head came in several diffident flavours, they had a small light duty one for indoor use all the way up to an industrial explosion proof model for industrial applications. The most common use for the one you have there was traffic cameras. There are still plenty of them out there in service today. It's designed to be mounted on a pole 100' feet up in the air to resists wind, rain and vibration. All of Pelco's equipment was proudly manufactured in the USA, it was a really cool company, unlike no other. They put pride, quality and customer service at the top. It eventually got bought out by Schneider electric who gutted the company to a shell of it's former glory. They laid off a bunch of life long wonders and sent manufacturing over seas. Today Motorola bought it and they continue to innovate new products.

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

Interesting history, thanks! I didn't know that much detail about the company.

@maxmustermann5623 2 месяца назад

Love your videos! Kinda reminds me of times gone by when RU-vid still was fun and full of creators doing this gig just for fun and to entertain. I am looking forward for all the videos to come, keep up the good work!

@vasilivladivostok1136 2 месяца назад

This is an extraordinary upgrade, the ability to stick this up on a pole and weather sealing the gear would be amazing.

@MAGGOT_VOMIT Месяц назад

@ 0:54 Wow nice set-up. I see you've integrated a..............Oh look fish!! 😳

@patchvonbraun 2 месяца назад

For manual control at the observatory, we're going to use USB game controllers -- inexpensive ones, but already the right kind of form-factor, etc.

@MishuuuTheWah 2 месяца назад

ferrules are your best friend for screw terminals.

@patchvonbraun 2 месяца назад

Keep in mind that for motor loads, even through a relay, there will be some inductive kick-back through the relay contacts and THEN into the coil. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem with relays. But if you think of them as a transformer, with a single winding on the contact side, and the coil on the other side, you can get some impressive ground currents on the coil side of the relay, impressed on the USB bus. Been there, chewed my arm off to get it to stop doing that... I ended up building a "dual polarity" snubber for the motor, and that finally took care of it...

@spookysammy7245 2 месяца назад

Very impressive results! The image corruption at the top and bottom is due to LOS interference when the antenna reaches lower elevations. Your spot is not ideal for a LEO ground station - find an open field with no trees. Also keep in mind that your antenna will have difficulty with high elevation passes that are directly overhead. Otherwise you basically nailed it and built a ground station out of spare junk which is something not even Macguyer could do.

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

Eventually I'll try this out at Sandland on the hilltop, once we have the geodesic dome assembled :-D

@coreybabcock2023 2 месяца назад

@@saveitforpartsif I ever come to your area I definitely would love to meet you and check out your projects and talk shop your have more knowledge than I do though

@sachasmart7139 2 месяца назад

Loving your stuff man. Got a SDR dongle coming this weekend. Your humour gets me rolling

@247hinkey 2 месяца назад

I2C Liquid Crystal Display only uses 2 pins.

@freeebord 2 месяца назад

Seriously, love your channel dude I found it randomly the other day in recommended feed, I’m super excited to see what else you put out over the next few months

@MrFaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa 2 месяца назад

the clickity clack of the relays is so funny to me XD maybe you could dump the data to a tape too ;) Fantastic video!!

@daveys 2 месяца назад

5:20 - Those Ikegami cameras were pretty good in their day. I recall that they were low light day/night too.

@hoov100 2 месяца назад

That thing is sweet, super jelly you have easy access to electronic surplus!

@crackthefoundation_ 2 месяца назад

Once I lived in a house that had one of those dial controllers wired in. They had gotten rid of the dish/antenna before I lived there so I never got to screw around with it. It was almost as old looking as that one you showed

@tomcooney183 2 месяца назад

I was hoping you were going to build something like this soon!

@chrispotter6849 2 месяца назад

The cat needs an episode of it's own. Hamcat?

@neilfoster814 2 месяца назад

Gabe, you are the "Fix it, build it" best friend that everyone needs in their life! My yard also has lots of temporary, on test things like antennas, GPS stuff etc. Awesome stuff.

@infecta42 2 месяца назад

I don't understand satellite tech but even as a person that messes with electronics from time to time this was a great watch. keep it up!

@bioboi4438 2 месяца назад

This was an awesome project, quite inspiring to do something similar!

@mattparker9726 2 месяца назад

12:51 OH YEAH! Me too! Also, on soldering wires, pre solder the wires. Makes everything a lot easier, if you're soldering things like surface mount parts, flux is your friend.

@joels7605 2 месяца назад

This is great. Try calling local communications/IT/cabling companies. They've given me boxes of offcuts of shielded cable. It's all good stuff, but the quantities are too small to be economical to bring to a job. Shielded cables are great.

@JonnyWaldes 2 месяца назад

Friggin sweet! I love the funky noises the relays make. Sounds like ancient computer.

@icxcarnie 2 месяца назад

16:40 As opposed to re-entering the entire command when you forget to enter with Sudo, you can do “sudo !!” (where the double exclamation mark is the syntax for history substitution)

@Ziraya0 2 месяца назад

The main meaningful difference between the triac driver they call for and a relay is that triacs turn on when you pulse them and stay on until the AC voltage crosses zero, this greatly reduces EMI vs cutting off the AC wave at any other voltage. At the zero crossing there's no potential, where at any other voltage the suddenly blocked potential will ring as it tries to find somewhere to be, like Wile E. Coyote vibrating after running face first into a mural. The secondary (arguable) difference is that the relay will only be on during the control pulse so it will drive slower and with less torque than the motors are capable of; if you have a variable for pulse width/length, increasing that will help performance but will also change the EMI in some way, not sure which. You should be able to use another triac but there are some specs that matter and I'm not that familiar with triacs. It does seem like you're having EMI problems, I can't tell from the video, is the motor mount's frame grounded? I also don't know antennas, would it be fine to ground it? That will keep in more of the motor interference

@TSGEnt 2 месяца назад

3:00 "sign me up for giant trash!" That made laugh out loud. Thank you.. 5:57 ...for some strange reason. (prys with screwdriver) Love it! The trader joes jar lid as reflector is epic! I love it. The stickers? Definatly give it a pro/official look. Thank you for letting us come along on your journey. It is inspiring. I just wish we had an Axe-Man or equiv electronics surplus here in Waco TX. Maybe we do. I just haven't found it. Lot's of trailer companies and hay bailing equipment tho'.

@Peter_S_ 2 месяца назад

You can reduce the LCD's pin needs to one by adding a "serial LCD backpack" board to the display and then accessing it using a serial port. These backpack boards are available from all the usual suspects, foreign and domestic.

@ernestgalvan9037 2 месяца назад

BTW, a dish antenna is also a ‘directional’ antenna.. the other antenna you are referring to is specifically a ‘yagi’ antenna. For a yagi, broadly speaking, the more elements, the more ‘directional’ it is. And for each specific frequency, it has one reflector element, and one or more director elements.

@WashingtonFernandes 2 месяца назад

One of the best RU-vid channels for sure, you have inspired me into radio hacking, recently I've being trying to make a notebook wifi antena into a FM radio, a lot more coding then anything else but a lot of fun.

@Superkuh2 2 месяца назад

Really nice result from something you threw together using random parts and other peoples code not meant for those parts. You are an expert glue-er of systems.

@medienmond 2 месяца назад

There are I2C adapter boards (If i remember correctly from digole) for driving these LCD displays, that you can solder on the back of the display and then drive the whole thing with SDA and SCK (2 wires) of your arduino with existing libraries to very simply pu out some information. They are also configureable for different types of LCD.

@charlesurrea1451 2 месяца назад

You may want to monitor the current draw on those motors. Really is a good indicator when they start getting tired

@systemdrive7970 2 месяца назад

You finally did it! Great job!

@lawrenceharris7717 2 месяца назад

Triac module is basic all part of an ac relay. It switches at the zero crossing so reduces switching noise due to inductive feedback.

@andysmith1706 2 месяца назад

Hello from the UK! 😀 Love checking out your random projects. Very cool! Especially managing to pull in data from the weather satellites. I use a few motorised dishes to watch TV from across Europe here, but even they only just track the geostationary satellites. Using the CCTV motors to track the whole sky is very clever. I'm planning to pick up and add a C-band LNB to my setup at some point, but they're pretty expensive as we only really use Ku-band over here. It's surprising how little free to air TV you guys get over in North America, though. There's 1000s in Europe, but sadly satellite TV seems to slowly be dying off in favour of Internet based stuff... Keep up the good work on the channel! 👍

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

Thanks! Yeah I'm jealous of the free sat options you guys have!

@AlbertFilice 2 месяца назад

That's so cool to see it tracking

@BrokenCircuitRanch 2 месяца назад

Need H bridge for the motors, SPI converter for the LCD's Real serial from the arduino instead of USB. should resolve the problems and make it more reliable.

@zyeborm 2 месяца назад

He has AC motors a H bridge won't work at all. It's probably cheaper to get an I2C oled than a spi converter for the lcd and the usb connection should be stable for more than 5 minutes. There's something quite wrong for that to be failing all the time. That "real serial" is going to go into a usb > serial chip to get into his laptop anyway, might as well use the one on the arduino board.

@BrokenCircuitRanch 2 месяца назад

@@zyebormOLED is going to limit screen size to .96 inch, or so and cost about the same as the spi converter, USB is limited on length, and the switching of the DC relays is causing the Arduino USB line to become noisy. rs232 is a bit more noise immune to those problems than usb and why 232 or 485 is typically still used in industrial settings. And if he puts this outside at a distance when its snowing do you really expect him to run 100' of USB cable out there with repeaters along the way?

@zyeborm 2 месяца назад

@@BrokenCircuitRanch if he wants to run a hundred feet away in the snow he has many more issues to solve. There are also many more than 0.96" OLEDs available I suggest he gets the first version working reliable before trying to build the ultimate version. Also, his SDR is USB at the focal point anyway.

@BrokenCircuitRanch 2 месяца назад

@@zyebormthere could be other issues indeed. like his SDR, he could run LMR400. Once you go past the .96 oled displays the price point difference between the oled and spi converter is null. Maybe, just maybe, he wants something big and readable and utilize the hardware he has. These are merely suggestions. he can ultimately do what he wants. its his projects.

@bornach 2 месяца назад

@@zyebormFor AC motors he'd need the components that were on the Aptinex 4 channel opto-isolated triac module. Wonder if the local Axman stocks BT-139 triacs. He could probably just use any optocoupler with it

@crackthefoundation_ 2 месяца назад

This is amazing content dude, keep doing it and I dont see why you couldnt get up to 250-350k subs (not to put an upper limit on it but just sayin you deserve at least 250) also more in-detail videos tech-wise will not hurt, don't be afraid to dive deeper sometimes

@toffel 2 месяца назад

Love the stroopwaffle "branding"!

@ahbushnell1 2 месяца назад

Some of those LCD displays have two modes. One requires a bunch of pins. The other is a serial port. If you don't read data you need a serial transmit line and common. Plus a power line. So three wires. And on data wire.

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

Interesting! I couldn't find a serial option on the ones I have, maybe I can find another one online.

@aquahood 2 месяца назад

That's super awesome I'm really glad that worked out for you!

@aegis3d 2 месяца назад

Get ferrules and a crimping tool! Solved all my screw terminal headaches for me!

@039dalekmoore2007 2 месяца назад

Great work those AZ EL mounts could also be good for large Telescopes also ! very jealous !

@adslf874yti3q7u4hf83 2 месяца назад

This is very cool, but I gotta say: For reliability you'll want to swap out those relays for solid-state ones before they weld themselves open/closed after so many fast cycles.

@processagent5095 2 месяца назад

Battin' a thousand. Like the 1/4 scale monorail model shell for multi-level outdoor hoarding.

@4DRC_ 2 месяца назад

Use a little screw driver or similar to open up those relay screw terminals once you’ve unscrewed the screw. Sometimes the screw will come up but the little flap holding the wire will stay in place. Then you can get a decent thicc wire in there.

@mishahernandez4024 2 месяца назад

Ha Ha Ha I was Safety Officer for ADM too. I remember perfectrly that placard of days without accidents. "Zero is possible"

@zedbear1 2 месяца назад

Criterion RV-6 "moon lander feet" nice touch on a great project!

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

I have an old RV-6 that I turned into a Dobsonian (which I need to re-build and improve). There was too much missing from the original equatorial mount.

@zedbear1 2 месяца назад

@@saveitforparts Those mounts were barely good enough to use the telescope. I have 3 RV6 scopes, and several others. I also have an 8" Cave Astrola on a similar mount.

@sarkybugger5009 2 месяца назад

Well done, young fella. Arduino Mega has a lot more IO pins, and you can also get a screen hat with programmable switches for a few bucks.

@daviniusb6798 2 месяца назад

I think you forgot the Flyback diodes for the relais, and that's what keeps your arduino resetting time after time. Great video, love your tinkering!

@sharkey086 2 месяца назад

Very cool, I remember working with similar pelco units. The dome ones can be "fun" to diagnose.

@MrMins15 2 месяца назад

Looks like everyone suggested what I was going to say (I2C display, solid state relays, ferrules yada yada). One thing I might add to that is to look for a crimper and die for MTA connectors. They're pretty expensive new so if you happen to find one at ax man, definitely pick it up. I use MTA100 and 150s all the time at work since making a connector is dead easy with them; plus they're keyed so you won't have to guess which way the connector goes in.

@aquahood 2 месяца назад

Okay so you have access to a large city somewhere nearby you because that kind of stuff isn't just available. .😊 I'm so jealous and I figured out when you put your stickers on that you're in Canada and I spent some of the best times of my life in northwestern Ontario at Lake of the Wood near Kanora. I had to return quickly to my home as my ex-wife her grandmother was dying and I needed to go with her to her family. Along the way, I was in a boat by the through an area called The Labyrinth in the middle of the absolute night time and I looked up and I saw for the first time in my life an incredible display of the Aurora Borealis! I had never seen it that profound and had to ask the young man who was with me what that was as we were taking turns with a big flashlight and driving the small boat back to Kanora. If I had a radon as you do, I would try and find a landowner and the higher elevation of my State (Canton) if I have an alarm me to construct it and put what you have there inside and connect to it via cellular hotspot and SSH. Can you imagine how nice the signals would be on a good atmospheric day at about 2,500m? Add to that, during the summer time in the Alps, it's is oftentimes very dry and clear. If I tried to buy any of your equipment on the parts forum we have here it would cost 10 times what you pay. 😢. Anyway I think what you're doing is pretty cool and you have a unique opportunity as well as access to parts to really pursue what you're doing and even take it to a professional level as you really have a natural ability. I would suggest that you take every opportunity to keep in contact with the people who gave you the Raydome and see where that leads! 🇨🇦😁 I'm 🇨🇭&🇺🇲 - you made a very profound statement about reusing an upcycling!

@saveitforparts 2 месяца назад

I live in Minnesota, not Canada, but we got the radome from Canada and they gave me some stickers :-)

@whitenorthstar 2 месяца назад

GREAT SCOTT...1.21 GIGAWATTS! I'd so love to get a rummage around your workshop! Great vids!

@JDWatkins 2 месяца назад

Dude, I love these projects. Keep them coming. I have to admit though, I am a bit jealous of the freebies you manage to get lol 😆 Here in central AB, there is no place to source goodies like that. Everything has to be brought in. It is real hard on the pension to keep playing with these projects. Now and hen, the goodies cone in. That's where your channel comes in. The tinkering you do is awesome!!! Drop me a line if you feel the need to clear out some of those goodies lol

@danielcgomez 2 месяца назад

Awesome Progress! Keep it up!

@LudoTheGreat 2 месяца назад

Fav new channel. You're videos are awesome, though my wife won't think so now that I'm going to start filling every empty space on our property with junk electronics and satellite dishes. Keep the videos coming, man. Appreciate what you are doing. It's a lot of fun!

@rjpb5908 2 месяца назад

Good Job, man! Awesome video!!!

@glumpy2137 2 месяца назад

I love this channel! Thanks for all the great videos.

@albatross_v2 2 месяца назад

The code you're using is designed to run triacs, not relays. That's why you can hear the relay rapidly clicking, which could wear them out prematurely and possibly cause interference. The motors themselves may also cause interference, though it seems they are well shielded. You're still using a helix on a prime focus dish, which isn't ideal as helical antennas have too narrow of a beam to make use of the full dish, though on L-band and at this dish size you don't have much of a choice. Otherwise, it seems to be a pretty decent rotator, wish I could find such equipment as easily as you can.

@laughtcow1072 2 месяца назад

Really cool videos. Hope well see more of them in the future.

@JonW77 2 месяца назад

Hi, another great video! Bit of a tip for the arduino resetting. Instead of providing it with power via the USB, feed it a separate 1 or 2 amp power supply. Chances are if it's a cheap Chinese knock off that the onboard voltage regulator (or some part of that circuit) is overheating, resetting and loosing you your connection. Also you might want to consider a few small vents and maybe a small fan for some air movement, depending on how hot the weather you guys get is?

@ernestgalvan9037 2 месяца назад

… those boxes he showed for the Arduino are all the Good Ones, from Italy. Top-shelf stuff. Also, the logos on the boards themselves are the Good Ones. (Good Ones, being from the actual Arduino Factory in Italy.)