I’m trying to build a large antenna tracker, able to use a small dish antenna. For that purpose, I use geared DC motors that give me the torque I need to move the pan and tilt.
I tried to find how to connect DC motors, but it seems there is no information available.
I noticed the “On/Off” option in the settings which I thin is related to the use of DC motors.
Anyone can help?
I’ve never used AntennaTracker, but it appears that you’ll need an extra device to translate the PWM signals from the controller to a voltage output for the DC gear motor. The ONOFF mode still needs PWM, so it doesn’t really help you much here. My suspicion is that one of these motor controllers from Pololu would work really well.
You would configure the SERVO_PITCH_TYPE and SERVO_YAW_TYPE to ContinuousRotation, and the Pololu controller would translate the RC PWM signals to voltages to drive the two axes.
There are likely other units out there for ground robots that perform a similar function, possibly less expensive, but Pololu is usually an excellent source.
Wow. Thanks for your incredible fast and accurate answer. Very helpful.
Anthony, I’m starting to put together a list of stuff I need to purchase for a Antenna Tracker that would be big enough to handle a Grid Antenna. Can you share any of the hardware, motors, and assembly that your going to use. The one in the picture is what I want but I can’t find any detail on how it was built. I think it was built by Tridge.
Hi,
I’m building my AT from scratch. Designed all the parts in solidworks, print in abs on the 3D printer and put it together.
It will be a major project
