Comments for The Ek's Files

Comment on ASCOM Driver for Digital Setting Circles by Dave

Dave — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:20:10 +0000

Support for Orion interfaces has been removed from my ASCOM driver due to the fact that it was not working correctly and Orion would not respond to my requests for technical support.

Comment on QRP to the Field 2012–Doin’ it the Hard Way by Mike KD5KXF

Mike KD5KXF — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:52:17 +0000

I love the picture you painted with the antenna hanging… man, we have all had those days.

Comment on QRP to the Field 2012–Doin’ it the Hard Way by Russ Richardson

Russ Richardson — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:03:55 +0000

Thanks for fine report,sounds like you all had good time.Russ, ae4ny

Comment on Build Your Own Digital Setting Circles by Dave

Dave — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:28:44 +0000

Hi Mark,

The DSC board only uses TX, RX, and GND connections. It’s not expecting any handshaking at all. The BT unit you’re trying to use says that it uses TTL levels, so you should take the MAX232 out of the circuit and connect directly to the PIC chip.

Dave

Comment on Build Your Own Digital Setting Circles by Mark Austin

Mark Austin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:34:42 +0000

Dave,

Thought I would play around and try adding bluetooth to the DSC board I have. I am trying to make the following BT adapter work, see:

http://stores.ebay.com/emall-foryou

The BT adapter does not appear to be communicating with the DSC board. Will the max232 work with only TX RX signals or is other handshaking required that this BT adapter does not provide.

Appricate any input, thanks

Mark

Comment on Building the Circuit by John

John — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 02:00:32 +0000

Thanks for the reply! I had thought about the battery but figured I’d see what happens. I think maybe now I’ll just plan on another 8-AA NiMH pack.

Comment on Building the Circuit by Dave

Dave — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:53:07 +0000

Nope, no harm in that. Just make sure your power supply is up to the task. Probably need more than a 9V battery.

Comment on Building the Circuit by John

John — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:32:50 +0000

Is there any harm in jumpering the 5VDC power for the encoders over to pin 9 of the db9 connector? One of the serial to bluetooth adapters I’m looking at can get power from pin 9. It takes 5VDC and it looks like it uses 100mAh

Comment on Build Your Own Digital Setting Circles by Dave

Dave — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 14:07:37 +0000

There are lots of software packages out there for making schematic diagrams. I use the free version of Eagle Layout Editor from Cadsoft USA.

Comment on Build Your Own Digital Setting Circles by ivan

ivan — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 11:36:49 +0000

i want to design my own schematic circuit diagrams or the drowing of it on my computer,so what do i need.Do i need the software and hardware for this or a lot more