rotator will not initialise

[Fred VE3PIE]

I have an idiom press RotorCard DXA for my yaesu rotator.
works fine with direct RS-232 connection to computer running Ham Radio Deluxe.
I connected it to the 1216S adapter which is connected to the 1216H as per instructions on the website.
I have it set for the DCU-1 protocol.
It was working properly, then suddenly stopped working. Now I get an error message saying the rotator is not initialised.
What is going on ? How do I fix this ?
thanks, Fred VE3PIE

[Jan (Microbit)]

An error message saying the rotator is not initialised means that the 1216H is incapable of communicating with the rotator. If it used to work and you have not changed any settings then I would suspect something has happened with the hardware.

[Fred VE3PIE]

Hello Jan,
I have discovered that the rotator will initialise only if the webswitch usb connector is connected to a computer running microbit setup manager with the 1216H virtual port.
I connected to the webswitch by inputing the IP address in internet explorer. Once the 1216H screen came up I was able to control the relays switches properly. However the rotator (attached via the 1216S adapter) would not initialise unless the usb connector on the webswitch was connected to a usb port on the computer. The computer used was on the same network as the webswitch. Microbit setup manager is loaded onto this computer and has a virtual 1216H port.

I then tried a different computer connected to the internet with a different modem completely separate from the network containing the webswitch. This is equivalent to a remote site. I used internet explorer to access the webswitch.  The relays worked perfectly. I could not initialise the rotator. I then loaded microbit setup manager onto the computer. I could then initialize the rotator only if I once again attached the usb connector on the webswitch to the usb port on the computer.  What I found surprising is that I could also initialise the rotator using internet explorer on the second computer if I connected the usb connector on the webswitch  to the first computer. 

To clarify:  The rotator works perfectly if I used it attached to a serial port on the computer so I know the rotator is working fine.  The webswitch relays work fine when accessed from the same network or from a remote site. The temperature sensor works fine with or without the usb connection to the webswitch.  The rotator will initialise only if the webswitch is connected to any computer  running microbit setup manager. 

Can you identify what the problem is? I don't want to have to keep a computer running microbit setup manager at the radio site for the usb connection. 
Is this a configuration problem or a hardware problem ?
Thanks, Fred

[Jan (Microbit)]

Hi,

What you are seeing is so strange that I have a hard time imaging how initializing the rotator could be related to having the USB connected to a PC or not. From the software's point of view there is no explanation for such a behavior. The only thing I remotely can come up with is that something is changed electrically by the connection, i.e the earth potential changes. Have you made really sure the connections/cables are ok and that there are no loose contact somewhere?

[dj0qn]

Fred,

Are you sure that external power is connected to the Webswitch? Maybe it is running only
on the 5 volts over the USB cable, which won't work. Just a hunch, worth asking.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[Fred VE3PIE]

I have the power supply working.
I have checked all the connections.
the strange thing is that if connected to a computer with usb cable it will not work unless setup manager has been installed.
Could it have something to with the 1216H virtual port ?
This is very strange. If it was a voltage problem I would have expected it to work even without setup manager installed.
What to do now ? Return it to you for repair or new one ? Or do you have any other suggestions ?
thanks, Fred

[dj0qn]

I guess Jan will have to figure that one out 

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[Jan (Microbit)]

Well, I think I would need Einstein as father to figure out how on Earth it is possible to see what you are seeing! Indeed it seems there is a connection between the 1216H's Com port and the rotator not being initialized, but if the one thing on does is to connect the USB cable, i.e one does not use the Com port, then from the software's point of view nothing happens. In some deeper layer of the CPU there will be more actions than without the cable being connected as USB is doing "idle talk" all the time, but 1216H's software will only react when one opens the Com port.

[Jan (Microbit)]

Just to try something: Could you try restoring the WS to factory/default settings using Setup Manager, and of course after that re-configure it according to your needs?