A few SatNOGS Rotator Controller PCBs Available

Hey,

I ordered a rotator controller PCB from Dirty PCBs (awesome company). They sent twelve PCBs, because that is how they roll. I have a few extras here in the USA. If you want me to send you one, send me a message. First come first serve. USA only because I don’t want to deal with customs. They are untested.

This is the board:
https://dirtypcbs.com/store/designer/details/6933/5904/satnogs-v3-motor-controller-zip

Note, it says v3 in URL, but v2 is printed on the PCB.

Happy hacking,

-Jeff

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Did you really pay $12ea for them? I assume it’s the 2.2. If not I’ll take one, good excuse to print off all the pieces and upgrade.

I did expedited shipping and manufacturing to see how fast they’d go–that includes shipping.

The board says v2 on it, but I think it is 2.2. It is whatever someone once upon a time uploaded to DirtyPCBs.

But you didn’t pay $150, right? I’ll message you, if you paid more than $5 I’m offended to take it for free :slight_smile: though I have spare parts to assemble the thing, I think.

All of the boards (including the ones in the GitLabs Repository) say v2 instead of the different versions.

If it is the one from the link in the Wiki for Dirty PCB, I found out that it was not uploaded by the SatNOGs group and is not updated to the v2.2 boards. It is a v2 board, but it isn’t the same as the v2.2 files (it is missing the ISP pins at the top left, and it uses the blade fuse holder vs the SMD fuse). Those are the only things I have noticed. The board is still good to use, but you will need to adjust the parts you order to include the fuse blade holder like this one or clips like these, and a Low Profile Blade Fuse (which I got in 2A) instead of the Littelfuse 1206SFS200F/63-2.

Easiest way to tell if you need the blade fuse is the 4 holes near the bottom center with F1 to the left of it.

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Cool, thanks for the info. Looks like these are v2, not v2.2.

One more thing to note if you plan to use the default communications of RS485, you will need to add a resister to the Arduino because the boards do not have R19. This is something that is mentioned in the Wiki (here). Again, not a big deal, but something to be aware of.

Thanks again for the pointer. Any suggestions on which motors will perform better steppers or DC? What about RS485 vs. UART?

I am still working on my own, so I don’t have a lot of details (I am planning to do a build video to help others, so that is why I haven’t started the build yet). For mine, I am going with steppers since they are a little easier to work with. The DC motors require you to add the Encoder (which is another custom PCB and components), although I am thinking of adding it anyways with the stepper for another point of information. I also think the steppers will be a little more accurate and have better torque then the DC motors.

As for the communications I haven’t played with RS485, but I am interested in testing it. So I am going to go with RS485 (I am looking at a Raspberry Pi hat that is for RS485 and sends 24 volts to the board, which I am told will work with the components in the BOM). From what it sounds like the RS485 might be more stable for longer runs then UART. I am 100% sure if that is true, but I still would like to give it a try.

These are my thoughts at least. Hope it helps. :smiley:

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I would be glad get a board and at least pay for shipping.
Bill
W2WHC

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Send me a mailing address in private message.

Im interest in the PCB how I contact you

You can send me a private message in this forum, if you like.