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Antenna Tracking in HappyKillmore's GCS

Posted by Paul Mather on January 10, 2011 at 12:30pm
FPV antenna tracking is now working in HappyKillmore's GCS v1.1.32 and newer.
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Are you looking for something to do with your original ArduPilot now that you've got the new ArduPilot Mega? Why not put it to good use! Diego Colonnello and I have come up with an antenna tracker for my GCS. It uses the original ArduPilot, a couple servos and a FTDI cable. Building the actual mechanism to move your patch antenna is up to you...but the code is in there to make it work. You can also use your ArduStation! Simply select the ArduStation output type and the data will flow out in the right format regardless of GPS or Auto-pilot brand.


Here's a Wiki page trying to explain how it works: http://code.google.com/p/happykillmore-gcs/wiki/Tracking

To download the ArduTracker 1.0 source and 1.1.32 of my GCS: http://code.google.com/p/happykillmore-gcs/downloads/list

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Comments

  • Andrew Dunlop February 26, 2012 at 8:34pm

    I can verify that the old Pololu and SSC serial streams work perfectly, although I haven't tried them for a while.

  • Paul Mather February 26, 2012 at 7:08pm

    That's difficult to say. I haven't had a lot of feedback on what people are using. I just added the Maestro stuff recently... but the older Pololus worked great as far as I know.

  • UAS_Pilot February 26, 2012 at 6:32pm
    What is the best serial servo driver that works with you code?
  • Paul Mather February 26, 2012 at 5:31pm

    Excellent. Good luck! Apparently people are having mixed results with the newer Maestro Pololu boards. I think I need to do some more testing.

  • UAS_Pilot February 26, 2012 at 3:00pm

    That answered my question perfectly. Thanks for your help....

    I understand. See, I was miss understanding what was on the previous posting then. What was trowing me way off was that I thought you needed to have a Ardupilot legacy board or a Ardustation along with the servo driver. I understand what you are saying now.

     

    Thanks for all your help.

  • Paul Mather February 26, 2012 at 11:50am

    Did you select "Maestro" from the protocol selection on the tracking tab?

  • TSnoke February 26, 2012 at 11:07am

    I am using 1.3.29 with the GPS sim input. Am I missing something else.

     

  • Paul Mather February 26, 2012 at 5:00am

    @TSnoke, have you tried the Maestro protocol?

     

    @Joseph, On the ground, attached to the laptop, you need one of these devices (only one, not one of each): ArduPilot Legacy main board, ArduStation, Melih Servo Driver or Pololu Servo Driver.

  • TSnoke February 25, 2012 at 10:57pm

    Using 1.3.29 I can not get a pololu 8 servo controller to move either servo.  I have tried both the ssc and pololu formats. I have tested the controller using a standalone program. tested sat.  Is there a procedure step I am missing?  Can I get some help.

     

  • UAS_Pilot February 25, 2012 at 8:54pm
    I have an ardupilot in my plane with an xbee2.4 and a laptop with an xbee2.4.
    I want to make a tracking antenna system. With you gcs software what do I need to make it work? This will be my last question.

    Thanks for your help.
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