[amsat-bb] TrakBox Interface to HAM-IV Azimuth Rotor

[John Kopala]

I am looking for a method to interface the TrakBox Azimuth Sense input to the Azimuth indicator level from a CDE/Hy-Gain HAM-IV / CD-45-II Rotator.  

It would seem that without a circuit to isolate the grounded return to the control box meter the likelyhood of a ground loop occuring is high.  The TrakBox expects an Azimuth indicator voltage to vary between 0 (its local DC ground level) and the positive reference voltage for the rotors.

I assume there are some TrakBox users using rotators other than the Yaesu and Ken-Pro rotors who have encountered this problem and come up with a solution.  There is no point in reinventing the wheel if there is already a suitable solution available that I can use.

I did receive a suggestion to use an op-amp to convert the level.

Any suggestions from TrakBox users?

John Kopala
N7JK