[amsat-bb] g-5500 gs-232b trouble

[Larry Gerhardstein]

I have a G-5500 and GS-232B being commanded from SatPC32.  These items 
used to work fine 5 months ago while I was using a temporary antenna set 
up.  Since then, I've been building a new permanent antenna system. 
Now, SatPC32 transceiver controls work, but not the rotor controls.

The G-5500 control box works fine as long is it's not connected into the 
computer via GS-232B.  I can run the antennas up and down and left and 
right and the meteres display the correct values.

When I connect the GS-232B into the G-5500 using the supplied AZ/EL 
cable, the control box still works and displays correct Azimuth and 
Elevation on the G-5500 meters.

But when I next connect the GS-232B into the serial port on the 
computer, the Azimuth meter suddenly goes to zero setting.  The 
Elevation meter displays the correct value.  If I then disconnect the AZ 
half of the cable from the GS-232B, both meters display correctly.  This 
is true whether the power on the GS-232B is On or Off.

The GS-232B manual shows 10 wires going from the G-5500 to the GS-232B 
AZ/EL connectors on the pin-out diagram.  My cable has only 7 wires 
total.  What's with that?

In any case, computer control of the G-5500 from SatPC32 is not working.

I'm wondering if I may have fried the GS-232B.  Right now, I'm letting 
SatPC32 control the rig and I'm manually adjusting the AZ/EL rotors to 
values SatPC32 has displayed; it's tricky.

Any help in troubleshooting this system will be greatly appreciated. 
Later today, I will make certain that the computer serial port is still 
working.

73, Larry W7IN, Plains, Montana DN27.