VHF-UHF Antenna Rotator

thingiverse

3 x 608ZZ Bearings. NodeMCU V3 ESP8266 A4988 Stepper Driver 12V 2A Buck Converter NEMA 17 Stepper Motor End-Stop Switch Linear Bearing 15mm OD, 8MM ID, 24mm long 8mm Bolt for lower pivot. Smooth shank where the bolt passes through the linear bearing. Nylock nut on the botton to stop it coming undone! Grease well! Loads of 4mm x ~20mm bots and hex nuts for case assembly. A few 3mm bolts for fixing bits to other bits. The tube used in the design is 34mm OD High Pressure PVC. The printed parts that fit over the tube could be sleeved/redesigned for smaller diameter tube. Knock yourselves out and Remix to your hearts content. Bear in mind, I have designed this to carry a 9 Element Yagi (4 x VHF/5 x UHF) which is made from PVC pipe and Aluminium elements, so quite light. There is also a thermostatically controlled 40mm fan on the bottom to provide airflow during hot weather (this is australia! LOL) As all of the Case parts are printed in PLA (tried ABS but too much trouble printing big parts, as happens grrrr) and I will be filling and painting it in a very light colour for protection from the sun and other elements. I haven't used it yet, so this might be a complete waste of time, but it's been fun creating it. It uses an ESP8266 Arduino compatible processor (NodeMCU V3) which runs a basic web server, so the whole thing is controlled wirelessly. The only thing that needs to go to the case is 12V. The rest is magic. Added current source code for Arduino environment. Very rough at the moment but it basically works. So, it's here definately as a WIP. Have Fun :-) Mike 28/4/2020. Source code is not currently available as it is not a good as I would like it to be. Found lots of bugs, so I will post a newer version when I am happier with the code. 2/5/2020 Added wiring diagram. Yeah, I know, it's rough! Added a version of the source code i'm reasonably happy with. Still more tidting up to do. Use at your own risk. The web interface is basic but does the job. Only works 1/2 the time on Chrome, but works fine with IE. Go figure. Another thing to look at later. :-) Basic Test Video https://youtu.be/no-hhjbRQNU :-) 21/5/2020 - Video of it in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1X12fMNzsE Works fine if basic. When powered off, a strong wind will blow it around. Maybe it needs a pin lock of some sort to fix it in a position for adverse weather events? Also, an Optical End-Stop will allow full 360 degree rotation. Another job to do some day. In the meantime, it works as expected. :-) Mike 24/05/2020 - Added printed parts for an optical endstop instead of the mechanical endstop. This will allow 360 degree rotation of the rotator, which is not possible with the current arrangement. No code yet. Will add later. Haven't put the parts in place yet. Still a WIP this change. Optical endstop is like one of these. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32413218664.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.690d15eeo4cPcH&algo_pvid=56a12248-3b97-4dfd-a654-dfba8206ea28&algo_expid=56a12248-3b97-4dfd-a654-dfba8206ea28-0&btsid=0ab6fab215902710934177141e0353&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ The theory behind the 2 rings is to pick one and break off any unwanted tabs to get the interruptor tab you need. If one doesn't work, the other one probably will. 2/6/2020 - Added Access Cover with a window in it as I am having no end of grief with getting the optical endstop parts aligned. So, this allows a view of the interior of the unit in the area of the drive gear and the endstop to allow alignment of the gears optimally and the passthrough of the optical endstop trigger blade. Once everything is aligned, you can either print a cover to go over the top of the window or glue an insert into place and then fill and finish. Or use glass or prespex if that floats your boat. The windows is 20mm x 70mm. Code for the optical endstop version added. INO File renamed to something more understandable. The interrupt pin for the Optical Endstop is A0 on the NodeMCU. Provide 5v to the optical endstop and Ground. Next possible addition is a pin lock to stop the antenna rotating in heavy winds. Later. 5/6/2020 - Added blanking plate (flange on the inside of the cover). Added Optical Endstop Interrupter, Optical Endstop Holder plate and an Access Cover with the Optical Endstop mount integrated and strengthened a bit, and added little cable tie loops to keep the optical endstop wiring out of harms way. Added a Bottom Plate with a hole enlargened to allow an XT60 connector to pass through just in case you want to use one of these to connect the 12v power up to the unit (maintenance issue I found). I'm just going to use a file, not reprint the whole thing. Not worth it. :-) Enjoy! :-) Mike