How to setup PstRotatorAZ on a remote laptop from my shack?

David43

I have connected my Yaesu G-800-DX A rotor controller to one of the USB ports on the back of my 8600M and have PstRotatorAZ loaded on my remote laptop alongside my Maestro that is connected to my Shack system via LAN. My question is how to setup PstRotatorAZ on the remote laptop so that I can control the rotator azimuth? Anyone that is familiar with this setup that can help me, please advise of the way to setup this communication using PstRotatorAZ.

David43

Where do you open SmartSDR for Windows, on the Maestro, remote LapTop, or the 8600M?

• Open SmartSDR for Windows. SmartSDR must be v3.9 or greater
• Go to Settings -> USB Cables.

Eric-KE5DTO

Is the serial device connected to the rotor an FTDI serial port? Or an FTDI USB to serial port? This is a necessary part of making the USB Passthrough feature work as it needs to be FTDI in order for the radio to detect the serial device. You'll know it's working/detected by looking at the Settings > USB Cables menu as mentioned above.

Once it shows up in that list, you'll need to edit the cable and change the type to Passthrough. Then you can configure a Passthrough cable that references that device in SmartSDR CAT. This will provide a virtual serial port you can use locally to connect to your software that will in turn pass the serial traffic through the radio to the rotor.

If you get stuck in any of this process, let us know here or open a helpdesk ticket at helpdesk.flexradio.com. We're here to help when you need it.