One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is be able to direct the beam antenna via the computer. My choice to go with the Yaesu G-800SA was so-so, although I would have had better options by going with the DXA series. Yaesu makes an RS232 (serial) interface for my rotor, but the cost is in excess of $500. Idiom Press also makes a product called rotor card, which is quite affordable, although does not work with my 800SA. My final option was the MDS RC-1. MDS makes digital rotor controllers for many different types of rotors for approximately $250.

Initially I had a problem configuring mine with my 800SA, but it ended up being confusion on my end. The 800 uses South-stop rather than the older North-stop configuration. You just have to set a 180 degree offset for the bearings to be correct.

MDS’s support is phenomenal. Glen (K4KV) responded back to an email question I had asked within an hour, on a Saturday, during the ARRL DX Phone contest, while he was out of town. He also provided me with a firmware upgrade to apply. Like I said, phenomenal.
[sthumbs=70|71,200,2,n,center,]
So far I’ve had great success with it, although some of the control software out on the internet is somewhat lacking.  First off Ham Radio Deluxe’s Rotator software works fine although doesn’t display any feedback from the rotor. N1MM’s rotator program sets the heading on the RC-1, it just never executes the heading change, even after you press “GO”. Same issue with Win-test.

Now, LP-Rotor works perfect, and an earlier version of PstRotator had the same issue as above, although Codrut (YO3DMU) provided me with an upgrade to 5.14 which works just fine, and it’s network-able as well. This was a huge help when I was up on the roof setting up the Mosley and running the coax around the rotor. My neighbors must think I’m nuts, being up there with the laptop sitting on the chimney.