Hamlib support about remoterotator HOT 5 OPEN

Hi,
yes - you are right. It shouldn't be too complicated to include Hamlib support in remoteRotator. In principle, a new Rotator has to implement the rotator.Rotator interface. Check out the Dummy rotator and Yaesu rotator for real-world implementations.

I see basically two possibilities to add Hamlib support - either by supporting the native C library or by connecting via TCP to the hamlib rotctld daemon. Both have advantages and disadvantages.
I already started some time ago on a goHamlib - a go wrapper for Hamlib. It covers most of the radio (rig) interface, but not the rotators (yet). Another downside is that has to use cgo to interface with the hamlib C library. This makes cross-compiling for multiple OS and platforms a bit more complicated.
On the other hand, connecting to rotctld via TCP is easy. The only disadvantage I see is that it requires a running instance of rigctld which then wouldn't be under the direct control of remoteRotator.

Go has a very shallow learning curve! If you are comfortable in any kind of C flavor, you can learn it in a breeze! :-)

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I used the yaesu stuff as a sample and added supported for the Idiom Press Rotor-EZ (yaesu DXA models in my case, but I believe their protocol works for many others). It only took a few hours and its working well so far. I'll do a PR soon to share. https://www.hamsupply.com/rotorcard-yaesu-dxa-rotors/

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I would expect that the Rotator-AZ also speaks the Yaesu Gs232 protocol. In that case, remoteRotaor should actually work out of the box.

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I have the Yaesu G800DXA and it does not come with a serial interface. Yaesu suggests the GS-232B interface ($650) unit to provide serial control that would talk GS232 protocol. I opted for the Idiom Press interface noted above ($160), but it uses a different serial protocol. FWIW I went down this path because it didn't work using the "yeasu" option and after looking into the docs I see why. https://www.hamsupply.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Rotor-EZ-Protocol.pdf

from remoterotator.

I see. Indeed the serial protocol is entirely different, but it looks pretty straightforward. AP1 and AI1 are the only commands you really need. I would recommend creating a copy of the yaesu implementation and adjusting It to the Idiom Press Interface protocol.

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