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Sunwatch from digital pathways

S

SamBuca

Guest
Company disappeared and no one else knows much about it....

It's not retaining the memory properly. If I program it for 5200 watts, it will recall it as 6200 watts...programming it as 4200 watts gives us the proper 5200 watts. Sometimes it likes to lock up the display on the transmitter (Harris SX-5A) with all zeros, but a reset of the Sunwatch seems to fix that.

Did the basic checks...power supply cap, batteries, etc. Anyone experience this before?<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Company disappeared and no one else knows much about it....
>
> It's not retaining the memory properly. If I program it for
> 5200 watts, it will recall it as 6200 watts...programming it
> as 4200 watts gives us the proper 5200 watts. Sometimes it
> likes to lock up the display on the transmitter (Harris
> SX-5A) with all zeros, but a reset of the Sunwatch seems to
> fix that.
>
> Did the basic checks...power supply cap, batteries, etc.
> Anyone experience this before?
>

Never heard of it...I'm assuming this is a device to set day and night power and pattern for AM sites?
 
> Company disappeared and no one else knows much about it....
>
> It's not retaining the memory properly. If I program it for
> 5200 watts, it will recall it as 6200 watts...programming it
> as 4200 watts gives us the proper 5200 watts. Sometimes it
> likes to lock up the display on the transmitter (Harris
> SX-5A) with all zeros, but a reset of the Sunwatch seems to
> fix that.
>
> Did the basic checks...power supply cap, batteries, etc.
> Anyone experience this before?
>

Wish you luck with the Sunwatch! Most of the controllers I've seen have been disconnected. What you describe is very common behaviour!

You may be better off with a new remote control system that can be computer controlled. I have a Burk ARC-16 with the AutoPilot software to handle pattern switches. There are a few cheaper systems out there as well.

Heck, if you only have to deal with day/night power and you're a real tinkerer, you could probably come up with something cheap to trigger a power change. If you set your night power on either the "low" or "med" settings on the SX-5, they can be called up by a relay closure.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Wish you luck with the Sunwatch! Most of the controllers
> I've seen have been disconnected. What you describe is very
> common behaviour!

Haha...word for word from what Harris told me.

> You may be better off with a new remote control system that
> can be computer controlled. I have a Burk ARC-16 with the
> AutoPilot software to handle pattern switches. There are a
> few cheaper systems out there as well.

Yeah...I have autopilot taking readings right now.

> Heck, if you only have to deal with day/night power and
> you're a real tinkerer, you could probably come up with
> something cheap to trigger a power change. If you set your
> night power on either the "low" or "med" settings on the
> SX-5, they can be called up by a relay closure.

The low/med/high power closures are already hooked up to the arc-16...the nice thing about that sunwatch unit was that it can remember a bunch of power levels so we can have more than 1 step before night power.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Never heard of it...I'm assuming this is a device to set day
> and night power and pattern for AM sites?

Just power levels.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> > Wish you luck with the Sunwatch! Most of the controllers
> > I've seen have been disconnected. What you describe is
> very
> > common behaviour!
>
> Haha...word for word from what Harris told me.
>
> > You may be better off with a new remote control system
> that
> > can be computer controlled. I have a Burk ARC-16 with the
>
> > AutoPilot software to handle pattern switches. There are
> a
> > few cheaper systems out there as well.
>
> Yeah...I have autopilot taking readings right now.
>
> > Heck, if you only have to deal with day/night power and
> > you're a real tinkerer, you could probably come up with
> > something cheap to trigger a power change. If you set
> your
> > night power on either the "low" or "med" settings on the
> > SX-5, they can be called up by a relay closure.
>
> The low/med/high power closures are already hooked up to the
> arc-16...the nice thing about that sunwatch unit was that it
> can remember a bunch of power levels so we can have more
> than 1 step before night power.
>

You could script the power change...you'd just have to make sure the script completes before the actual time that the change needs to be made.

Basically, tell the autopilot to reduce power to get X Watts, in steps.

Like (going from 5kw to 500w):

If Pout>500 then lower channel 5 for 2 seconds

Wait 15 seconds

Obviously, this isn't written as a valid ARC-16 script, but you get the drift. I actually used a script like this to act as an automatic power control (using a second script to raise the power). You want to hit the control in short bursts to prevent shooting way past the 500w level. The wait command gives the transmitter time to settle down.

It's certainly no Sunwatch, but it will get the job done.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
ARC programming

> Obviously, this isn't written as a valid ARC-16 script, but
> you get the drift. I actually used a script like this to
> act as an automatic power control (using a second script to
> raise the power). You want to hit the control in short
> bursts to prevent shooting way past the 500w level. The
> wait command gives the transmitter time to settle down.

I've used the earlier generation AutoPilot with great success
and have the "interim" software doing the bare minimum while
waiting for the eternally promised final version.

The concept of lowering power gradually works OK when
properly written but can get pretty tangled if you've
written "watchdog" power monitoring and lost track of it.
Under those circumstances you'd program some number of
seconds of "lower" but then the "watchdog" would countermand
it. The only caution here being that if the lower-wait-lower,
etc. method is used then one needs to look carefully at
ALL the programming in the unit to be sure some previous
programmer hasn't plugged in "watchdogs". And, if they
did, to put in a command to shut them down before starting
the sequence. Of course, to re-invoke the appropriate
"watchdog" for the lower power level once the gradual
change has completed.

Depending on the particular transmitter and ATU, the
return to daytime power levels would also need to be
gradually raised. Especially with some of the Nautels
where the memory for each power level function is
retained.

I'm shopping for an ARC replacement in disappointment
about the non-appearance of the long-promised new
software.
<P ID="signature">______________
Misanthropy:

Not just a hobby...a WAY OF LIFE!</P>
 
Re: ARC programming

> The concept of lowering power gradually works OK when
> properly written but can get pretty tangled if you've
> written "watchdog" power monitoring and lost track of it.

Who holds computer programming certifications? THIS GUY! :)

The autopilot vbscript pseudo language is ok...I suppose it's easy for someone to pick it up.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
Re: ARC programming

> The autopilot vbscript pseudo language is ok...I suppose
> it's easy for someone to pick it up.

It might be for people who hadn't gotten used to the original
AutoPilot programming language. The version that came with our
new units back last spring runs 180-degrees outta phase with the
original, making it very difficult to make anything happen
properly.

Burk service people said the company had heard enough
complaints that a new version would be out "in July" that would
work more like the original but allow a more broad range of
control. Then it was "in September". I've lost track of where
it might be in the pipeline (if it even still is planned) in
my search for a replacement.

I've actually identified a new remote scheme. It's intended
for use over the internet, something I find intolerable given
service in the hinterlands. It's also written for Windows XP
(strike two....or strike three if only works via Internet with
all the attendant Windows XP vulnerabilities.

There is some possibility of using it on STL/TSL subcarriers and
the maker is seeing what can be done cleanly. I've been asked not
to identify it 'cause until testing is completed...it may
or may not work without some expensive hardware interfacing.

But you're right, Sam, I'm just a user, not a programmer and
have NO aspirations of (at my age) becoming one! Meanwhile,
the ARC-16 works with minimal AutoPilot functionality. Yeah,
I probably could learn the language if I were willing to try
hard enough and long enough. But, then, I could also learn
French. Against learning either, learning the Basque language
would probably be more useful, long term.
<P ID="signature">______________
Misanthropy:

Not just a hobby...a WAY OF LIFE!</P>
 
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