Hamlib/doc/man1/rotctl.1

.\"                                      Hey, EMACS: -*- nroff -*-
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.\" Note: Please keep this page in sync with the source, rotctl.c
.\"
.TH ROTCTL "1" "2019-12-10" "Hamlib" "Hamlib Utilities"
.
.
.SH NAME
.
rotctl \- control antenna rotators
.
.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.
.SY rotctl
.OP \-hiIlLuV
.OP \-m id
.OP \-r device
.OP \-s baud
.OP \-t char
.OP \-C parm=val
.RB [ \-v [ \-Z ]]
.RB [ command | \- ]
.YS
.
.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.
Control antenna rotators.
.
.PP
.B rotctl
accepts
.I commands
from the command line as well as in interactive mode if none are provided on
the command line.
.
.PP
Keep in mind that Hamlib is BETA level software.  While a lot of backend
libraries lack complete rotator support, the basic functions are usually well
supported.
.
.PP
Please report bugs and provide feedback at the e-mail address given in the
.B BUGS
section below.  Patches and code enhancements sent to the same address are
welcome.
.
.
.SH OPTIONS
.
This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax.  Short options that
take an argument may have the value follow immediately or be separated by a
space.  Long options starting with two dashes (\(oq\-\(cq) require an
\(oq=\(cq between the option and any argument.
.
.PP
Here is a summary of the supported options:
.
.TP
.BR \-m ", " \-\-model = \fIid\fP
Select rotator model number.
.IP
See model list (use \(lqrotctl -l\(rq).
.IP
.BR Note :
.B rotctl
(or third party software using the C API) will use rotator model 2 for
.B NET rotctl
(communicating with
.BR rotctld ).
.
.TP
.BR \-r ", " \-\-rot\-file = \fIdevice\fP
Use
.I device
as the file name of the port connected to the rotator.
.IP
Often a serial port, but could be a USB to serial adapter.  Typically
.IR /dev/ttyS0 ", " /dev/ttyS1 ", " /dev/ttyUSB0 ,
etc. on Linux,
.IR COM1 ", " COM2 ,
etc. on MS Windows.  The BSD flavors and Mac OS/X have their own designations.
See your system's documentation.
.
.TP
.BR \-s ", " \-\-serial\-speed = \fIbaud\fP
Set serial speed to
.I baud
rate.
.IP
Uses maximum serial speed from rotator backend capabilities as the default.
.
.TP
.BR \-t ", " \-\-send\-cmd\-term = \fIchar\fP
Change the termination
.I char
for text protocol when using the
.B send_cmd
command.
.IP
The default value is ASCII CR (\(oq0x0D\(cq).  ASCII non-printing characters
can be given as the ASCII number in hexadecimal format prepended with
\(lq0x\(rq.  You may pass an empty string for no termination char.  The string
\(lq\-1\(rq tells
.B rotctl
to switch to binary protocol.  See the
.B send_cmd
command for further explanation.
.IP
.BR Note :
The semicolon (\(oq;\(cq) is a common terminator for rotators that accept
ASCII character strings.
.
.TP
.BR \-L ", " \-\-show\-conf
List all configuration parameters for the rotator defined with
.B \-m
above.
.
.TP
.BR \-C ", " \-\-set\-conf = \fIparm=val\fP [ \fI,parm=val\fP ]
Set rotator configuration parameter(s),  e.g.
.IR stop_bits=2 .
.IP
Use the
.B -L
option above for a list of configuration parameters for a given model number.
.
.TP
.BR \-u ", " \-\-dump\-caps
Dump capabilities for the rotator defined with
.B -m
above and exit.
.
.TP
.BR \-l ", " \-\-list
List all rotator model numbers defined in
.B Hamlib
and exit.
.IP
The list is sorted by model number.
.IP
.BR Note :
In Linux the list can be scrolled back using
.BR Shift-PageUp / Shift-PageDown ,
or using the scrollbars of a virtual terminal in X or the cmd window in
Windows.  The output can be piped to
.BR more (1)
or
.BR less (1),
e.g. \(lqrotctl -l | more\(rq.
.
.TP
.BR \-i ", " \-\-read\-history
Read previously saved command and argument history from a file (default
.IR $HOME/.rotctl_history )
for the current session.
.IP
Available when
.B rotctl
is built with Readline support (see
.B READLINE
below).
.IP
.BR Note :
To read a history file stored in another directory, set the
.B ROTCTL_HIST_DIR
environment variable, e.g. \(lqROTCTL_HIST_DIR=$HOME/tmp rotctl -i\(rq.  When
ROTCTL_HIST_DIR is not set, the value of
.B HOME
is used.
.
.TP
.BR \-I ", " \-\-save\-history
Write current session (and any previous session(s), if
.B -i
option is also given) command and argument history to a file (default
.IR $HOME/.rotctl_history )
at the end of the current session.
.IP
Complete commands with arguments are saved as a single line to be recalled and
used or edited.  Available when
.B rotctl
is built with Readline support (see
.B READLINE
below).
.IP
.BR Note :
To write a history file in another directory, set the
.B ROTCTL_HIST_DIR
environment variable, e.g. \(lqROTCTL_HIST_DIR=$HOME/tmp rotctl -I\(rq.  When
ROTCTL_HIST_DIR is not set, the value of
.B HOME
is used.
.
.TP
.BR \-v ", " \-\-verbose
Set verbose mode, cumulative (see
.B DIAGNOSTICS
below).
.
.TP
.BR \-Z ", " \-\-debug\-time\-stamps
Enable time stamps for the debug messages.
.IP
Use only in combination with the
.B -v
option as it generates no output on its own.
.
.TP
.BR \-h ", " \-\-help
Show a summary of these options and exit.
.
.TP
.BR \-V ", " \-\-version
Show version of
.B rotctl
and exit.
.
.TP
.B \-
Stop option processing and read commands from standard input.
.IP
See
.B Standard Input
below.
.
.PP
.BR Note :
Some options may not be implemented by a given backend and will return an
error.  This is most likely to occur with the
.B \-\-set\-conf
and
.B \-\-show\-conf
options.
.
.PP
Be aware that the backend for the rotator to be controlled, or the rotator
itself may not support some commands.  In that case, the operation will fail
with a
.B Hamlib
error code.
.
.
.SH COMMANDS
.
Commands can be entered either as a single char, or as a long command name.
The commands are not prefixed with a dash as the options are.  They may be
typed in when in interactive mode or provided as argument(s) in command line
interface mode.  In interactive mode commands and their arguments may be
entered on a single line:
.
.sp
.RS 0.5i
.EX
P 123 45
.EE
.RE
.
.PP
Since most of the
.B Hamlib
operations have a
.BR set " and a " get
method, an upper case letter will often be used for a
.B set
method whereas the corresponding lower case letter refers to the
.B get
method.  Each operation also has a long name; in interactive mode, prepend a
backslash, \(oq\\\(cq, to enter a long command name.
.
.PP
Example: Use \(lq\\get_info\(rq in interactive mode to see the rotator's
information.
.
.PP
.BR Note :
The backend for the rotator to be controlled, or the rotator itself may not
support some commands. In that case, the operation will fail with a
.B Hamlib
error message.
.
.
.SS Standard Input
.
As an alternative to the
.B READLINE
interactive command entry or a single command for each run,
.B rotctl
features a special option where a single dash (\(oq\-\(cq) may be used to read
commands from standard input
.RB ( stdin ).
Commands must be separated by whitespace similar to the commands given on the
command line.  Comments may be added using the \(oq#\(cq character, all text
up until the end of the current line including the \(oq#\(cq character is
ignored.
.
.PP
A simple example:
.
.sp
.RS 0.5i
.EX
$ cat <<.EOF. >cmds.txt
> # File of commands
> set_pos 180.0 10.0	# rotate
> pause 30  # wait for action to complete
> get_pos   # query rotator
> .EOF.

$ rotctl -m 1 - <cmds.txt

set_pos 180.0 10.0
pause 30
get_pos 180.000000
10.000000

$
.EE
.RE
.
.
.SS Rotator Commands
.
A summary of commands is included below (In the case of
.B set
commands the quoted italicized string is replaced by the value in the
description.  In the case of
.B get
commands the quoted italicized string is the key name of the value returned.):
.
.TP
.BR Q | q ", exit rotctl"
Exit rotctl in interactive mode.
.IP
When rotctl is controlling the rotator directly, will close the rotator
backend and port.  When rotctl is connected to rotctld (rotator model 2), the
TCP/IP connection to rotctld is closed and rotctld remains running, available
for another TCP/IP network connection.
.
.TP
.BR P ", " set_pos " \(aq" \fIAzimuth\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fIElevation\fP \(aq
Set position.
.IP
.RI \(aq Azimuth \(aq
and
.RI \(aq Elevation \(aq
are floating point values.
.IP
For example:
.
.sp
.RS 1.0i
.EX
P 163.0 41.0
.EE
.RE
.IP
.BR Note :
If the rotator does not support setting elevation (most do not) supply
\(lq0.0\(rq for
.RI \(aq Elevation \(aq.
.
.TP
.BR p ", " get_pos
Get position.
.IP
.RI \(aq Azimuth \(aq
and
.RI \(aq Elevation \(aq
are returned as double precision floating point values.
.
.TP
.BR M ", " move " \(aq" \fIDirection\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fISpeed\fP \(aq
Move the rotator in a specific direction at the given rate.
.IP
.RI \(aq Direction \(aq
is an integer defined as \(oq2\(cq = Up, \(oq4\(cq = Down, \(oq8\(cq = Left,
and \(oq16\(cq = Right.
.IP
.RI \(aq Speed \(aq
is an integer between 1 and 100.
.IP
.BR Note :
Not all backends that implement the move command use the Speed value.  At this
time only the gs232a utilizes the Speed parameter.
.
.TP
.BR S ", " stop
Stop the rotator.
.
.TP
.BR K ", " park
Park the rotator.
.
.TP
.BR C ", " set_conf " \(aq" \fIToken\fR "\(aq \(aq" \fIValue\fP \(aq
Set a configuration parameter.
.IP
.RI \(aq Token \(aq
is a string; see the
.B \-C
option and the
.B \-L
output.
.IP
.RI \(aq Value \(aq
is a string of up to 20 characters.
.\" FIXME:  Need to describe the reset parameters available.
.
.TP
.BR R ", " reset " \(aq" \fIReset\fP \(aq
Reset the rotator.
.IP
.RI \(aq Reset \(aq
accepts an integer value of \(oq1\(cq for \(lqReset All\(rq.
.
.TP
.BR _ ", " get_info
Get miscellaneous information about the rotator.
.IP
Returns
.RI \(aq Info \(aq
\(lqModel Name\(rq at present.
.
.TP
.BR w ", " send_cmd " \(aq" \fICmd\fP \(aq
Send a raw command string to the rotator.
.IP
ASCII CR (or
.B \-\-send\-cmd\-term
value, see
.B \-t
option) is appended automatically at the end of the command for text
protocols.  For binary protocols, enter hexadecimal values as
\(lq\\0xAA\\0xBB\(rq.
.
.
.SS Locator Commands
.
These commands offer conversions of Degrees Minutes Seconds to other formats,
.B Maidenhead
square locator conversions and distance and azimuth conversions.
.
.TP
.BR L ", " lonlat2loc " \(aq" \fILongitude\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fILatitude\fP "\(aq \(aq" "\fILoc Len\fP" \(aq
Returns the
.B Maidenhead
.RI \(aq Locator \(aq
for the given
.RI \(aq Longitude "\(aq and \(aq" Latitude \(aq.
.IP
Floating point values are supplied.  The precision of the returned square is
controlled by
.RI \(aq "Loc Len" \(aq
which should be an even numbered integer value between 2 and 12.
.IP
For example:
.
.sp
.RS 1.0i
.EX
L -170.0 -85.0 12
.EE
.RE
.IP
returns:
.
.sp
.RS 1.0i
.EX
Locator: AA55AA00AA00
.EE
.RE
.
.TP
.BR l ", " loc2lonlat " \(aq" \fILocator\fP \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq Longitude "\(aq and \(aq" Latitude \(aq
in decimal degrees at the approximate center of the requested
.B Maidenhead
grid square.
.IP
.RI \(aq Locator \(aq
can be from 2 to 12 characters in length.
.IP
West longitude is expressed as a negative value.
.IP
South latitude is
expressed as a negative value.
.IP
For example:
.
.sp
.RS 1.0i
.EX
l AA55AA00AA00
.EE
.RE
.IP
returns:
.
.sp
.RS 1.0i
.EX
Longitude: -169.999983 Latitude: -84.999991
.EE
.RE
.IP
.BR Note :
Despite the use of double precision variables internally, some rounding error
occurs.
.
.TP
.BR D ", " dms2dec " \(aq" \fIDegrees\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fIMinutes\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fISeconds\fP "\(aq \(aq" \fIS/W\fP \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq "Dec Degrees" \(aq,
a signed floating point value.
.IP
.RI \(aq Degrees "\(aq and \(aq" Minutes \(aq
are integer values.
.IP
.RI \(aq Seconds \(aq
is a floating point value.
.IP
.RI \(aq S/W \(aq
is a flag with \(oq1\(cq indicating South latitude or West longitude and
\(oq0\(cq North or East (the flag is needed as computers don't recognize a
signed zero even though only the
.RI \(aq Degrees \(aq
value is typically signed in DMS notation).
.
.TP
.BR d ", " dec2dms " \(aq" "\fIDec Degrees\fP" \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq Degrees "\(aq \(aq" Minutes "\(aq \(aq" Seconds "\(aq \(aq" S/W \(aq.
.IP
Values are as in
.B dms2dec
above.
.
.TP
.BR E ", " dmmm2dec " \(aq" \fIDegrees\fP "\(aq \(aq" "\fIDec Minutes\fP" "\(aq \(aq" \fIS/W\fP \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq "Dec Degrees" \(aq,
a signed floating point value.
.IP
.RI \(aq Degrees \(aq
is an integer value.
.IP
.RI \(aq "Dec Minutes" \(aq
is a floating point value.
.IP
.RI \(aq S/W \(aq
is a flag as in
.B dms2dec
above.
.
.TP
.BR e ", " dec2dmmm " \(aq" "\fIDec Deg\fP" \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq Degrees "\(aq \(aq" Minutes "\(aq \(aq" S/W \(aq.
.IP
Values are as in
.B dmmm2dec
above.
.
.TP
.BR B ", " qrb " \(aq" "\fILon 1\fP" "\(aq \(aq" "\fILat 1\fP" "\(aq \(aq" "\fILon 2\fP" "\(aq \(aq" "\fILat 2\fP" \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq Distance "\(aq and \(aq" Azimuth \(aq.
.IP
.RI \(aq Distance \(aq
is in km.
.IP
.RI \(aq Azimuth \(aq
is in degrees.
.IP
Supplied
.IR Lon / Lat
values are signed floating point numbers.
.
.TP
.BR A ", " a_sp2a_lp " \(aq" "\fIShort Path Deg\fP" \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq "Long Path Deg" \(aq.
.IP
Both the supplied argument and returned value are floating point values within
the range of 0.00 to 360.00.
.IP
.BR Note :
Supplying a negative value will return an error message.
.
.TP
.BR a ", " d_sp2d_lp " \(aq" "\fIShort Path km\fP" \(aq
Returns
.RI \(aq "Long Path km" \(aq.
.IP
Both the supplied argument and returned value are floating point values.
.
.TP
.BR pause " \(aq" \fISeconds\fP \(aq
Pause for the given whole (integer) number of
.RI \(aq Seconds \(aq
before sending the next command to the rotator.
.
.
.SH READLINE
.
If
.B Readline
library development files are found at configure time,
.B rotctl
will be conditonally built with Readline support for command and argument entry.
Readline command key bindings are at their defaults as described in the
.UR https://tiswww.cwru.edu/php/chet/readline/rluserman.html
Readline manual
.UE .
.B rotctl
sets the name \(lqrotctl\(rq which can be used in Conditional Init Constructs
in the Readline Init File
.RI ( $HOME/.inputrc
by default) for custom keybindings unique to
.BR rotctl .
.
.PP
Command history is available with Readline support as described in the
.UR https://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/history.html#SEC1
Readline History manual
.UE .
Command and argument strings are stored as single lines even when arguments
are prompted for input individually.  Commands and arguments are not validated
and are stored as typed with values separated by a single space.
.
.PP
Normally session history is not saved, however, use of either of the
.BR \-i / \-\-read\-history
or
.BR \-I / \-\-save\-history
options when starting
.B rotctl
will cause any previously saved history to be read in and/or the
current and any previous session history (assuming the
.BR -i " and " -I
options are given together) will be written out when
.B rotctl
is closed.  Each option is mutually exclusive, i.e. either may be given
separately or in combination.  This is useful to save a set of commands and
then read them later but not write the modified history for a consistent set
of test commands in interactive mode, for example.
.
.PP
History is stored in
.I $HOME/.rotctl_history
by default although the destination directory may be changed by setting the
.B ROTCTL_HIST_DIR
environment variable.  When ROTCTL_HIST_DIR is unset, the value of the
.B HOME
environment variable is used instead.  Only the destination directory may be
changed at this time.
.
.PP
If Readline support is not found at configure time the original internal
command handler is used.  Readline is not used for
.B rotctl
commands entered on the command line regardless if Readline support is built
in or not.
.
.PP
.BR Note :
Readline support is not included in the MS Windows 32 or 64 bit binary builds
supplied by the Hamlib Project.  Running
.B rotctl
on the MS Windows platform in the \(oqcmd\(cq shell does give session command
line history, however, it is not saved to disk between sessions.
.
.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
.
The
.BR \-v ,
.B \-\-verbose
option allows different levels of diagnostics
to be output to
.B stderr
and correspond to \-v for
.BR BUG ,
\-vv for
.BR ERR ,
\-vvv for
.BR WARN ,
\-vvvv for
.BR VERBOSE ,
or \-vvvvv for
.BR TRACE .
.
.PP
A given verbose level is useful for providing needed debugging information to
the email address below.  For example, TRACE output shows all of the values
sent to and received from the radio which is very useful for radio backend
library development and may be requested by the developers.
.
.
.SH EXIT STATUS
.
.B rotctl
exits with:
.
.TP
.B 0
if all operations completed normally;
.
.TP
.B 1
if there was an invalid command line option or argument;
.
.TP
.B 2
if an error was returned by
.BR Hamlib .
.
.
.SH EXAMPLE
.
Start
.B rotctl
for RotorEZ using the first serial port on Linux:
.
.sp
.RS 0.5i
.EX
$ rotctl -m 401 -r /dev/ttyS0
.EE
.RE
.
.PP
Start
.B rotctl
for RotorEZ using COM2 on MS Windows:
.
.sp
.RS 0.5i
.EX
$ rotctl -m 401 -r COM2
.EE
.RE
.
.PP
Connect to a running
.B rotctld
with rotator model 2 (\(lqNET rotctl\(rq) on the local host and specifying the
TCP port, and querying the position:
.
.sp
.RS 0.5i
.EX
$ rotctl -m 2 -r localhost:4533 \\get_pos
.EE
.RE
.
.
.SH BUGS
.
Report bugs to:
.IP
.nf
.MT hamlib\-developer@lists.sourceforge.net
Hamlib Developer mailing list
.ME
.fi
.
.
.SH COPYING
.
This file is part of Hamlib, a project to develop a library that simplifies
radio, rotator, and amplifier control functions for developers of software
primarily of interest to radio amateurs and those interested in radio
communications.
.
.PP
Copyright \(co 2001-2011 Stephane Fillod
.br
Copyright \(co 2002-2017 the Hamlib Group (various contributors)
.br
Copyright \(co 2003-2019 Nate Bargmann
.
.PP
This is free software; see the file COPYING for copying conditions.  There is
NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.
.
.SH SEE ALSO
.
.BR less (1),
.BR more (1),
.BR rotctld (1),
.BR hamlib (7)
.
.
.SH COLOPHON
.
Links to the Hamlib Wiki, Git repository, release archives, and daily snapshot
archives:
.IP
.UR http://www.hamlib.org
hamlib.org
.UE .