RotorCard SDX – Yaesu SDX Series Rotors

RotorCard SDX for Computer RS-232/USB Control of Yaesu SDX Rotor Controllers by Ham Supply – Invented, Patented and Manufactured in the USA

Lowered price on RotorCard SDX!

Ships now!

RotorCard Yaesu SDX – Inexpensive RS-232 rotor control for Yaesu SDX Series Rotors (G-800SDX, G-1000SDX, G-2700SDX, G-2800SDX).  RotorCard mounts inside your SDX box, no bulky or unsightly external boxes!

NOTE: If your rotor is the Yaesu DXA/DXC series, see the RotorCard Yaesu DXA/DXC page.

Do you own one of these superb Yaesu SDX rotors?  Do you use logging or contesting programs that offer rotor control?  And you would like to add RS232 control but you say you have been put off by the extremely high price of a factory interface card?

You say you looked at the competition, but did not want to surrender a slot in your computer, and besides you wanted full support for both the Yaesu overlap function and for the slowdown feature, instead of a pricey “universal” solution?

Relief is at hand!  Ham Supply/Idiom Press is now offering our RotorCard SDX offering full RS232 control for Yaesu SDX series rotors.  RotorCard fully supports the Yaesu overlap function, as well as Yaesu’s slowdown feature.  Further, RotorCard SDX is the only product available that fully supports both north centered rotors and south centered rotors. You need only add a jumper to the board to default to south centered control.

RotorCard Installation RotorCard SDX is supplied fully wired, and installs in minutes in your Yaesu SDX control box.  Simply remove the top, plug RotorCard in, screw down two screws, bring the cable out through the back, and it is installed.  Hook the RS232 cable to your computer, run a calibration routine using any dumb terminal program such as Hyper-Terminal in Windows, replace the top and you are done!  No soldering needed!

RotorCard SDX is fully compatible with any program that supports rotor control of either the HyGain DCU-1 rotor or Idiom Press’s Rotor-EZ, as it shares the same command set.

No DB9 RS-232 port on your computer? Did you know all you need to run the RotorCard SDX from a USB port on your Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 or Apple/Mac computer is a USB to RS-232 adapter cable? As to why we’ve made the decision to stick with tried and true RS-232 on our controllers (and not go the path of direct USB to USB connectivity), here’s just a few reasons:

• RS-232 dependability, stability
• RS-232 compatibility with older computers
• RS-232 ease of use – lack of intensive USB software stack (the deltas blog)
• RS-232 – no communications signal line power required
• Hard limitations on cable length for USB (1.5-2 Meters) versus up to 15 Meters (maximum baud rate) and 100 Meters (low baud rate) for RS-232
• RS-232 – dedicated communications (com) port – unlike USB “hubs” with complex stacks to identify and separate ever changing ports
• “It is worth pointing out that RS232 is far superior to USB when jitter and latency matter. You cannot reliably feed a Pulse Per Second signal to a computer over USB. You can do so with RS232” – dfc (Electrical Engineering, www.stackexchange.com)

And the list goes on and on.  USB may be great for your computer peripherals like a camera or a high speed printer, but for low baud, rock solid communications – RS-232 is still the king.  We recently spoke to an employee/engineer of a well known Ham Radio antenna company that is presently looking into re-implementing RS-232 for their products because they’ve had so many issues with direct USB to USB connectivity.  The bottom line is, “the newest thing is not always the best thing”.  We concur.

And we’ve been saving the best news for last – the price!  RotorCard SDX is available fully wired and tested for US $128.95 (plus shipping and handling).

Product Reviews

We know the RotorCard SDX is great, but you don’t have to take our word for it.  See what your fellow hams are saying about the RotorCard SDX on the eHAM.net Product Reviews and also view customer feedback via our Ham Supply User Review page.

Yaesu Rotor Accessories

Yaesu RotorCard DXA:  Computer control RS-232/USB point & shoot rotor control board (DXA/DXC series rotors)
Yaesu RotorCard SDX:  Computer control RS-232/USB point & shoot rotor control board (SDX series rotors)
USB/RS232 Converter Cable:  3′ with Hex Nuts
Yaesu Illuminator G-800/1000/2700/2800:  3 LED board for Yaesu 800/1000/2700/2800 series rotor controllers
Yaesu Illuminator G-450/650: 3 LED board for G-450 and G-650 series rotor controllers
DXA/C-6′ Mini-DIN 6′ Cable:  Front panel transceiver control of your Yaesu DXA/DXC series rotor controller
Yaesu 7 Pin Rotor Plug: Connector, G-450, G-550, G-650, G-800DXA, G-1000DXA, G-2700DXA, G-2800DXA and G-5500 rotators
Yaesu 6 Pin Rotor Plug: Connector, G-450XL, G-800S, G-800SDX, G-1000SDX, G-2700SDX and G2800SDX rotators

Pricing and Ordering

RotorCard SDX Fully Wired & Tested:  $129.95  $109.95

USB to RS232 Converter Cable (FTDI Chipset):  $24.95

Yaesu SDX RotorCard – Replacement Chip Set:  $22.95

Note: The above product is for Yaesu SDX series rotors. Other rotor upgrades include the RotorCard DXA/DXC for Yaesu DXA/DXC series rotors, as well as the Rotor-EZ for Hy-Gain rotors.

Sorry, no serial interface board for Yaesu G-400, G-400RC, G-450A, G-450RC, G-550, G-650A, G-650C, G-800SA, G-1000A, G-1000SA, or G-5500 rotor controllers (yet).

Yaesu SDX and Yaesu DXA are registered trademarks of Yaesu.