Rotators have a range of travel from 360 degrees, to 450 degrees, to 720 degrees. Depending on which hemisphere the station is located, there are reasons why operators would want to orient the stopping point north or south.
By default, rotator hardware is generally shipped with a north stop orientation - 0 degrees.
When the rotator's stop point will be oriented south, there are two ways this can be accomplished.
The best method is to configure the stop point in the rotator's controller interface. The Yaesu GS-232A/B has a method to do this with a serial connection using something like PuTTY. Other controller interfaces have a menu where this can be configured. This is the best choice. When this approach is taken, we say that the stop point is "Controller Managed."
Some Yaesu radios have the ability to control the rotator. Refer to your Yaesu radio's user manual for instructions on how to set the stop point (offset) for your installation. This is not configured in software when the Yaesu radio is managing the stop point.
Some rotator controller interfaces do not have the ability to set the stop point within it. This is then configured in software using an "Offset" of +180 degrees. We would say that this stop point is "Software Managed."
The following diagram shows the configuration forms for these settings. You can find these settings within the Rotator Control application by going into Tools, Options, and selecting the Configuration tab. Modify the Configuration for the system you are using to suit your needs as described above.
