FAQ's about our EMWIN system

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Does Werner Labs have a drop in replacement for the Zephyrus® receiver?

Our EM-P1A receiver has been used with both the Zephyrus small dish (3 ft) and large dish (6ft) with excellent results. However, it is not “drop in”, some changes are necessary.

Hardware. The Zephyrus system uses RG6 coax cable with a type F connector to go from the antenna to the receiver. The EM-P1A has a type SMA input connector so a simple adapter is required. Mention that you need one when placing your order, and we’ll include one, no charge. Next, the Zephyrus uses a serial cable to connect to your PC. The EM-P1A uses a stereo audio cable to connect to your sound card “line” input. We supply this cable with the receiver. Thus, the hardware changes are no problem.

Computer. The Zephyrus system runs using almost any PC, even as old as Win98. However, the EM-P1A requires a more modern PC. The demodulator that extracts the data from the received signal is now software that runs in the host PC. This requires a more modern computer (but not very). Any computer that runs WinXp, with a sound card that has a “line” input will work. These days, it is hard to find a desktop, even on Ebay that will not work! Some laptops have a problem in that they do not have a line input to their sound card, but many do (many ‘mic’ inputs can be configured for line input using the “control panel”). An external USB sound card may be necessary with these. Thus, unless you’re running an ancient PC, and don’t wish to upgrade, the computer is not a problem. A few caveats. (1) The software for Win7 is in its infancy and it is recommended that WinXp be used at the moment. It is expected that by Spring 2010, the bugs will be worked out of the Win7 installation. (2) Depending upon the display software used, the PC may need 2 serial ports connected with a “cross” cable. See Software.

Software. The software with the EM-P1A consists of 2 parts, the demodulator software supplied by us or from the NOAA website, and the display software. The display software may get the data either from the PC’s serial port, or an internal TCP/IP address. We recommend the second approach as:

The PC does not need to have 2 serial ports, or any. Many modern computers are going away from serial ports for connectivity, only USB.
The internal TCP/IP port connection seems to have fewer errors. We’ve run tests using both methods of ingest at the same time and the difference, while small, definitely had the TCP/IP port connection with fewer errors.

The display software we recommend is WxMsg, as it has the TCP/IP software demodulator interface built in. If you’re running some other program, check on the availability of a TCP/IP connection, or use a PC with 2 serial ports – one for the software demodulator to output data and one for the display software to ingest – along with a ‘cross’ cable between them.

More caveats.. While the EM-P1A has been used with the Zephyrus front end, it must be stressed that the design parameters of the Zephyrus system are not known to us. Also, it is unknown to us whether the systems we tested with are typical, or if there were design changes, or variations, in the Zephyrus hardware that would affect compatibility with the EM-P1A.

The bottom line. If you purchase an EM-P1A and it doesn’t work for you, we’ll refund your money, credit it toward the purchase of a full system, or work with you to get you going.

What else do I need besides your system?

First, you'll need a reasonably vertical pole of 2 inches diameter, or less, to mount the antenna. You'll need a modern PC running Windows Xp and software to display the data (Weather Message ® recommended). You'll also need a clear view of the sky in the direction of one of the GOES satellites. GOES East is at 75 deg. longitude and GOES West is at 135 deg. longitude. There are several websites that can give you pointing information. One is www.satfinderonline.com. With our system, we supply all other items you will need including cables (50 feet of coax to run from the antenna to the EM-P1A) and even tools to assemble the dish.

You show two receivers. Which one do I need?

It depends on what electronics you have at your antenna. If you have an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) then you need the EM-P1A. If you have an LNB (Low Noise Block downconverter) then you need the EM-P1B. The 'A' has a downconverter built in while the 'B' does not.

Do you have a receiver that I can use with an Quorum or Wilmanco LNB?

Yes, our EM-P1B is made to use with an LNB that has about 60 dB of overall gain and an LO of 1553.5 MHz. It has been sucessfully tested with both the Quorum and Wilmanco LNB’s. The computer and software requirements are the same as for the EM-P1A receiver described above. Note that the RF connection for the EM-P1B is type SMA and an adapter may be needed to connect to your cable.

Does the computer need to be a special high powered one?

No. The computer requirements are minimal. A 1 GHz processor, with 512 Mbytes of ram, and sound card (nowadays generally built into the mother board) with a line input will work. Almost any computer built this century will do. The only exception is that some laptops do not have a ‘line in’, only a ‘mic’ input. These can be made to work with an external USB sound card. The recommended operating system is Windows Xp. Earlier systems, such as Windows 2000 and Windows NT, will function but reliability may be an issue. Win7 has also been tested, but due to its infancy, it is not recommended at this time.

How does the software demodulator interface to the display software?

Two ways. The software demodulator takes in the signal from the sound card, processes it, and outputs the data to a serial port or to a TCP/IP port, or both. The display software can then pick up the data via a ‘cross’ cable connected from its input serial port to the data output serial port, or via an internal software ‘connection’ to the TCP/IP port. We recommend the second approach as:

The PC does not need to have 2 serial ports, or any. Many modern computers are going away from serial ports for connectivity, only USB.
The internal TCP/IP port connection seems to have fewer errors. We’ve run tests using both methods of ingest at the same time and the difference, while small, definitely had the TCP/IP port connection with fewer errors.