Research Concepts RC2000C - Manual (Page 44)

36 RC2000C Az/El Tracking Antenna Controller Chapter 4 Inclined Orbit Satellites
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section and enter in the relevant data. Be sure to terminate each entry with the ENTER key. If an entry
is terminated by depressing the SCROLL keys, the data entered by the user is not stored in non-volatile
memory. After all of the data has been entered, the user should go through the data items again to
verify that all entries were properly recorded.
The AutoPol Enable and AutoPol Vpol Level items are described in section 3.6. In TRACK mode the
AutoPol feature works the same as it does in the other modes. When a movement is in progress while
TRACK mode is active, the AutoPol signal may not be immediately recognized. It will be recognized
when the movement ceases. Note that not all versions of the controller support polarization control.
The Remote Mode Enable, Comm Address, and Comm Baud Rate CONFIG mode items control the
operation of the REMOTE mode system. If REMOTE mode is enabled, commands may be received via
the serial port while tracking an inclined orbit satellite and front panel control of polarization is disabled.
While TRACK mode is active, a remote command received which specifies an azimuth or elevation
movement will cause REMOTE mode to activate - no tracking occurs in REMOTE mode. A remote
command which is received that does not involve azimuth or elevation movement, will be serviced by
TRACK mode without disrupting the tracking operation in progress.
The Azim Slow Speed and the Elev Slow Speed codes are discussed in section 3.4. These speed
codes should be initialized because all movement in TRACK mode occurs at slow speed.
The Simultaneous Az/El Enable CONFIG mode item is not relevant in TRACK mode as no movements
in TRACK mode occur about each axis simultaneously. This item is only applicable to movements that
occur in AUTO mode.
The Angle Display Enable, Display Az Gain, Display Az Offset, Display El Gain, and Display El Offset
CONFIG mode items are used to display the azimuth and elevation positions in an angle format. These
items are determined using the procedure outlined in section 3.7. It is not necessary for the angle
display feature to be enabled for the tracking system to operate.
The Rotating Feed Present, Rotating Feed CW Limit, Rotating Feed CCW Limit, and Rotating Feed Jog
Duration CONFIG mode items do not directly affect the tracking system. The Rotating Feed Present
item should be configured during installation. Note that not all versions of the software support
polarization control.
The azimuth and elevation drive options consist of the Az/El Drive Options Enable, Az/El Fast Slow
Threshold, Az/El Auto Retry Attempts, Az/El Fast Deadband, Az/El Slow Deadband, Azim Coast
Threshold, Azim Max Position Error, Elev Coast Threshold, and the Elev Max Position Error CONFIG
mode items. These items are described in section 5.10. For inclined orbit tracking, it is generally best
to set the Max Position Error CONFIG mode item to 0.
The Time and Date are entered via CONFIG mode. The use of time and date information by the tracker
is described in section 4.3.4. Note that once a track is established for a satellite the Time and Date
should not be changed. If this is a problem, the user might set the Time and Date to Universal
Coordinated Time (formally called Greenwich Mean Time - GMT). Please refer to section 4.3.4.
The AGC Polarity Flag, AGC C Band Threshold, and the AGC K/L Band Threshold CONFIG mode
items are discussed in section 4.4.1. Please refer to that section for more information on these items.
The Antenna Latitude and Antenna Longitude are required by the tracking algorithms to predict the
apparent motion of the satellite. The data is entered in a degrees.tenths_of_degrees format. Most
maps show latitude and longitude data in a degrees.minutes format. Below is a table of minutes versus
tenths_of_degrees.
minutes degrees
06 0.1
12 0.2
18 0.3
24 0.4
30 0.5
36 0.6