Research Concepts RC2000C - Manual (Page 45)

RC2000C Az/El Tracking Antenna Controller Chapter 4 Inclined Orbit Satellites 37
Research Concepts, Inc. • 5420 Martindale Road • Shawnee, Kansas • 66218-9680 • USA www.researchconcepts.com
42 0.7
48 0.8
54 0.9
The latitude and longitude data entry must also specify a direction. For latitude the options are North or
South, and for longitude the options are East and West. Locations in North America and South America
have westerly longitudes, while locations in Asia have easterly longitudes. Section 2.1 describes the
keys used to specify the direction associated with latitude or longitude data entry.
The Antenna Size parameter specifies the antenna diameter in centimeters. Use the table below to
convert feet or meters into centimeters.
Feet Meters Centimeters
5.9 1.80 180
8 2.44 244
10 3.05 305
12 3.66 366
15 4.57 457
20 6.10 610
23 7.00 700
24 7.32 732
The initialization of the Azim Constant and Elev Constant CONFIG mode items are used to specify
scale factors, and were described in Section 4.4.2.
The Max Track Error and Search Width CONFIG mode items are discussed in section 4.2. The default
values are 10 and 3, respectively. The Max Track Error is specified in tenths of a dB. When initiating a
track on an inclined orbit satellite for the first time, it is probably best to leave these parameters at their
default values. See the section on tracking problems at the end of this chapter for more information on
the Max Track Error parameter.
The Search Enable CONFIG mode item is used to enable or disable the Intelli-Search feature when the
SEARCH sub-mode is active. When disabled, the SEARCH sub-mode will simply prompt the user to
manually jog the antenna (via the front panel) back onto the satellite and hit the ENTER key. When the
ENTER key is pressed, control will transfer to the STEP TRACK sub-mode. The Intelli-Search should
be disabled for transmit applications, or when the RC2000 is interfaced to an antenna that moves very
slowly.
4.4.4 Initiating a Track on an Inclined Orbit Satellite
This section describes the process of initiating a track on an inclined orbit satellite. It is assumed here
that the user has entered the configuration data outlined in sections 4.4.1 through 4.4.3 into the
controller, and that there are no alarm messages flashing on the bottom row of the display. If there are
active alarms, they must be cleared before initiating a track on an inclined orbit satellite.
The steps required to initiate a track are very similar to the procedure used to program a geostationary
satellite into the controller's memory. A track is initiated from SETUP mode as follows:
1. Go to SETUP mode and use the jog keys to manually align the antenna with the satellite. The
polarization can be jogged via the POL CW and POL CCW keys.
2. Use the SCROLL keys to select the satellite name. Press ENTER to assign the name to the
satellite. If the name is not in the list, go to step 3.
3. If the satellite name was found, skip this step. If the name was not in the list, select the USER
entry. Then use the SCROLL keys to scroll through the alphanumeric list to key in the name of the
satellite. Press the ENTER key to select each letter/number, and press ENTER at the "*" to
terminate the entry. A blank space can be entered by pressing SCROLL UP once and SCROLL
DOWN once at the “*” prompt.