Research Concepts RC2500 - Manual (Page 161)

154 RC2500 Antenna Controller Appendix S Andrew Plug Compatible Controller
Research Concepts, Inc. • 5420 Martindale Road • Shawnee, Kansas • 66218-9680 • USA www.researchconcepts.com
Software Features
The software features of the RC2500A/B Andrew are identical to those described in the manual except
for the addition of support for “Soft” Limits. The standard RC2500 supports “Hard” limits. Hard limits are
limits that exist due to the operation of an electromechanical switch on the antenna. “Soft” limits are
those that exist only in the memory of the ACU.
Setting Soft Limits for RC2500 Controllers which Replace Andrew Products
Introduction
RC2500 software version 1.14 added support for user specified azimuth, elevation, and polarization
limits. The Andrew LMKDS and NPL 9000 antenna interface units (AIU’s) do not provide limit status
information to the RC2500. These AIU’s do process limit information to keep the antenna from moving
past a physical limit but do not provide limit information to the RC2500. The software modification
described here allows a user to input limit information to the RC2500. If the limit information is valid the
RC2500 will not allow movements of the antenna outside of the region defined by the user-specified
limits. When the antenna reaches a limit a limit indication will be displayed in the appropriate position
display field when the controller is operating in a mode where antenna position information is displayed.
Setting the Soft Limits
The user specifies the position of the soft limits via the RC2500’s CONFIG mode. Six additional CONFIG
mode items have been added. These are Azim CCW Limit, Azim CW Limit, Elev Down Limit, Elev Up
Limit, Pol CCW Limit, and Pol CW Limit.
Here is the procedure for setting the soft limits (this assumes that the antenna’s mechanical limit switches
are installed and properly adjusted)…
1. Verify that the Reverse Az Sensor Direction, Reverse El Sensor Direction, and Reverse Pol Sensor
Direction CONFIG mode items have been properly initialized as described in section 3.xx.
2. Verify that the Azim Display Offset, Elev Display Offset, and Pol Display Offset CONFIG mode items
have been initialized as described in section 3.xx.
3. To determine the location of the antenna’s azimuth CCW limit, from the RC2500’s MANUAL mode jog
the antenna in the azimuth CCW direction until the antenna quits moving due to activation of the
azimuth CCW limit switch. Jog the antenna in the azimuth CW direction approximately 3 degrees.
Record the displayed azimuth position. The range of displayed azimuth position values is 0.0 to
359.99 degrees.
4. To determine the location of the antenna’s azimuth CW limit, from the RC2500’s MANUAL mode jog
the antenna in the azimuth CW direction until the antenna quits moving due to activation of the
azimuth CW limit switch. Jog the antenna in the azimuth CCW direction approximately 3 degrees.
Record the displayed azimuth position.
5. From CONFIG mode, initialize the Azim CCW Limit and Azim CW Limit items to the azimuth positions
recorded in steps 3 and 4 above. Be sure to terminate each entry by hitting the ENTER key.
6. The elevation down/up and polarization ccw/cw limits are determined in a similar manner. Note that
the range of displayed elevation positions is –99.99 to 260.00 degrees and the range of displayed
polarization positions is –99.9 to 260.0 degrees.
Corrupted Limits Alarm Messages
The soft limit data is stored in the controller’s non-volatile memory. The controller constantly checks the
validity of non-volatile memory. If the controller detects that any of the limits are corrupt the ‘LIMITS
ALARM’ error message will flash on the bottom row of the display.