Research Concepts RC2000C - Manual (Page 76)

68 RC2000C Az/El Tracking Antenna Controller Chapter 7 Troubleshooting/Alarm Codes
Research Concepts, Inc. • 5420 Martindale Road • Shawnee, Kansas • 66218-9680 • USA www.researchconcepts.com
This is generally an indication of mechanical hysteresis (slop) in either the actuator or the
mount. When this occurs, the antenna will peak up in one position when approaching the
satellite from the west and another when approaching the satellite from the east. To test for
this, move the antenna quite a distance west of the satellite and manually move the antenna
east at slow speed until the peak is reached. Repeat the procedure when approaching the
satellite from the east. The difference in azimuth position between the 2 peaks is the
mechanical hysteresis. In this situation, try to eliminate the slop in the mount. If this is not
possible, always approach each satellite from the same direction in which it was originally
programmed.
THE ANTENNA AZIM ERROR or ANTENNA ELEV ERROR OCCUR
To determine the cause of this error go to RESET mode. One of the following error messages
will be displayed: JAMMED, RUNAWAY, or DRIVE. Here are the likely causes of each of
these errors:
JAMMED
This error indicates that the drive was commanded to move, but movement was not sensed.
This can be caused by a mechanical jam at the antenna, or the antenna may be moving but
position feedback pulses are not getting back to the controller. Determine which condition
exists.
If the antenna is not moving there may either be a faulty motor, a wiring problem, a mechanical
limit switch has been encountered, or the breaker in the drive circuit has tripped (the breaker
may be reset from the back of the unit). If the antenna is moving but position pulses are not
reaching the controller, check the sensor wiring of the sensor module in the antenna actuator.
RUNAWAY
This error occurs when position pulses are recorded but the antenna has not been commanded
to move. Check the items listed in Section 3.2 - Azimuth and Elevation Position Sense. If this
error occurs just after the antenna has been moving and the drive signals are released, review
the 'Deadband' CONFIG mode items described in section 5.10.7. Also see the paragraph in
this section entitled ‘DISABLING RUNAWAY ERRORS’.
DRIVE
This error indicates that the controller's electronic overcurrent sensing has detected an
overcurrent condition and has shut the drive down. There are pots that control the level at
which the electronic overcurrent sensing trips. These pots may have to be adjusted. Please
consult the factory. Under no circumstances should the load current supplied by the controller
be allowed to exceed 8 amps for more than several seconds.
THE AUTOPOL SYSTEM DOES NOT SEEM TO WORK PROPERLY
This error is usually caused by the horizontal and vertical polarizations for a given satellite
being programmed at the same position. If you turn off the AutoPol function and the controller
does not toggle the polarization position as the H and V keys are pressed in MANUAL mode,
the polarization positions have probably been programmed at the same value. Other AutoPol
problems result from not having a ground wire connected between the satellite receiver and the
controller. Please refer to figures 3.2 and 3.3.
WHEN A SATELLITE IS SELECTED VIA AUTO MODE THE CONTROLLER DISPLAYS THE
MESSAGE 'ENTRY SELECTED HOLDS INVALID DATA'.
Before the controller executes an automatic move it checks to see if the azimuth, elevation,
horizontal polarization, and vertical polarization positions of the target satellite are within their
respective limits. If they are not, the error message is displayed. This error can occur if the
limits were reset after the satellite position was programmed into memory via SETUP mode.
This error can also occur if the state of the 'Rotating Feed Present?' CONFIG mode item was