Research Concepts RC2500 - Manual (Page 155)

148 RC2500 Antenna Controller Appendix R Working with the SSE AIU
Research Concepts, Inc. • 5420 Martindale Road • Shawnee, Kansas • 66218-9680 • USA www.researchconcepts.com
Appendix R – Working with the SSE Antenna Interface Unit
It is possible to use the RC2500 Antenna Control Unit (ACU) to replace the Superior Satellite Engineers
(SSE) PC-based ACU and enjoy the industry-standard RCI operator interface and added capabilities of
inclined-orbit tracking, multiple stored locations, and PC remote control. The SSE ACU-AIU-Antenna
system was manufactured between 1988 and 1991. The SSE Antenna Interface Unit (AIU) mounted at
the antenna pad has a single speed AZ/EL drive which uses 115VAC single-phase reversing motors.
The Polarization angle was set by either a Polarotor interface, a Ferrorotator, or a standard Seavey-type
motorized feedhorn with pot feedback. The RC2500 does not support the polarotor or ferrorotator
interface. With additional circuitry, the RC2500 can operate with a Seavey-type feedhorn See Appendix
H.
The Wiring between the Outside Controller Box and the Indoor unit is an 11-wire interface. 5 wires carry
the AZ and EL potentiometer voltages, + 5 V and –5V sources and a signal ground. A single wire carries
the drive signal for the Polarotor interface. These 6 wires will be unused in the RC2500 retrofit. The
remaining 5 wires carry the drive interface for AZ and EL motion. They are: AZ Right, AZ Left, EL Up, EL
Down and Relay Return. A +12VDC supply must be used from the AIU to power the high side of the
drive relays in the ACU. The Low-side of the relays are presented to the ACU to be connected to the
Relay Return line, energizing the circuit and moving the antenna.
In order to be compatible with the Antenna and the AIU, resolvers are placed on the azimuth, elevation
and polarization (if required) pivot points. Cabling will be added to support these resolvers. Information
on the connection and use of resolvers is found in section 3.3.1. The RC2500 uses a standard 2_5KI_O1
as the interface PCB.
(unused) RC2500 Limit Switch Inputs
We will use the summary limit version of the software. The summary limit input shall be permanently
disabled internally at the ACU. No limit indications will be available at the ACU. When encountering a
limit for greater than 3 seconds, the ACU will indicate a jammed condition. This error must be cleared
(from the front panel) and the antenna may be moved away from the limit position. The AZ fault, EL fault,
and ESTOP input will be permanently disabled at the ACU.
Drive Connections:
J7 on the RC2500 has six solid-state pull-down relay drivers that will directly connect to the four normally-
open drive lines coming from the AIU and optionally to 2 Polarization drive lines. The current is returned
through 3 “Drive Common” lines connected to the AIU “Relay Return” lines. The +12V supply and a
return line of the AIU must be brought in to the ACU. The (now) unused wires that formerly carried the
AZ pot wiper and EL pot wiper may be used for this purpose. This is required to power the drive circuitry
on the AIU side of the opto-isolation barrier. The AZ Fast, EL Fast, and Drive Enable lines shall not be
used. All drive connections will be made at the male DB-25 connector J7.
The hardware interface between the RC2500 ACU and SSE AIU is summarized in the following table
showing all connections at J7 of the ACU.