Research Concepts RC2500 - Manual (Page 44)

RC2500 Antenna Controller Chapter 4 Inclined Orbit Satellites 37
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To perform the above tests on a dual frequency band system, repeat the test for each frequency band.
On a dual receiver system, simply perform the test on each receiver. On a dual frequency system the
tests should be performed with the controller in MANUAL mode, so that there is no confusion as to which
AGC input channel the displayed signal strength reading corresponds to. (SCROLL UP or SCROLL
DOWN until the desired channel number is displayed i.e. 2: ).
Currently the AGC Channel Scroll feature is not supported
4.4.2 CONFIG Mode Data
This section briefly describes each of the CONFIG mode items and how they relate to the tracking
system. The names of CONFIG mode items appear in italics. The installer should go through this
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 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 3.4.3. These speed
codes should be initialized because all movement in TRACK mode occur 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.
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 4.3.3. 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 Coordinated
Universal Time (formally called Greenwich Mean Time - GMT). Please refer to section 4.3.3.
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.
MinutesDegrees Minutes Degrees
06 0.1 36 0.6
12 0. 42 0.7
18 0.3 48 0.8
24 0.4 54 0.9
30 0.5
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