Single Axis Tracker Tle Setup - RESEARCH CONCEPTS RC1500 Quick Start Manual

Antenna Setup

Single Axis Tracker TLE Setup

5. Run the SingleAxisTrackerTLESetup.EXE program to calculate the Mount setup
angles. The program takes as its input the Antenna Latitude and Longitude, Antenna
Offset, Declination of the Actuator and the Satellite Longitude. The outputs of the
program are the Mount Latitude Angle, the Mount Hour Angle, and the Elevation Angle
for a Satellite whose Longitude is the same as the Earth Station Longitude (RF). Record
the values below. Other outputs given are Elevation, True Heading, Magnetic Heading,
Magnetic Variation and Mechanical angles.
CONFIG.TXT file contains setup data for the SingleAxisTrackerTLESetup.exe program.
Use Notepad to customize this file for your satellite and antenna. Use of this file is
optional. If the file is not present, the program can still be used. When the program is
invoked without a CONFIG.TXT file present, a CONFIG.TXT file is created.
NOTE: NORAD Two Line Element (TLE) sets can be used to predict az/el angles as a
function of time for an inclined orbit satellite. Using the power declination adjustment,
set the antenna elevation angle (taking into account antenna offset angle) to the
elevation angle predicted (for the current UTC time) by the TLE data. See Appendix A
for Local time vs. UTC time conversion map.
Use a satellite pointing calculator (like ANTENNA.EXE on the RCI web site) to predict
the antenna magnetic heading required to align the antenna with the satellite. Adjust the
mount East-West Bearing angle to find the satellite. Slight adjustments to the
declination angle may be required.
The TLE data file geo.txt can be downloaded from the CelesTrak website,
http://celestrak.com. The website has TLE sets for commercial communication satellites
as well as programs to calculate az/el angles from TLE data.
The direct address of geo.txt is http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/geo.txt
The declination actuator has an 11 count per degree characteristic, i.e. if the declination
actuator is positioned 11 position counts above the Base_Elevation ACU Position Count
the antenna is pointing 1 degree Above the Geostationary Arc when the East – West
Bearing angle is adjusted so that the antenna is pointing at or near the inclined orbit
satellite
Mount Latitude Angle: _________
Mount Hour Angle:_____________
RF: Elevation Angle With Hour Angle @ 0 Degrees: ______________
(this value will be referred to as the 'Base_Elevation')
13 RC1500B Quick Start Guide