Polarization Control - RESEARCH CONCEPTS RC1500B Manual

RC1500B Single Axis Tracking Antenna Controller Chapter 3 Installation/Setup 17
Figure 3.3 Hall Effect Diagram

3.3 Polarization Control

The RC1500 supports two types of polarization control. The standard polarization control
device is a Chapparel type Polartor device. There is an optional polarization control device
(designated RC2KPOL) that interfaces to a rotating feed powered by a DC motor that employs
a potentiometer for polarization position sense. The RC1500 always assumes that a
polarization control device is connected to the system – even if in fact no polarization control
device is present at all.
3.3.1 Configuring the RC1500 for Use in an Installation that Does Not Employ a
Polarization Control Device
When programming satellite's into the controller's non-volatile memory or initiating a track on
an inclined orbit satellite, the user will be prompted to specify the horizontal and vertical
positions associated with the satellite. If no polarization control device is present in a given
installation the controller must be configured so that it think's that a Polarotor device is present
in the system. This is accomplished by setting the 24 vdc Rot Feed CONFIG mode item to 0
(No).
This works because the controller controls the Polarotor in an open loop manner. The
Polarotor provides no position feedback to the controller so the controller cannot tell if a
Polarotor is actually connected to the system or not. Once the controller is configured for
Polarotor operation, the installer should insure that the controller does not think that the
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