Autopol - Dawn CONTROL-1500A Manual

CONTROL-1500A Single Axis Antenna Controller
Chapter 3 Installation/Setup 33
Setup mode is straightforward. When Setup mode is first invoked, the antenna jog keys and
Scroll Up/Down keys are active. The jog keys are used to align the antenna with the satellite
the user operator wishes to program into the controller's non-volatile memory. The Scroll
Up/Down keys allow the operator to select a satellite name to assign to the entry. The
controller maintains a list of satellites in it's EPROM memory. The operator can select from
one of these satellite names or can select the USER entry from the list to key in another name
for the satellite.
When the Enter key is depressed, the polarization jog keys are active and the operator is
prompted to set the horizontal and vertical polarization.
To set the horizontal polarization, the operator should tune the receiver to a vertically polarized
transponder and use the Pol CW and Pol CCW keys to null out, or minimize, received signal
strength. The H key is depressed to store the polarization. When the horizontal polarization
is stored, the controller will briefly display H POL SET on the bottom row of the LCD.
Vertical polarization is set in a similar manner by tuning to a horizontal transponder and nulling
the received signal.
The polararizations can be set in any order. BOTH polarizations must be set. The polarization
position must not be at a limit (as indicated by the display of 'CC' or 'CW' in the polarization
position field on the controller's LCD) when the H or V keys are hit.
If the antenna is not equipped with a polarization control device see section 3.3.1. When a
polarization control device is not present, the CONTROL-1500 must be configured for operation
with a Polarotor type servo polarization control device (by setting the 24 vdc Rot Feed CONFIG
Mode item to 0 - Polarotor type servo) and 'CC' or 'CW' must not be displayed in the polarization
position field.
It is recommended that the user first program a pair of satellites into the controller's memory.
Then use the Auto (AUT) mode to repeatedly position the antenna on one satellite and then
the other. This will exercise the controller, actuator, mount, and position sensors. If the
antenna does not return to the peak for each satellite make sure that the position sensors are
properly wired. When operation of the system has been verified by testing with a pair of
satellites, additional satellites may be programmed into the controller's memory.
3.8

AutoPol

This section describes the hardware and software configuration required to use the AutoPol
feature.
When the AutoPol function is enabled and Manual (MAN) or Remote (REM) modes are active,
the antenna polarization is controlled via a digital input to the controller. The input is typically
generated by a contact closure or digital output from a satellite receiver. AutoPol is enabled
via the AutoPol Enable CONFIG mode prompt. The AutoPol VLevel CONFIG mode item
determines if a high level digital input corresponds to vertical or horizontal polarization.
The AutoPol input on the controller has an internal pull-up resistor. This implies that the input
will float high when it is not driven by the receiver. This allows the receiver to use a relay
contact closure to drive the AutoPol input. One side of the relay can be connected to ground
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