·         An intuitive user interface based on a 2 by 40 liquid crystal display with a 16 key keypad.

·         Dual Speed, Solid State Adapti-Drive^TM can deliver 8 amps (at 30 volts DC) to the antenna actuator. The drive features electronic over current protection and dynamic braking.  An application note is available which describes a method to interface with motors that operate at different voltages - see the Application Information section.

·         Precise slow speed control is implemented by a software servo based system that measures the rate at which position pulses are accumulated by the controller and adjusts the voltage applied to the drive to maintain a constant rate of movement.

·         Interfaces with pulse based position sensors - reed switch, Hall effect, or optical.

·         Servo based polarization control. An optional daughter board, designated RC2KPOL, can interface with a 5 to 24 volt DC powered rotating feed equipped with a potentiometer for position feedback.

·         Serial communications via an RS-422 port. The RC2000 uses the industry standard SA Bus protocol.

·         Rack Mounting (2 rack units high), 115/230 VAC Switch Selectable Power Input

·         Non-Volatile Memory retains satellite position data. The RC2000A can store location data for 50 geostationary satellites. The RC2000C stores location data for 35 satellites, 5 of which may be inclined.

RCI-2000C

The RC2000C provides tracking for inclined orbit satellites via Step Track, Search, and Memory Track algorithms. Three versions of the RC2000C are available: the RC2000C AZ/EL for use with elevation over azimuth type antenna mounts, the RC2000C POLAR for use with polar mounts which employ either a motorized declination or latitude angle adjustment, and the RC2000C EL/AZ for use with azimuth over elevation type antenna mounts. An analog voltage (in the range of 0 to 10 volts) proportional to signal strength is required for peaking the satellite. This voltage is usually provided by a receiver or modem AGC output but can also be generated by a beacon receiver.

Setup of the tracking system is straight forward. From the controller’s CONFIG mode the user enters the following information.

·         Antenna Size

·         Antenna Latitude and Longitude

·         Maximum Tracking Error in tenths of dB

·         Elevation Constant (the number of elevation position counts per degree of antenna elevation movement)

·         AGC Polarity (positive polarity implies that a stronger satellite signal produces a greater AGC voltage)

·         AGC Threshold (an AGC level above the threshold implies that a satellite signal is present).

When a track is initiated on a satellite the user is prompted for: the satellite’s longitude, the satellite’s current inclination, and the satellite’s frequency band(s) - C, Ku, C/Ku, L, X, Ka.

From this information the controller is able to automatically determine the optimum tracking parameters.

·         Step Track azimuth and elevation step sizes.

·         Interval between Step Track peaking operations.

·         Frequency of Memory Track antenna alignment operations.

·         The shape of the Search Mode search region.