1 Introduction

The sat-nms Antenna Control Unit is an antenna controller / positioner with optional satellite tracking support. It may be operated as a standalone unit or in conjunction of the sat-nms ACU-IDU, a PC based indoor unit which offers extended tracking capabilities and a full featured visualization interface.

The sat-nms ACU is available as:

• sat-nms ACU-ODM: only the core-module integrated in a compact case prepared for mounting on a 35mm DIN rail
• sat-nms ACU-ODU: complete antenna controller system for AC- or DC-Motors integrated in an outdoor cabinet that could be mounted directly to the antenna. By mounting a sat-nms LBRX beacon receiver into this cabinet, you have a complete antenna tracking system in a compact cabinet directly at your antenna.
• sat-nms ACU-RMU: complete antenna controller system for AC-Motors integrated in a 6RU 19inch rack mount case for indoor use
• sat-nms ACU19: complete antenna controller system for DC-Motors integrated in a 1RU 19inch rack mount case for indoor use

For detailed description please refer to the sat-nms documentation CD or www.satnms.com/doc

Main benefits of the sat-nms ACU are:

• The ACU outdoor unit is able to act as a standalone antenna control and tracking system without an indoor unit required.

• The ACU provides an Ethernet interface using the TCP/IP and HTTP Internet protocols. It can be controlled using any PC providing an Ethernet interface and a web browser like the Microsoft Internet Explorer. The ACU runs a web server which acts as a user interface to the antenna controller.

• The ACU is prepared to read the receive level of a sat-nms beacon receiver through the TCP/IP interface.

• The flexible interface design of the ACU enables it to control most types of motor driving antennas for geostationary satellites. Supported motor controllers are (configurable in the field):

• Power relays: This simple solution is suitable for antennas using 2-speed AC motors.

• Frequency inverters: Speed and acceleration ramps are programmed into the inverter module with this solution.

• Servo controllers: Used for DC motors at small antennas. Supported position sensors are (separate hardware interface modules for each axis:

• Resolver Interface: The resolver interface module contains a resolver to digital chip which does the decoding of the resolver sin/cos signals.

• SSI Interface: SSI is a high speed serial interface used by modern digital position encoders.

• DC Voltage Interface: The third position encoder interface module contains an A/D converter which is suited to measure the DC voltages produced by simple inductive angle encoders. This application is for small antennas especially in the SNG business.

The paragraphs below give a short overview to the contents of the documentation. A subset of this documentation is stored on the device itself, the complete documentation is available on the sat-nms documentation CD and at www.satnms.com .

• Safety Instructions : This chapter gives an overview about the safety precautions that have to be observed during installation, operation and maintenance.
• Unit Overview : The installation chapter gives informations about the different modules that are integrated in the ACU (not ACU-ODM and ACU19).
• Installation/Start-up : The installation chapter guides through the installation and setup of the ACU outdoor module. It describes the mechanical concept of the ACU and the assignment of the ACU's connectors. It gives you informations about the starting up procedure. Finally you learn in this chapter how to set the ACU's IP address, which is a essential precondition to operate the ACU by means of a web browser.
• Operation : The sat-nms ACU is operated using a standard web browser like the Internet-Explorer on MS Windows based computers. The user interface design is straight forward and clearly structured. Operating the ACU is mostly self-explanatory. Nevertheless, the 'Operation' chapter outlines the map of web pages which make up the ACU user interface and elaborately describe the meaning of each alterable parameter.
• Frontpanel Operation : The sat-nms ACU19 and the sat-nms ACU-RMU optionally are equipped with a frontpanel Human-Machine-Interface. This chapter describes how to use this interface.
• Remote Control : The ACU outdoor module provides a versatile remote control interface. A monitoring & control software may fully operate the ACU either through a TCP/IP network connection or through the RS232 interface of the ACU. This chapter describes the communication protocol used for remote control and lists all parameters accessible through the remote interface.
• Theory of Operation : This chapter gives a short overview how the ACU works. It also describes the different tracking algorithms and their parameters. The interaction with a beacon receiver is described as well. Knowing about the theory regarding this functions helps to find the best parameter settings for a given application.
• Specifications : At the end of the document, the specifications applicable to the sat-nms ACU are summarized in this chapter.

Support and Assistance

If you need any assistance regarding our ACU, don't hesitate to contact us. We would be pleased to help you by answering your questions.

 SatService GmbH
 Hardstrasse 9
 78256 Steisslingen
 Germany
 phone +49 7738 99791-10
 www.satnms.com