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 ACU2-ODM: only the core-module
integrated in a compact case prepared for mounting on a 35mm DIN
rail
sat-nms ACU2-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 ACU2-RMU: complete antenna
controller system for AC-Motors integrated in a 6RU 19inch rack mount
case for indoor use
sat-nms ACU2-19: complete antenna
controller system for DC-Motors integrated in a 1RU 19inch rack mount
case for indoor use
sat-nms ACU2-19V2: antenna controller
pincompatible to former Vertex 7200 ACU. It directly controls existing
Vertex 7150 outdoor cabinet together with Vertex PMCU handheld.
For detailed description please refer to the
sat-nms documentation CD or www.satnms.com
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/deceleration ramps are programmed into the inverter module
with this solution.
Servo controllers: Used for DC motors at small
antennas or AC servos for big Antennas, especially with countertorque
drives.
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 ACU2-ODM and ACU2-19).
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 Microsoft Edge 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 ACU2-19,
sat-nms ACU2-19V2 and the
sat-nms ACU2-RMU optionally are equipped with
a frontpanel Human-Machine-Interface. This Keyboard/ Display combination
is also available as remote 19� controller
(sat-nms RCP19) for units without frontpanel
or also as local handheld-controller (sat-nms
RCPH). 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.
