(AL-7103-Ku Mk II)

1.15m (45) Ku-Band Antenna

Stabilized Marine Satellite
Communication System

Frequently Used Functions (FUF)

Reference Guide

Document: FUF26-1540

Revision : B

Copyright
2007 Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.
All product names are trademarks of the Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd.
Other names are the property of the respective owners.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a
retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without prior written permission of
the Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd.
Disclaimer of Warranty

The Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and
relevancy of the material in this document. It is expected that all sections of this
document will be read thoroughly and that all information and procedures should be
fully understood.
However, the group assumes no responsibility for any errors that may have been
included in this document, and reserves the right to make changes to the document
without notice.
The Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd makes no warranty of any kind in regard to this
document including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose.
The Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd disclaims any responsibility for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this
document.
Parts of this document may be based on hardware or software developed by third-party
vendors. The Orbit-Alchut Technologies Ltd disclaims any responsibility for the
accuracy of this document with respect to such hardware and software, and assumes
no responsibility for incidental or consequential damages arising due to discrepancies
between this document and such hardware or software.

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Revision History & Control

Revision History
Revision #

Date

Description

Rev: -

October 2006

Rev: A

February 2007

Updated version

Rev: B

May 2007

Updated version

Initial version

List of Effective Pages

TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES IN THIS PUBLICATION IS 139 CONSISTING OF
THE FOLLOWING:

Issue

Page No.

Title.........................................................................................Revision B
i ix ........................................................................................Revision B
1 130 ....................................................................................Revision B

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Safety Precautions
The following general safety information is for installing, operating, and
servicing the system.
Specific warnings and cautions will be found throughout the manual
where they apply, but may not appear in this summary. Observe the
following list of safety precautions when installing, operating and
maintaining the System:

Keep well clear of the moving Antenna, at all times.

The Antenna Pedestal is equipped with high torque motors that develop
considerable forces. These forces can be harmful.

This equipment contains potentially harmful voltages when connected to the

designated power sources. Never remove equipment covers except for
maintenance or internal adjustments.

Before removing the covers of any unit, verify that the CCU POWER switch is
in the OFF position.

Metal parts accessible to the operator are connected to the chassis ground to
prevent shock, and similar hazards. The chassis ground conductor must not
be removed. Ensure the enclosure is at ground potential.

Only qualified and trained personnel should perform installation, operation and
maintenance of this equipment.

Although the Radome is not heavy, care should be taking when lifting it since
it act as sail during windy conditions. At least two people should handle the
Radome during installation.

To prevent shock or fire hazard, when sub-units are open or cables

disconnected, do not expose the equipment (with the exception of the
Radome) to rain or moisture.

Avoid making unauthorized modifications to the circuitry. Any such changes to

the system will void the warranty.

Do not disconnect cables from the equipment while the system is powered-on.

Interfacing this equipment requires the use of high quality connectors and cables.

Use only ORBIT authorized parts for repair.

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Conventions Used in this Manual

This text
style

Identifies

Text

Normal descriptive text.

Text

Emphasized text.

Text/Text

Words or figures that appear on

the screen or that should be
typed, or a key to be pressed
< >.
The name of a file or directory.

400

TEXT

The name of a software or

hardware component.

ANTENNA

The description of a procedure.

Example

To configure

Notations in this Manual

This information is important and should be noted.

Information given in this message warns of a hazard.

Information given in this warning refers to the only safe method of installation or
operation and must be adhered to.

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Acronyms & Abbreviations

ADE

Above Deck Equipment

ADMx

Above Deck MUX

BDE

Below Deck Equipment

BDMx

Below Deck MUX

BUC

Block Up Converter

B/W

Band Width

CCU

Central Control Unit

IMU

Inertial Measurement Unit

KB

Keyboard

LNA

Low Noise Amplifier

LNB

Low Noise Block

M&C

Monitor & Control

Mk

Mark

MMI

Man-Machine Interface

MUX

Multiplexer

PSU

Power Supply Unit

RJ

Rotary Joint

SBC

Single Board Controller

SDM

Servo Drive Module

SR

Slip Ring

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Table of Contents
Conventions Used in this Manual ........................................................................................ v
Notations in this Manual ..................................................................................................... v
Acronyms & Abbreviations .................................................................................................. vi

Entering the Password to Invoke the Operation Screen..................................1

Point to Satellite ..................................................................................................2

Set Polarization ...................................................................................................3

Select Tracking Receiver ....................................................................................4

Set Tracking Frequency......................................................................................5

Spectrum Analyzer Screen (SAS) for Viewing Wide-Band Satellite Spectrum6

Using SAS to Select Optimal Tracking Frequency for Wide-Band Receiver 10

Using SAS for Satellite Identification .............................................................. 11

LNB Noise Floor Correction for Wide-Band Receiver .................................... 13

10

Command the Antenna to Step-Track .......................................................... 17

11

Reboot SBC .................................................................................................... 18

12

Restart SBC .................................................................................................... 19

13

Move Antenna Manually in Earth Related Azimuth/Elevation .................... 20

14

Reboot Windows-CE CCU ............................................................................. 22

15

Enter Blockage Zone Angles......................................................................... 23

16

Set-up Local Antenna Position Angles Display ........................................... 28

17

Saving Parameters in the SBC Non-Volatile Memory.................................. 30

18

Finding and Setting of Heading (Compass) Offset...................................... 31

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19

Manual Setting of Heading ............................................................................ 35

20

Manual Setting of GPS Lat/Long Location ................................................... 36

21

Setting of Interface to Ships Compass........................................................ 38

22

Changing the Default NMEA-0183 Compass Sentence............................... 40

23

Setting up the Modem (IRD) Lock/Unlock feedback.................................... 41

24

Setting Up External Hardware IP................................................................... 43

25

Setting Up NMEA-0183 Compass Interface.................................................. 44

26

Enter Mechanical Zero Offsets...................................................................... 49

27

Logging Data Using the Graphic Logger...................................................... 51

28

Running Axes in Test Trajectory .................................................................. 57

29

Monitoring Mtslink Program Work Duration ................................................ 61

30

Checking CCU and SBC Software Versions ................................................ 62

31

Monitoring SBC Voltage and Temperature Test Points .............................. 63

32

Setting IP Address of the SBC ...................................................................... 64

33

Setting IP Address of the Win-CE AL-7103-CCU ......................................... 67

34

Setting IP Address of the Win 2000 AL-7100-CCU....................................... 72

35

Setting of PPR and Control Parameters for Different SDMs....................... 75

36 Setting up the Satellite Modem (IRD) Lock/Unlock feedback, via RS232

Controls.................................................................................................................... 79
37

Log ComtechEFData CDM-570L Data Using the Graphic Logger .............. 80

38

Log External Spectrum Analyzer Marker Using the Graphic Logger......... 83

39

Setting the Narrow Band Receiver (NBR) Lock/Unlock Feedback ............. 86

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40

Selecting Narrow Band Receiver .................................................................. 87

41

Selecting Narrow Band Receiver IF-Bandwidth........................................... 88

42

Spectrum Analyzer screen with Narrow Band Receiver (NBR) .................. 89

43

Setting Up GPS Output on CCU Com2 ......................................................... 94

44

Setting Up Cease-Tx Control......................................................................... 96

45

Changing the CCU/SBC IP Addresses General Scheme........................ 102

46

Setting the AGC Threshold Level................................................................ 103

47

Checking Netzer Encoder Coarse Accuracy .......................................... 104

48

IMU Correction by Step-Track mode ....................................................... 108

Appendix A

Status Messages ........................................................................... 111

Appendix B

SBC Flash-Disk Memory Map ....................................................... 126

Appendix C

Polarization Skew Alignment Procedure ..................................... 130

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Entering the Password to Invoke the

Operation Screen
From Basic Operation Screen, press O. The following will appear:

Then type in: AL-7200.

The screen will change to the Operation Screen.
To return to Basic Operation Screen press U The above Enter
Password window will re-appear. Type in any letter, then Enter and the
screen will revert to Basic Operation

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Point to Satellite
From Operation Screen press O, then select Sat. Preset:

Then type in Satellite longitude on the geo-stationary arc (positive values 0

to 180 for East, negative values 180 to 0 for West).
After pressing OK, the antenna will move towards the satellite. Watch the
cross-hair display reaching its center, when movement is completed.

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Set Polarization
From Operation Screen press D, then select Polarization:

After pressing OK, the antenna polarization will be changed to the opposite
from its current state.

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Select Tracking Receiver

Tracking Receiver is an L-Band receiver used by OrSat (AL-7103) software
to obtain a real-time signal strength indication for peaking the antenna
to the maximal signal location, both in Azimuth and Elevation.
At the time this document is written, AL-7103-Ku is equipped with a wideband receiver, while the AL-7103-C is equipped with both wide-band and
narrow band Beacon receiver.
AL-7103-C is utilizing the narrow band Beacon receiver, when wide-band
receiver is just for backup and reference.
Wide-band L-Band receiver is part of the SBC controller, whereas narrow
band Beacon is an external 1U rack-mount device residing in the Below
Deck equipment rack interconnecting into the CCU.
From Operation Screen press M to reach the Maintenance screen.
Access the Src button on the Receiver sub-window and select:

Host for external narrow-band Beacon receiver

Tuner1 for internal wide-band receiver

Default setting for AL-7103-C is Host, while for AL-7103-Ku is of course

Tuner1.

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Set Tracking Frequency

From Operation Screen press M to reach the Maintenance screen.
Access the Frq button on the Receiver sub-window and enter the desired
L-Band frequency.

--
If Host Source is selected (AL-7103-C System), the frequency will be
automatically downloaded to the Narrow-Band Beacon receiver unit, else
the frequency will be set in the SBC internal Receiver.
Press Esc to get back to the Operation Screen

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Spectrum Analyzer Screen (SAS) for

Viewing Wide-Band Satellite Spectrum
The Spectrum Analyzer screen will only work with Wide-band tracking
receiver selected.
To access, from Operation Screen or Maintenance Screen, press R.

To configure the Spectrum Analyzer measurement, press C:

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Start and Stop frequency values may be used to set up a full or partial range of
measurement.

For Ku-Band full range is: 920 to 2150 MHz

For C-Band full range is: 950 to 1450 MHz.

Frequency Step may be set up to as fine as 0.125 MHz, but one must take
into consideration that the measurement time will rise proportionally.
A scan of full Ku-Band range in 1MHz steps without averaging (Averaging
set to 1) takes about 3-4 seconds.
To make a measurement, one must first make sure that the system is not
in Step-track. The reason for this is that Step-track is using the
Tracking receiver resource. If the system is currently in Step-track turn
it to Peak.
To run the Spectrum Analyzer measurement press R.
To Store a recorded Pattern, press W then select a filename and save.
Below find some examples of Satellite Spectrum recordings taken by AL7103 Ku and C, as viewed from Orbit roof in Natanya:

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Satellite: Amos 4.0 West, Horizontal Pol, Ku-Band, LNB LO 10.0 GHz

Satellite: Amos 4.0 West, Vertical Pol, Ku-Band, LNB LO 10.0 GHz

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Satellite: Arabsat 26.0 East, C-Band, Linear Pol Satellite as seen with
Circular Pol antenna

OrSat FUF Reference Guide

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Using SAS to Select Optimal Tracking

Frequency for Wide-Band Receiver
Once a Satellite Spectrum is presented on the Spectrum Analyzer Screen
(see paragraph above), a vertical dotted line marks the highest-level
frequency:

Satellite: NSS6 95.0 East, Vertical Pol, Ku-Band, LNB LO 10.0 GHz
This frequency is also stated as Peak Freq at the top of the screen: 1598.000
MHz.
If the LoadRcv function is activated, this frequency will be loaded into the
tracking receiver:

Press, Enter to OK, then check by exiting the Spectrum Analyzer screen
and viewing the Receiver sub-window in Maintenance Screen. Selected
Freq will be: 1598.000 MHz

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Using SAS for Satellite Identification

Spectrum Analyzer Screen may also be used to help identify a satellite.
This may be done by comparing a measured pattern with a stored
reference pattern.
First measure the current satellite pattern:

Press G to recall previously saved pattern and add it to the same graph:

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In the given example it is pretty obvious that the measured satellite is

indeed the same satellite which pattern was saved as a reference.
If the two curves are not so obviously similar, one may use the
Correlation number, which is calculated and presented on the upper
right corner. In the case above the Correlation is 0.99 out of 1.00.
Usually Correlation of over 0.8 means positive satellite identification.

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LNB Noise Floor Correction for WideBand Receiver

LNB noise floor level varies with frequency.
This may be easily shown by pointing the antenna to clear sky and
recording the noise spectral pattern using the Spectrum Analyzer Screen.
Before doing so, one must make sure that the Noise Floor Correction is
switched off.
To do so, from Operation Screen press M to reach Maintenance
Screen, then select Config on the Receiver window:

-----
Make sure to set Noise-Floor Corr to No, and then use Spectrum
Analyzer Screen to record the clear-sky pattern:

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Note how vastly the LNB noise varies with frequency. This produces a real
problem when a minimal signal threshold must be introduced.
To correct will do the following:
Save the measured noise floor - press W, then select Noise Floor Table

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Go back to Maintenance Screen, and then select Config on the Receiver

window:

-----
Turn Noise-Floor Corr to Yes, and then use Spectrum Analyzer Screen
to record the clear-sky pattern:

Note that now the noise floor is completely flat and is normalized to the
level of 80 dBm

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To demonstrate this even better lets look on the same curve, with the same
vertical scale as in the uncorrected noise floor recording:

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10

Command the Antenna to Step-Track

From Operation Screen press O, then select Step-track

After pressing OK, the antenna will Step-track on its current position.

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11

Reboot SBC
From Operation Screen press D, then select Reboot:

After pressing Continue, the above-decks SBC will first indicate Shutdown then, after a short delay of about 10 seconds, reboot itself. As a
result all data fields on the CCU will become blank.
Normal CCU screen will re-appear after the SBC comes-up again (about 30
seconds).
At this point the SBC will automatically go thru its initialization steps:
Mechanical Axes Encoder Init and IMU Init.

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12

Restart SBC
From Operation Screen press O, then select Restart:

After pressing OK, the SBC will automatically go thru its initialization
steps: Mechanical Axes Encoder Init and IMU Init.
Note that unlike in Reboot SBC, the SBC will not be reset and rebooted.

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13

Move Antenna Manually in Earth

Related Azimuth/Elevation
From Operation Screen press O, then select Manual:

After pressing OK, the Operation Screen will change to the following:

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You can now use the left/right keyboard arrows to move antenna Azimuth,
Elevation and Polarization Skew in reference to the Satellite.

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14

Reboot Windows-CE CCU

From Operation Screen access the Host sub-menu, then select
Reboot.
Note that this operation reboots only the CCU, while the SBC is left
unaffected. However, please take into consideration that the Beacon AGC
as well as Ships Heading are running to SBC thru the CCU, so that when
CCU is rebooted those updates will be stopped until the CCU regains
normal operation after its reset (about a minute)

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15

Enter Blockage Zone Angles

From the Operation Screen press I, then select Antenna Blockage:

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Up to four blockage zones may be defined.

Blockage is given in Local Position angles (also see paragraph below),
which are Azimuth relative to ships Bow, Elevation relative to ships deck: -

A1 Ships heading
A2 Antenna True Azimuth
A3 Antenna Local Azimuth
Simplified model: Pitch and Roll are zero.

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E1 Ships Roll
E2 Antenna True Elevation
E3 Antenna Local Elevation
Simplified model: Pitch and Heading are zero.
One can see that the Local Antenna Azimuth is the Antenna Azimuth with
respect to the ships Bow-to-Stern line, rather then the North direction,
whereas the Local Antenna Elevation is the Antenna Elevation with respect
to the ships deck rather then the horizon level.
The local angles depicted on the diagrams above are only for illustration;
the actual mathematical definition of those angles is a bit more complex
and takes into consideration ships Pitch, Roll and Heading at all times.
Local angles make the definition of the obstruction zones a whole lot more
convenient: survey antenna location and note the corner angles of each
obstruction, in Local Azimuth and Elevation.
The Obstruction Zone screen allows entering of four angular points
defining a single obstruction zone of an antenna: Azimuth Start (from),
Azimuth End (to), Elevation Start (from) and Elevation End (to).
Up to four obstruction zones may be entered.

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There is no necessity of filling out all the zones, a default setting of a zero
value both in from and to fields will effectively disable the relevant zone.
From the other hand, if a zone is to be defined only in Azimuth, the
Elevation angles should be set from 90 to +90 degrees.
An example for a simple obstruction zone setting is presented herein:

In the case above, Antenna 1 is blocked in the range of 90 degrees, starting

from 150.0 to 240.0 degrees. Antenna 2 is also blocked in the range of 90
degrees, starting from 330.0 to 60.0 degrees. All of the above, in Local
Azimuth terms, of course.
Note that the obstruction zone is defined by a start angle, which is
always clockwise before an end angle.
The obstruction zone setting for both antennas will be as follows:
Antenna 1

Antenna 2

Zone 1

Zone 1

Az from: 150.0 to: 240.0

Az from: 330.0 to 60.0

El from: -90.0 to 90.0

El from: -90 to 90.0

Zone 2

Zone 2

Az from: 0.0 to: 0.0

Az from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

Zone 3

Zone 3

Az from: 0.0 to: 0.0

Az from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

Zone 4

Zone 4

Az from: 0.0 to: 0.0

Az from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

El from: 0.0 to 0.0

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Once set, the CCU will present an Antenna View Blocked message when
antenna will go in one of the predefined zones. This message may also be
read by an external device (such as the iDirect modem in AL-7103-C
system), and take action, accordingly
Moreover, when going into antenna blockage zone the controller will
automatically revert to Point-to-Satellite mode, as it assumes that the
Antenna signal is not available for Step-tracking. When going out of a
blockage zone, the controller will automatically initiate a re-acquisition
sequence.
After setting of the Blockage Zones, one must save them in the SBC nonvolatile memory

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16

Set-up Local Antenna Position Angles

Display
Setting-up Local Position display is protected by a High-level password.
Please contact Orbit Tech service to get the password. The password will
remain valid for a limited amount of time.
From Operation Screen press U, the following will appear:

Then type in the valid password

The screen will change to allow access to high-level parameter settings.
Press T, for System configuration, then D, for Display menu:

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Select Ant Position for Local Angles, then Ok

This will add a small display window just below the AGC bar:

Save parameters to SBC non-volatile memory.

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17

Saving Parameters in the SBC NonVolatile Memory

From Operation Screen press V, then select All

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18

Finding and Setting of Heading

(Compass) Offset
How to find the correct Offset

As marked in the drawing above, Compass offset is the angle between the
ships Compass direction, represented by the Bow-to-Stern line and the
IMU direction, represented by a black arrow marking on the exterior of the
AL-7103 radome.
To establish the exact offset angle the following steps should be taken:
Make a naked-eye rough estimate for the offset angle. Looking on the
drawing above that would be something like -30 degrees (negative because
the offset in the example is counter-clockwise from ships bow)
Set the naked-eye estimate into the controller (as shown below)
Point antenna to satellite. Record the antenna Azimuth at this point as
Nominal Azimuth.
Use Manual mode (see appropriate paragraph in this document) to move
the antenna Azimuth orientation to point it onto the satellite. The amount
of expected movement depends on how accurate was your initial estimate.
Most people can tell direction within +/-10 degrees

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Once the satellite is acquired (Beacon receiver locked or, SatModem has
locked on the Downstream data channel or, Spectrum analyzer screen
shows a recognizable signal pattern or any other way of validating thats
the right satellite) put the antenna to Step-track.
Find Azimuth Deviation, which is how far away is the actual antenna
Azimuth from the expected one.
To do so you may use the graphical cross hair display, which is calibrated
in degrees, showing a total of +/- 5 degrees:

Or you can use the Graphical logger (see appropriate paragraph in this
document), recording the Azimuth Deviation:

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Or you may put the antenna to Peak mode and find the Azimuth
Deviation by calculating the difference between the current antenna
Azimuth and the Nominal Azimuth as noted above.
The Azimuth Deviation obtained in one of the methods shown above will
be used to refine the naked-eye offset estimate. This will be given by:
Compass Offset Correction = Azimuth Deviation / Cosine (Antenna Elevation)
For example, we found the satellite with the cross-hair mark three notches
right of center (+3 degrees), while the antenna Elevation is 41.4 degrees.
That means that our initial naked-eye estimate of 30 degrees must be
corrected by:
3/Cos (41.4) = 4.0 degrees, resulting in overall Compass Offset of 26.0
degrees

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How to set the Offset to the controllerFrom Operation Screen press I then select Compass:

Enter the Offset (third line from the top), OK and save into SBC nonvolatile memory

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19

Manual Setting of Heading

Manual setting of heading is needed if:

Ships compass is either inactive or not yet connected (ex: in

midst of system installation)
Ships compass is incremental (Step-by-Step or Synchro 1:360)
and the operator wishes to enter a new starting-point value

To set heading, from Operation Screen press D, then select Set

Compass:

Note that in case of non-incremental (absolute) compass interface, is

reconnected will override manual setting.

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20

Manual Setting of GPS Lat/Long

Location
If for some reason there is no GPS position updates, one can input it
manually.
To do so, from Operation Screen press D, then select Set GPS:

Note that the Latitude and Longitude angles are entered in their decimal
form, meaning that +32.5125 degree Latitude are actually 32 deg 30
minutes 45 seconds of arch North to Equator, while 128.7523 degrees
Longitude are actually 128 degrees 45 minutes and 8 seconds of arch West
of Greenwich.

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To make those calculations one must remember that 1 degree of arch is

divided into 60 minutes, while each minute of arch in turn contains 60
seconds, so that each degree of arch actually contains 3600 seconds.
32.5125 degrees of Latitude are 32 degrees and 0.5125*3600 = 1845
seconds.
1845 seconds are 1845/60 = 30 minutes and 0.75 * 60 = 45 seconds. The
fact that 32.5125 Latitude is a positive number means that its given North
of the Equator. 32.5125 degrees of Latitude are therefore 32 degrees 30
minutes and 45 seconds North of Equator.
Similarly it may be shown that 128.7523 degrees translate to 128 degrees
45 minutes and 8 seconds of arch. The fact that it is a negative number
means that it is given west of the Greenwich line.

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21

Setting of Interface to Ships Compass

From Operation Screen press I then select Compass:

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Supported interface types:

Synchro, Step-by-Step and NMEA-0183.
(Current-loop is not supported, although listed.)
The default setting is NMEA-0183
For Synchro or Step-by-Step please contact factory.
Synchro hardware set-up: 115VAC 50-400 Hz Reference, 90VAC S1, S2,
S3 Phases
Synchro 1 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 1-degree displacement of Compass
readout
Synchro 360 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 360 degrees displacement of
Compass readout
Synchro 180 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 180 degrees displacement of
Compass readout
Synchro 90 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 90 degrees displacement of
Compass readout
Synchro 60 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 60 degrees displacement of
Compass readout
Synchro 36 to 1:
1 degree of ship rotation corresponds to 36 degrees displacement of
Compass readout
Step-by-Step hardware setup: three Lines A, B, C and Common
Both types of Step-by-Step are supported: Common GND, and Common
Hot
Maximal voltage level allowed for active Line in case of Common GND: 20
to 70VDC
Maximal voltage level allowed for Common Hot: 20 to 70VDC
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22

Changing the Default NMEA-0183

Compass Sentence
From Operation Screen press I, then select Compass NMEA:

Select the relevant NMEA sentence then OK and save into SBC non-volatile memory.

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23

Setting up the Modem (IRD)

Lock/Unlock feedback
From Operation Screen press I, then select Sat.Validation:

From Operation Screen press I, then select External Hardware IP

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Add to the External Hardware Host IP Addresses field, which normally

contains the IP address of the CCU, the IP address of the modem.
In the illustration above: 172.22.34.18 is the IP of the CCU, 172.22.34.17
is the IP address thru which the SBC sees the modem.
Note that there is a ; delimiter between the two addresses.
Save ALL settings to SBC non-volatile memory

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24

Setting Up External Hardware IP

Note:
This procedure is part of the overall CCU/SBC IP
Address change-out Scheme, as described in FUF
procedure No. 45.
From Operation Screen press I, then select External Hardware IP:

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25

Setting Up NMEA-0183 Compass

Interface
First make sure that the CCU IP address is dialed in the External
Hardware IP parameter, as shown in the paragraph above.
From Operation Screen press H, then select Hardware Interface:

Make sure that the Enable Tab is on Yes and the Compass Input Tab is set-up as
shown below:

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At this point, if the Compass NMEA-0183 is indeed physically connected to

Com1 of the CCU, a valid heading angle will be shown under Reading
and the actual NMEA-0183 sentences may be viewed when pressing the
Show Input button:

As shown, the CCU default setting is to read $HEHDT type of sentence

with the correct Check-sum. If the compass produces a different type of
sentence, this may be set up as follows: From Operation Screen press I, then select Compass NMEA:

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Note that the setup below, allows selecting Enable Other Device which
will allow operation with pre-ambles other then the ones listed.
Note also that the setup allows disabling the Check-sum checking, in case
the Compass is not producing a valid Check-sum (we have seen some of
those too)
At its most generic setup, you may select ENABLE ALL DEVICES AND
SENTENCES.
This however, may cause problems, if the device produces more then one
type of sentence, which containing different heading data (Magnetic and
True heading for example).

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26

Enter Mechanical Zero Offsets

The physical orientation of each of the mechanical axes is uniquely defined
by the mechanical structure within +/- 1 degree.
The default encoder offsets are set to the following:

X-axis: -170.3 degrees

Y-axis: +39.5 degrees
Z-axis: +129.2 degrees

One may rightfully note that things would be a lot simpler if those default
values would be re-defined as true zeroes. Regretfully it is not so due to the
need of keeping backwards compatibility to the older systems.
To adjust the last degree, the AL-7103 axes should be brought to their
nominal zero locations (with the above encoder offsets), and then their
location adjusted as explained in the mechanical zero calibration
procedure (Orbit Document ATP25-0097-SYS).
The default offsets, given above, should be corrected accordingly. Lets
assume for instance, that the corrections are as follows:

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X-axis should be corrected by +0.5 degrees

Y-axis should be corrected by -0.3 degrees
Z-axis should be corrected by +0.4 degrees

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From Operation Screen press I, then select Axes Parameters:

Note that the Encoder Offsets entered per our example, are:

X-axis: -170.3 + 0.5 = -169.8 degrees

Y-axis: +39.5 0.3 = +39.2 degrees
Z-axis: +129.2 + 0.4 = +129.6 degrees

Save the new settings: press V, then select All and Enter.
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27

Logging Data Using the Graphic

Logger
The Logger is essentially a buffer able to record four simultaneous
channels of data having up to 40960 points each.
The sample rate may be set to as fast as one sample per tick (one tick
being 1/512=1.95 milliseconds) to as slow as one sample per 20000 ticks,
which is about every 39.06 seconds.
With the slowest sample rate one may therefore log for 40960*20000/512
= 1600000 seconds, which are about 444.4 hours or 18.5 days.
With the fastest sample rate one will log the max of 40960*1/512 = 80
seconds.
As a useful tip, I normally set the number of points to log to 30720 points,
corresponding to 60 seconds of logger time when sampling every tick. Then
I just adjust the tick number, knowing that every notch will give an
additional minute.
To access Logger, press L either from Operation Screen or
Maintenance Screen:

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For Logger configuration set-up, press C:

Once, the Logger is configured, select information curves for recording.

For example, well record the following: AGC in dB-Micro-Volts, Ships
Pitch, Ships Roll, and Ships Yaw for 6 minutes (360 seconds)
Press A, then select from the presented list AGC, AGC Dduv:

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Press A, then select from the presented list: Ship Orient(ation), Yaw

Press A, then select from the presented list: Ship Orient(ation), Pitch

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Press A, then select from the presented list: Ship Orient(ation), Roll

To change recording time, press C and set the following:

To start log, hit R.

During the measurement a progress bar is presented.
For a measurement, which takes a considerable time (more then a few
minutes), intermediate results will be presented.
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On completion of measurement, the recorded curves will be presented:

One may analyze the presented data by Scaling and Offsetting each of the
curves: press S.

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Offsetting the Yaw curve by 225.0 (degrees) to Yaw curve and AGC curve
by 75.0 (dB) will make the recording a lot more readable:

To save graph, press W. A Windows browse window will open select a

filename and save.
To read graph, press G. A Windows browse window will open select a
filename and open.
To save logger setup, press V. A Windows browse window will open
select a filename and save.
To recall logger setup, press E. A Windows browse window will open
select a filename and open.

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28

Running Axes in Test Trajectory

To configure test trajectory for the axes, from Operation Screen press I,
then select Axis Parameters:

The above setup will run each axis in a Sinusoidal trajectory with 90degree Amplitude and 12 second period:
Axis Angular Position = 90 * Sin (2Pi * t / 12) [degrees]

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Peaking twice per each period, at t = 3 seconds and t = 9 seconds at +90

and 90 degrees
X and Z axes will therefore move around 0 degree (-90 to 90 and back)
while Y axis will move around 75 degrees (-165 to +15 and back), due to
its 75 degree test trajectory offset.
One may see that the axes angular velocity will be given by:
Axis Angular Velocity = (90 * 2Pi / 12) * Cos (2Pi * t / 12) [deg/sec]
Peaking twice per each period, at t = 0 seconds and t = 6 seconds:
Axis Peak Angular Velocity = 90 * 2Pi / 12 = 47.1 [deg/sec]
One may also deduct that the axes angular acceleration will be given by:
Axis Angular Acceleration = - (90 * (2Pi / 12) ^2) * Sin (2Pi * t / 12)
[deg/sec/sec]
Peaking twice per each period, at t = 3 seconds and t = 9 seconds:
Axis Peak Angular Acceleration = 90 * (2Pi / 12) ^2 = 24.7 [deg/sec/sec]

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To run the axes in their test trajectories, from Operation Screen press
O, then select Test Traj:

The AL-7103 will respond by moving all three axes to their starting
positions (-90 degrees for X and Z, -165 for Y) and then move them on
their test trajectories forth and back, until stopped by the operator.
During this time, the graphical Logger may be utilized to record the axes
response.
For each axis the following may be monitored: Position Feedback, Position
Error, and Velocity Feedback
The example below shows typical X-axis response:
(Note that the Position Error curve is multiplied by 100 to bring it within
the readable scale)

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29

Monitoring Mtslink Program Work

Duration
It is sometimes desirable to know for how long the Mtslink application
program is working without being restarted.
To do so, from Operation Screen press H, and then select Application
Work time:

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30

Checking CCU and SBC Software

Versions
From Operation Screen press Version:

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31

Monitoring SBC Voltage and

Temperature Test Points
From Operation Screen press M to reach the Maintenance screen, then
select PowerState:

Note that test points out of normal range are highlighted and marked in
red letters
Note also that all test points may be recorded with the graphical data
logger.

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32

Setting IP Address of the SBC

Note:
This procedure is part of the overall CCU/SBC IP
Address change-out Scheme, as described in FUF
procedure No. 45.
To set SBC IP address, the MtsDock program must be used.
The MtsDock program may reside either on the CCU or on an external
computer (Laptop).
If an external computer is utilized, it must be connected to the SBC LAN
either by a point-to-point connection (temporarily disconnecting the CCU
and the modem) or thru a LAN hub.
To establish link with the SBC, activate the MtsDock program, press C
then select Connect:

The program will ask for the SBC current address:

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Enter the correct address, then OK

The program will respond by acknowledging the link was established.
To change the SBC IP address, press C then select Edit Bootline

The program will respond by presenting the SBC present address

arrangement:

Change the addresses to the required values and OK.

The new settings will take effect only after SBC Reboot.
You may reboot the SBC from the MtsDock program by pressing C, then
selecting Reboot.

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Note that after the SBC comes up, the CCU Mtslink will not communicate
with it until the CCU is not instructed to use the new SBC address:
From the main operation screen, press H to access Host, then select
Communication sub-menu:

Set the new SBC address.

As a result the communications between SBC and CCU will resume.

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33

Setting IP Address of the Win-CE AL7103-CCU

Note:
This procedure is part of the overall CCU/SBC IP
Address change-out Scheme, as described in FUF
procedure No. 45.
Two steps must be taken:

Setting of the IP address

Saving of new settings in Flush Memory

To set the IP address:

From Start Menu select Control Panel:

From Control Panel select Network and Dialup Connections:

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From Network & Dial-up Connections select PCI-DM9PCI1:

Default CCU settings are presented below.

Set IP Address, Subnet and Gateway as needed per application:

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To save in Flush Memory perform the following:

From Start select Run

Activate Browse menu:

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From Browse menu select Storage Card:

From Storage Card menu select Utilities:

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From Utilities menu select FLUSHREG:

Run \\FLUSHREG.EXE

The new settings are now saved in the CCU Flush-memory

Warning
The SBC to CCU Ethernet connection must be protected from a shared
network of any kind. If this connection must be part of a larger network, a
CISCO PIX 501 Firewall (or a similar device) must be used to buffer it from
the rest of the net.

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34

Setting IP Address of the Win 2000

AL-7100-CCU
Note:
This procedure is part of the overall CCU/SBC IP
Address change-out Scheme, as described in FUF
procedure No. 45.
To set the IP address, the regular Windows 2000 utilities must be used.
From Start select Control Panel and then Network & Dial-up
Connections:

Select the Local Area Connection:

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Select the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP):

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The above represents the default factory settings.

Set the IP address, Subnet mask and Default gateway per the particular
application

~Warning
The SBC to CCU Ethernet connection must be protected from a
shared network of any kind. If this connection must be part of a
larger network, a CISCO PIX 501 Firewall (or a similar device)
must be used to buffer it from the rest of the net.

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35

Setting of PPR and Control

Parameters for Different SDMs
SDM PPR (Pulse Per Revolution) is the number of pulses that the AL-7103
controller must produce for the stepper-motor driver so that the pedestal axis will
complete a whole 360-degree revolution.
The PPR number is a multiplication of the following ratios:

Stepper Motor Poles ratio

Stepper Driver Micro-step ratio
SDM Mechanical Reduction ratio

Stepper Motor Poles ratio for the motors used in AL-7103 project is 200:1.
Stepper Driver Micro-step ratio is:

IM805 Stepper driver 16:1

R702 Stepper driver.. 10:1

In first production batch of AL-7103, SDM Mechanical Reduction ratios

were:

AL-7103-C X and Y..20000:297 (approximately 67:1)

AL-7103-C Z (Azimuth)60:1
AL-7103-Ku X and Y10000:231 (approximately 43:1)
AL-7103-Ku Z (Azimuth). 2400:49 (approximately 49:1)

As all the above are equipped with IM805 Stepper driver, the overall Motor
PPR resulting as follows:
AL-7103-C X and Y:
Mtr PPR Numerator (200*16*20000)..64000000 (448000000)
Mtr PPR Denumerator (1*1*297)....297.. (2079)
AL-7103-C Z (Azimuth):
Mtr PPR Numerator (200*16*60)192000
Mtr PPR Denumerator (1*1*1)....1
AL-7103-Ku X and Y:
Mtr PPR Numerator (200*16*10000)..32000000
Mtr PPR Denumerator (1*1*231)....231

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AL-7103-Ku Z (Azimuth):
Mtr PPR Numerator (200*16*2400)7680000
Mtr PPR Denumerator(1*1*49)...49
Starting with AL-7103 systems S/N 30 and higher (to be supplied from
Orbit starting March 2006) will contain a unified SDM with Mechanical
Reduction ratio of 60:1. It will be equipped with the R702 Stepper Driver.
New SDM will therefore have the following setting:
Mtr PPR Numerator (200*10*60)120000
Mtr PPR Denumerator (1*1*1)....1
Changing of SDM, results in a change of Mechanical Reduction ratio,
which in turn affects some additional settings of the Axis Control
parameters, as shown below.
Setting of SDM PPR and Control parameters is protected by a High-level
password. Please contact Orbit Tech service to get the password. The
password will remain valid for a limited amount of time.
From Operation Screen press U, the following will appear:

Then type in the valid password

The screen will change to allow access to high-level parameter settings.

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Press M to get to the Maintenance screen:

Select Pedestal-X Config:

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For New SDM, please set the following fields:

Closed Position Loop

L-Step P-Gain..4.0
S-Step P-Gain..6.0
Integral Gain..12.0

Closed Velocity Loop

Diffr Gain.0.096
Ref Limit60.0

Closed Loop General

Acl Limit...90.0

Encoder Parameters
Mtr PPRNum..120000
Mtr PPRDen.1

Test Trajectory
Amplitude..90.0
Period12.0
All the rest of the parameters should not be affected
After setting of all parameter press OK (Enter)
Select Pedestal-Y Config, repeat as per above.
Select Pedestal-Z Config, repeat as per above.
Press Esc to return to Operation screen
Save the new settings: press V, then select All and Enter.

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36

Setting up the Satellite Modem (IRD)

Lock/Unlock feedback, via RS232
Controls
Same as in Paragraph 22, only have to connect cable to AL-7103-CCU
Com2 so that the modem IRD dry contact will connect pins 7 and 8 when
indicating Lock.

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37

Log ComtechEFData CDM-570L Data

Using the Graphic Logger
If the Rs232 Com Port of the CCU is not occupied, it may be utilized to
monitor Satellite Modem status.
Currently only ComtechEFData CDM-570L is supported.
To make this work a three lead cable must be connected between the
Rs232 Com of the CCU and Remote Control port of the CDM-570L. The
cable must have a pin-to-pin connection:

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Pin 2 of CCU to Pin 2 of CDM-570L

Pin 3 of CCU to Pin 3 of CDM-570L
Pin 5 of CCU to Pin 5 of CDM-570L

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From Operation Screen press H, then select Hardware Interface:

Make sure to set the Com parameter according to the Rs232 Com available
for this operation. Normally this will be Com-2 in AL-7103-CCU (Win-CE)
and Com-1 in AL-7100-CCU (Win-2000)
Make sure to set the Baud Rate as to setting of the CDM-570L
Once a connection with the CDM-570L is established, BER, RSL and
Eb/No fields will present relevant numbers as read from the modem.
Modem Rx Lock/Unlock status will also be displayed.

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The above parameters may also be logged using the AL-7103 graphical
logger:

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38

Log External Spectrum Analyzer

Marker Using the Graphic Logger
If the Rs232 Com Port of the CCU is not occupied, it may be utilized to
monitor external Spectrum Analyzer marker.
Currently supported models:
Anritsu MS-2665
UnaOhm EP-307, EP-319 and EP-3000
An appropriate serial communications cable the Rs232 Com of the CCU
and Remote Control port of the Spectrum Analyzer must be connected.
From Operation Screen press H, then select Hardware Interface:

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Select the appropriate Spectrum Analyzer type.

Select the CCU Com-port utilized for this operation
Make sure that the Spectrum Analyzer serial communication is set up
according to what is displayed below the Com-port number.
It must be noted that AL-7103 does not attempt to change any Spectrum
Analyzer settings it just reads its marker value.
It is suggested to perform the measurements with Spectrum Analyzer set
at:

RBW = 10KHz
VBW = 10Hz
SPAN = 0 (Zero-span)

Once a connection with the Spectrum Analyzer is established, level fields

will present relevant numbers as read from it.
Spectrum Analyzer marker level may also be logged using the AL-7103
graphical logger:

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An example of a recording of the Rx signal strength measured both by a

Spectrum Analyzer and Narrow Band receiver using AL-7103-C antenna is
given below:

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39

Setting the Narrow Band Receiver

(NBR) Lock/Unlock Feedback
From Operation Screen press I, then select Sat.Validation:

Save ALL settings to SBC non-volatile memory

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40

Selecting Narrow Band Receiver

From Operation Screen press M, to go to the Maintenance screen.
Press Src on the Receiver sub-window and select NBR:

Save ALL settings to SBC non-volatile memory

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41

Selecting Narrow Band Receiver IFBandwidth

Make sure that Narrow Band receiver is selected (see 39, above)
From Operation Screen press I, then select Receiver:

Select NBR IfBw: 50 KHz, 150 KHz or 300 KHz

Save ALL settings to SBC non-volatile memory

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42

Spectrum Analyzer screen with

Narrow Band Receiver (NBR)
Please refer to Spectrum Analyzer Screen operation paragraphs 6,7 and 8
When using the SAS in conjunction with the Narrow Band receiver, one
must take into consideration that the NBR finest resolution is 0.005 MHz
(5 KHz) and the IF filters (which effectively function as Resolution
Bandwidth of the SAS) may be set to 50, 150 and 300 KHz bands
Below is an example of an actual signal on Amos satellite, which is
comprised of two quite narrow adjacent carriers.
The signal, as shown on a Anritsu MS2721A Spectrum Analyzer:

The AL-7103 SAS Setup:

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The same signal image taken with a 30 KHz RBW:

The same signal image taken with the AL-7103 SAS, with NBR at 50 KHz:

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The same signal image taken with the AL-7103 SAS, with NBR at 150 KHz:

The same signal image taken with the AL-7103 SAS, with NBR at 300 KHz:

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Wide band scans are also possible, one must only pay attention to the
scan resolution: for as scan of 200 MHz, like in the example below, a
resolution of 0.1 MHz with 8-Point Averaging will take about a minute.
The NBR is set to a 300 KHz bandwidth.

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Just for comparison, the same scan on an Anritsu MS2721A looks like
this:

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43

Setting Up GPS Output on CCU Com2

To set up the GPS Output:

1. From Operation Screen, press H, then select Hardware
Interface for opening the Host Hardware Interface window.

2. Verify that Enable Hardware Interface on Enable tab is set to

Yes, and press Apply.

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3. Select GPS Output tab and set parameters as following:

Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set
Set

Enable to Yes
COM Port Number to 2
Baud Rate to 4800
Format to 8_NON_1
Device to GP
Sentence to GGA
Send Interval to 1 Second

4. Press OK when complete.

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44

Setting Up Cease-Tx Control

Purpose
The below explains the monitoring and control of the AL-7103 Tx Chain
with all BUCs currently defined as valid options.
The Tx-Chain consists of BUC, ADMx, and the logic for automatic control
over Tx-enable by the AL-7103 software (Cease Transmit).

Tx Chain Configuration Screen

Tx Chain screen contains the following:

BUC Model:
BUC Model selection list:
Undefined, 4W Ku KoSpace, 8W Ku KoSpace, 8W Ku Agilis, 8W Ku
NxGnWv, 8W C Belcom, 10W C Codan, 20W C Codan.

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Input (dBm):
L-Band signal power measured on the output of the ADMx in dBm. If
ADMx to BUC input losses are taken into consideration, this value has a
good correlation of the L-band power injected into the BUC
Input (Volts):
L-Band signal power as measured by the ADMx monitor, in Volts, before
the conversion to dBm.
Output (dBm):
BUC output power indication in dBm. This is only presented for BUCs
equipped with a output power monitor compatible with the SBC interface:
10w and 20w Codan, 8w KoSpace. If not active, this display will present a
blank field.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer Note:
Neither Input(dBm) nor Output(dBm) are designed as precision
measurement devices. The presented values have more of an indicative
quality, their accuracy strongly dependent on the BUC brand as well as
the current environmental conditions.
Regardless, those tools have been proven as extremely effective aids for the
in-field integration process.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Temperature (degC):
BUC temperature indication in degC. This is only presented for BUCs
equipped with a temperature monitor compatible with the SBC interface:
10w and 20w Codan, 8w KoSpace. If not active, this display will present a
blank field.
Control Button: Tx Control
The button presents a select list with the following options:
None/On/Off/Auto.
Default: On (To prevent the need of Configuration change, after software
upgrade on a system equipped with KoSpace 4w BUC)
Last selection is saved in non-volatile memory if Save Maintenance (or
Save All) is activated.
( Note that in the present version this control has only three states:
On/Off/Auto )

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Function:
When changed to On The AL-7103 software should send a Tx-On
command
When changed to Off The AL-7103 software should send a Tx-Off
command
When set to Auto The AL-7103 software will send a Tx-On command if
all of the Tx Dependency-enabled conditions are true for the duration of
minimal time of two consecutive seconds. The AL-7103 software will send
a Tx-Off command if one, or more, of the Tx Dependency-enabled
conditions are false.
When set to None The AL-7103 software will not send any commands.
When Tx Control is set to either On,Off, or None the Tx Dependency
parameters should be disabled (presented in light gray)
Control Button: Tx Dependency
The button opens a configuration sub-screen with the following
parameters:

Function:
Min Elevation [deg]: Tx will be stopped if the antenna Elevation angle,
relative to the Earth horizon, goes below the dialed value.
IRD Lock: If set to Yes, will stop Tx if satellite IRD Lock turns to Unlock
Track Error: If set to Yes, will stop Tx if the Tracking error produced by
the ConScan Step-track, exceeds the Track Error Threshold value, as set
in Step-track configuration sub-screen
Track Mode: If set to Yes, will stop Tx if the current mode is not Steptrack
Blockage: If set to Yes, will stop Tx if Antenna view is blocked according
to Antenna Blockage Zones settings
BUC Fault: If set to Yes, will stop Tx if BUC Fault is identified.

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Note that when a Cease-Tx condition is identified, the BUC Tx is stopped

immediately (less then 100msec), while when the Cease-Tx condition
disappears, the BUC Tx is renewed only after a 2 second delay. This is in
compliance with regulatory requirements.
All the above is relevant only if the Control is set to Auto and the
particular selected BUC has the appropriate interface for Tx Control: 10w
and 20w Codan, 4w and 8w KoSpace.

BUC Status Screen

BUC Status screen is sequentially accessible thru the GpsTunerBUC
control label on the Maintenance screen. BUC Status screen will present
the following status:
For 10W C Codan and 20W C Codan Models:

---------- System Status --------------PA Status: On/Off

Transmit On: On/Off
LO Freq (MHz): 7300, 7375, 7600, 7675
Tx Atten (dB): 0,4,8,12

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------------ Fault Status ---------------PA: OK/Failed

Fan: OK/Failed
Tx Power Alarm: OK/Failed
LO: OK/Failed
Internal: OK/Failed
Temperature: OK/Failed
Note that LO will indicate Failed if there is no 10MHz sync on the BUC
input.
For 8W Ku KoSpace

Tx : On/Off

Fan : On/Off

PLL : OK/Failed

Note that PLL will indicate Failed if there is no 10MHz sync on the BUC
input.
All the rest of the BUC selections will show as:

BUC Serial number

Hardware ID screen presents BUC S/n for BUCs which are able to provide
this info. The list of those BUCs is now extended to: 8W Ku KoSpace, 8W
Ku NxGnWv, 10W C Codan and 20W C Codan.

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COM-1 Set-up for BUCs using Comm-link:

For selected BUC using a serial communication link to converse with the
SBC (such as 8w Ku KoSpace or 10w/20w C Codan), the COM-1 port
must be set up accordingly:

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45

Changing the CCU/SBC IP Addresses

General Scheme
When changing the IP address scheme of CCU and SBC, the following
actions must be taken:

Change SBC IP address, sub-net mask and gateway as per FUF

procedure No. 32

Change CCU IP address, sub-net mask and gateway as per FUF

procedure No. 33 or 34

Set the new CCU address for the SBC Ext Hardware IP as per
FUF procedure No. 24.

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46

Setting the AGC Threshold Level

From Operation Screen press D, then select Set Threshold:

Enter a number in dBm as per the following guideline:

1. The Threshold level should be at least by 3 dB higher the off-satellite
noise background. To check the off-satellite noise move the antenna
away of the satellite (may use the Stow-up function for that) and check
the AGC level.
2. The Threshold level should be of course lower then the selected
tracking signal level, but it would be a good practice to keep it by no
more then 7 dB down of the signal level.
3. Note also that the Threshold level is also accessible via the Step-track
configuration screen.

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47

Checking Netzer Encoder Coarse

Accuracy
This function requires access to parameters protected by a High-level
password. Please contact Orbit Tech service to get the password. The
password will remain valid for a limited amount of time.
From Operation Screen press U, the following will appear:

Then type in the valid password.

The screen will change to allow access to high-level parameter settings.
Press M, for Maintenance screen, then select one of the system axes X,
Y or Z.
For X and Y axes: use Slew to move the axis all the way till CCW limit.
After the limit is reached (RLm indicator flashing) move the axes a few
degrees back so that the RLm indicator disappears.

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Access axis configuration:

Set the Imitation parameter to Yes.

Also enter the value of 0.008 to into Closed Velocity Loop S/L-Step
parameter.
Do not change any other parameters, even if they look different from the
illustration above!
Hit enter, and observe that the Imit indicatior is flashing:

Access Mode and activate Encoder Init. Note that this will cause the
Encoder to present its Coarse readout. This readout does not represent
the true angular position of the axis! After the activation of the Encoder
Init both Imit and Zro indicators will flash:

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Access Logger and Log the following parameter for 120 seconds:
Pedestal X -> General -> Netzer F2C_Err
Access Mode and activate Pedestal-X Slew in CW direction with 1 deg/sec
velocity
Immediately access the Logger and start the log.
After the log has completed the 2 minutes recording, immediately access
Mode and activate Halt
Access Configuration and turn Imitation back to No. Hit Enter. Make
sure that the Imit indication disappeared and Zro indication is still on.
Access Mode and activate Encoder Init. Make sure that the encoder
performs its normal initialization routine and Zro indication went off too.
Go back to the recorded data and check that the StdDev value is less the
0.2 deg.
Example of a good encoder recording:

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Example of a bad encoder recording:

Example of good encoder on the same graph-scale as the bad one, for
comparison:

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48

IMU Correction by Step-Track mode

1. Acquire a satellite and let the system step-track on it. Make sure thats
the correct satellite by noting that the Satellite Modem has locked or
any other way. As the system is never perfectly aligned, there will be
some degree of misalignment in the Az/El Deviation Cross-hair display:

2. Access the Step-track configuration: InConfig (I)-> Step-Track (S) ->

Ku:

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Change the IMU Correction parameter from No to Yes

Note that after a few moments, the Az/El Deviation Cross-hair display will
move to its center on the Azimuth axis:

At this point the AL-7103 system does not use the Ships compass for
tracking. It relays solemnly on its internal integrated vertical Rate-gyro
corrected by Step-track. System operation will not be degraded and in
some cases, when the quality of the Ships compass is questionable, may
improve.

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However, one must take into account, that when in IMU Correction, the
system relays entirely on the integrity of the AGC feedback to correct the
IMU readings.
That means that if for some reason the signal is lost (ex: blockage by ships
superstructure), the IMU readings will be corrupted, and signal reacquisition problematic and in some cases impossible.
If this occurs, the system mode must be returned to normal, meaning
IMU Correction parameter set to No. After doing so, please wait 6
minutes, than activate Acquisition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: Unattended operation in IMU Correction mode is not
recommended. This mode is designed as an additional tool for Shipsheading related faults isolation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Logging of the Ships compass in reference to the IMU Corrected Yaw
Access the graphical logger and select the following curves:
Curve-1:

Compass - Rs232

-> Rs232

Curve-2:

Ship Orient YPR

-> Yaw

Curve-3:

Calculation Difference

-> C1-C2

In the below example, a log recording has been taken when the ship
moving in heading from 60-deg to 120-deg and back in a sinusoidal
manner.
Note that the difference between the two curves (C1-C2) is more-or-less a
straight line, with close to a zero value.
Warning: Due to irregularities in the display graphs, 360 deg jumps may
occur in the presented curves. Disregard those.

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Appendix A

Status Messages

In case of a malfunction, the CCU displays a Message, Warning or an

Error, depending on the malfunction classification.
The messages are classified into three categories, each identified by a
different color:

Message - green (e.g. System Shut-Down, Pedestal Y Axis Jammed)

Warning blue (e.g. Compass Communication Failed)

Error red (e.g. Pedestal X Axis Encoder Fault).

The meaning of CommLink Number

Each Status message is designated by a Communication Link Number.
This number is not presented on the controller screen, but has significance
when polling the SBC for Status via the Communication Link.
The SBC response for such a query is a string of ASCII characters each
representing a Hexadecimal nibble (four binary bits), altogether creating a
large Hexadecimal number. When converted to its Binary representation
each bit of this number is representing a corresponding Status message.
For instance, lets assume the following Status messages appear on the
controller screen:
CommLink No: 2
Controller screen label: Warning: Compass Communication Failed
Description: No valid communication frames were received on the NMEA-0183
compass Com port for over 1.5 seconds.
CommLink No: 3
Controller screen label: Warning: GPS Communication Failed
Description: No valid communication frames were received on the GPS Com
port for over 5 seconds.
CommLink No: 4
Controller screen label: Warning: No GPS Position Updates
Description: No GPS position-fix frames were received on the GPS Com port
for over 30 seconds.

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CommLink No: 15
Controller screen label: Error: SDU/IMU Power out of tolerance
Description: IMU +5VDC, or the Servo Drive power indications exceeded the
predefined tolerance limits

CommLink No: 19
Controller screen label: Warning: System not initialized
Description: The AL-7103 didnt undergo the process of initialization which
includes all axes Encoder init as well as IMU init.
The SBC response for Status pole will bare the form of:
100 CommLink No: 2
1000 CommLink No: 3
1.0000 CommLink No: 4
1000.0000.0000.0000 CommLink No: 15
1000.0000.0000.0000.0000 CommLink No: 19
-------------------------------1000.1000.0000.0001.1100 = 0x8801C
The SBC will therefore respond with a string of ASCII characters: 8801C.

The following pages list and describe all available status messages.

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Error Messages:
CommLink No: 15
Controller screen label: Error: SDU/IMU Power out of tolerance
Description: IMU +5VDC, or the Servo Drive power indications exceeded the
predefined tolerance limits

CommLink No: 17
Controller screen label: Error: Restart timed out
Description: The system was not able to complete the restart routine in the
predefined time (normally set to 10 minutes)

CommLink No: 36
Controller screen label: Error: Pedestal X Axis Jammed
Description: No movement is recorded from Pedestal X-axis encoder, while the
controller produces a steering command

CommLink No: 37
Controller screen label: Error: Pedestal Y Axis Jammed
Description: No movement is recorded from Pedestal Y-axis encoder, while the
controller produces a steering command

CommLink No: 53
Controller screen label: Error: No Maintenance Configuration File
Description: The SBC couldnt find the Maintenance Configuration file in its
Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

CommLink No: 54
Controller screen label: Error: No Operational Configuration File
Description: The SBC couldnt find the Operational modes Configuration file in
its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

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CommLink No: 55
Controller screen label: Error: No Satellite Database File
Description: The SBC couldnt find the Satellite Database file in its Flash
memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

CommLink No: 57
Controller screen label: Error: No System Configuration File
Description: The SBC couldnt find the System Parameters Configuration file
in its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

CommLink No: 58
Controller screen label: Error: No Valid IMU Calibration File
Description: The SBC couldnt find the IMU Calibration file in its Flash
memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

CommLink No: 100

Controller screen label: Error: Satellite File Read Error
Description: The SBC couldnt read the Satellite database file from its Flash
memory (disk C:\), during operation.

CommLink No: 104

Controller screen label: Pedestal X NE2 Encoder Fault
Description: The BiSS digital communication protocol with axis-X NE2
encoder has more then 10% failure rate.

CommLink No: 105

Controller screen label: Pedestal Y NE2 Encoder Fault
Description: The BiSS digital communication protocol with axis-Y NE2
encoder has more then 10% failure rate.

CommLink No: 106

Controller screen label: Pedestal Z NE2 Encoder Fault
Description: The BiSS digital communication protocol with axis-Z NE2
encoder has more then 10% failure rate.

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CommLink No: 111

Controller screen label: Pedestal X NE2 Enc Init Fault
Description: The axis-X NE2 encoder initialization has failed.

CommLink No: 112

Controller screen label: Pedestal Y NE2 Enc Init Fault
Description: The axis-Y NE2 encoder initialization has failed.

CommLink No: 113

Controller screen label: Pedestal Z NE2 Enc Init Fault
Description: The axis-Z NE2 encoder initialization has failed.

CommLink No: 119

Controller screen label: Error: Pedestal Z Axis Jammed
Description: No movement is recorded from Pedestal Z-axis encoder, while the
controller produces a steering command

CommLink No: 121

Controller screen label: Error: SBC Pwr/Tmpr out of tolerance
Description: One of the SBC power indications (+5v,+/-12v,+2.5v etc.)
exceeded the predefined tolerance limits. This error will also appear if the SBC
internal temperature exceeded its tolerance limits.

CommLink No: 126

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-X Servo Power Loss
Description: The SDM-X Power is down or it is disconnected.

CommLink No: 127

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-Y Servo Power Loss
Description: The SDM-Y Power is down or it is disconnected.

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CommLink No: 128

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-Z Servo Power Loss
Description: The SDM-Z Power is down or it is disconnected.

CommLink No: 129

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-X Stepper Driver Fault
Description: The SDM-X Stepper Driver Fault indicator is on (red). Relevant
only with IM805 Stepper drivers

CommLink No: 130

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-Y Stepper Driver Fault
Description: The SDM-Y Stepper Driver Fault indicator is on (red). Relevant
only with IM805 Stepper drivers

CommLink No: 131

Controller screen label: Error: SDM-Z Stepper Driver Fault
Description: The SDM-Z Stepper Driver Fault indicator is on (red). Relevant
only with IM805 Stepper drivers

CommLink No: 165

Controller screen label: Error: I/O Bus Fault
Description: Starting with SBC software Ver4.22 in conjunction with Altera
version 0xCDXX, the SBC can recognize a fault in I/O PC Bus by writing to
Altera and reading the value back. If the value is not the same an
appropriate message is produced.

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Warning Messages:
CommLink No: 0
Controller screen label: Warning: LNB Power Over-Current
Description: The controller 13/18VDC power supply, feeding the LNB is
overloaded
CommLink No: 2
Controller screen label: Warning: Compass Communication Failed
Description: No valid communication frames were received on the NMEA-0183
compass Com port for over 1.5 seconds.
CommLink No: 3
Controller screen label: Warning: GPS Communication Failed
Description: No valid communication frames were received on the GPS Com
port for over 5 seconds.
CommLink No: 4
Controller screen label: Warning: No GPS Position Updates
Description: No GPS position-fix frames were received on the GPS Com port
for over 30 seconds.

CommLink No: 19
Controller screen label: Warning: System not initialized
Description: The AL-7103 didnt undergo the process of initialization which
includes all axes Encoder init as well as IMU init.

CommLink No: 25
Controller screen label: Warning: LNB voltage out of tolerance
Description: The controller 13/18VDC power supply, feeding the LNB, is
exceeding its predefined tolerance levels

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CommLink No: 33
Controller screen label: Warning: Antenna view blocked
Description: The Antenna has moved into one of the predefined blockage areas

CommLink No: 50
Controller screen label: Warning: No communications with host
Description: The communications with the host computer, identified by a
predefined IP address, has timed-out (10 seconds).

CommLink No: 69
Controller screen label: Warning: Signal below threshold
Description: The controller signal strength indication (AGC) on the selected
frequency is lower then the predefined threshold level.

CommLink No: 70
Controller screen label: Warning: IMU-ACU Communication Fault
Description: The communications between IMU and the controller has timedout.

CommLink No: 102

Controller screen label: Warning: Receiver Cal Table not Found
Description: The SBC couldnt find the internal wide-band receiver
linearization calibration file in its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up.

CommLink No: 138

Controller screen label: Warning: BUC L-Band Cal Table not Found
Description: The SBC couldnt find the ADMx (BUC Input) analogue detector
linearization calibration file in its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up. This
Warning will be issued only if the BUC L-Band Power indicator is enabled.

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CommLink No: 139

Controller screen label: Warning: BUC L-Band Cal Table not Found
Description: The SBC couldnt find the BUC output analogue detector
linearization calibration file in its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up. This
Warning will be issued only if the BUC Rf-Power indicator is enabled.

CommLink No: 140

Controller screen label: Warning: PolSwitch not connected
Description: The SBC recognized a situation in which both Forward and
Reverse limit sensors of the PolSwitch are ON. This is interpreted as a not
connected PolSwitch.

CommLink No: 138

Controller screen label: Warning: BUC L-Band Cal Table not Found
Description: The SBC couldnt find the BUC analogue detector linearization
calibration file in its Flash memory (disk C:\), on power-up. This Warning will
be issued only if the BUC L-Band Power indicator is enabled.

CommLink No: 148

Controller screen label: Warning: X-Axis Forward Limit
Description: The position encoder readout of the X-axis exceeded its Forward
Limit configuration definition.

CommLink No: 149

Controller screen label: Warning: X-Axis Reverse Limit
Description: The position encoder readout of the X-axis exceeded its Reverse
Limit configuration definition.

CommLink No: 150

Controller screen label: Warning: Y-Axis Forward Limit
Description: The position encoder readout of the Y-axis exceeded its Forward
Limit configuration definition.

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CommLink No: 151

Controller screen label: Warning: Y-Axis Reverse Limit
Description: The position encoder readout of the Y-axis exceeded its Reverse
Limit configuration definition.

CommLink No: 161

Controller screen label: Warning: iNBR Interface not recognized
CommLink No: 162
Controller screen label: Warning: iNBR High LO Unlocked
CommLink No: 163
Controller screen label: Warning: iNBR Low LO Unlocked
CommLink No: 164
Controller screen label: Warning: Tracking Error Exceeds Limit
CommLink No: 167
Controller screen label: Warning: Octans-IMU: Alignment in process
CommLink No: 168
Controller screen label: Warning: Octans-IMU: Anomaly
CommLink No: 169
Controller screen label: Warning: Octans-IMU: Data not ready
CommLink No: 170
Controller screen label: Warning: BUC Tx Stopped
Description: BUC Transmission stopped by the Controller

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Messages (Info):
CommLink No: 16
Controller screen label: Auto-Restart in progress
Description: System is going thru initialization stage including IMU init,
Encoder init and optionally, Satellite acquisition

CommLink No: 18
Controller screen label: Acquiring a Satellite
Description: System is currently acquiring a satellite

CommLink No: 19
Controller screen label: System no initialized
Description: Encoder and IMU were not yet initialized.

CommLink No: 20
Controller screen label: System Shutdown
Description: System was shut down

CommLink No: 41
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-X Jammed
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-X Jammed fault (No. 36)

CommLink No: 42
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-Y Jammed
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-Y Jammed fault (No. 37)

CommLink No: 45
Controller screen label: PolSkew Disabled, Polarizer Jammed
Description: System was shut down due to the fact that no movement was
recorded from Pedestal Z-axis encoder, while the controller produced a
steering command

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CommLink No: 46
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-X Encoder
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-X Encoder Fault (No.
8), or Pedestal-X NE2 Encoder Fault (No. 104), or Pedestal-X NE2 Enc Init
Fault (No. 111)

CommLink No: 47
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-Y Encoder
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-Y Encoder Fault (No. 9),
or Pedestal-Y NE2 Encoder Fault (No. 105) or Pedestal-Y NE2 Enc Init
Fault (No. 112)

CommLink No: 59
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Power Loss
Description: System was shut down due to SDU/IMU power lout of
tolerance (No. 15)

CommLink No: 60
Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Restart Time
Description: System was shut down due to Restart time-out (No. 17)

CommLink No: 117

Controller screen label: IRD Validation in process
Description: IRD is being re-validated during Step-track operation. Note that
this message is presented for a very short time and is barely visible on the
controller screen.

CommLink No: 120

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-Z Jammed
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-Z Jammed fault (No.
119)

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CommLink No: 122

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SBC Power/Tempr
Description: System was shut down due to SBC Pwr/Tmpr lout of tolerance
(No. 121)

CommLink No: 125

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, Ped-Z Encoder
Description: System was shut down due to Pedestal-Z NE2 Encoder Fault
(No. 106) or Pedestal-Z NE2 Enc Init Fault (No. 113)

CommLink No: 132

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-X Power
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-X Servo Power Loss fault
(No. 126)

CommLink No: 133

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-Y Power
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-Y Servo Power Loss fault
(No. 127)

CommLink No: 134

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-Z Power
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-Z Servo Power Loss fault
(No. 128)

CommLink No: 135

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-X Drv Flt
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-X Stepper Driver Fault fault
(No. 129)

CommLink No: 136

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-Y Drv Flt
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-Y Stepper Driver Fault fault
(No. 130)

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CommLink No: 137

Controller screen label: System Shutdown, SDM-Z Drv Flt
Description: System was shut down due to SDM-Z Stepper Driver Fault fault
(No. 131)

CommLink No: 141

Controller screen label: System Halted, Axes Jammed
Description: System has experienced multiple jammed-axis faults. More than
6 occurred in two minutes the system is therefore halted.

CommLink No: 154

Controller screen label: Ax-X Ne2 Enc Reg Read Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-X Ne2 encoder, one of the registers
was not read correctly (CRC check failed). If not accompanied by other
Warning or Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-read.

CommLink No: 155

Controller screen label: Ax-Y Ne2 Enc Reg Read Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-Y Ne2 encoder, one of the registers was
not read correctly (CRC check failed). If not accompanied by other Warning or
Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-read.

CommLink No: 156

Controller screen label: Ax-Z Ne2 Enc Reg Read Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-Z Ne2 encoder, one of the registers was
not read correctly (CRC check failed). If not accompanied by other Warning or
Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-read.

CommLink No: 157

Controller screen label: Ax-X Ne2 Enc Reg Write Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-X Ne2 encoder, writing to one of its
registers write failed (read-back failed). If not accompanied by other Warning
or Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-written.

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CommLink No: 158

Controller screen label: Ax-Y Ne2 Enc Reg Write Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-Y Ne2 encoder, writing to one of its
registers write failed (read-back failed). If not accompanied by other Warning
or Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-written.

CommLink No: 159

Controller screen label: Ax-Z Ne2 Enc Reg Write Failed
Description: While initialization of Axis-Z Ne2 encoder, writing to one of its
registers write failed (read-back failed). If not accompanied by other Warning
or Error, this is just FYI, as the register is automatically re-written.

CommLink No: 160

Controller screen label: iNBR Validation in process
Description: NBR is being re-validated during Step-track operation. Note that
this message is presented for a very short time and is barely visible on the
controller screen.

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Appendix B

SBC Flash-Disk Memory Map

The SBC Flash-disc memory map is arranged as follows:

Note: Configuration files having Default Values are marked in shaded gray.

Root Directory Files:

File: VxWorks
Description: AL-7200 software executable
File: Bootrom.sys
Description: Program booting the VxWork application into memory and
executing it.
File: Booline.dat
Description: Bootrom.sys program parameters, namely Ethernet driver
definitions
Notes: Will exist only if a change is made from the default settings as
appear in code.
File: Vga_8x16
Description: VGA Screen low-level driver
Notes: Used if a VGA Screen is connected to the ACU
File: csn
Description: ACU serial number

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Directory al_7200:
Directory ALGN7200:
Files: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7, M8
Description: Alignment files, which may or may not exist.
Notes: Will appear is an alignment process was performed. Used only with
older systems. Not used in AL-7103

Directory CONF7200:
File: bucltab
Description: ADMx power output DC voltage monitor calibration table
Notes: Applicable for systems utilizing ADMx/BDMx
File: bucrftab
Description: BUC power output DC voltage monitor calibration table
Notes: Applicable for systems utilizing a BUC with DC voltage monitor (ex
8W C Belcom ). Currently not used.
File: coordsv
Description: GPS coordinates. Saved by user. Default values: Orbit location
File: imusave
Description: IMU calibration tables.
File: lnbsave
Description: LNB Noise floor correction
File: mntsave
Description: Maintenance screen parameters
File: nbralcsv
Description: NBR Automatic Level Control linearity calibration table
File: nbrsave
Description: NBR linearity calibration table

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File: oprsave
Description: Operational Screen Modes configuration parameters
File: rcvsave
Description: Wide-band receiver calibration table
File: stlsave
Description: Last selected satellite
File: syssave
Description: Operational Screen System configuration parameters

Directory DBAS7200:
File: satfile
Description: Satellite Database

Directory LOG7200:
File: CHistory
Description: Recorded history of recent events Errors, Warnings & Info
messages.

Directory MESR7200:
Files: User defined
Descrption: Graphical Logger files
Notes: If Logger is activated from Mtslink, the files are saved only on the
Host running the Mtslink.

Directory SETUP
Files: User defined
Description: Graphical Logger setups

Directory SPA7200:
Files: User Defined
Description: Spectrum Analyzer files
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Directory SETUP
Files: User defined
Description: Spectrum Analyzer setups

Directory SSV
Files: User defined
Description: Spectral Satellite Validation files

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Appendix C

Polarization Skew Alignment

Procedure

1. Access InConfig->Axes Parameters and set Alignment Offsets PolSkew to zero.

2. Activate Acquire
3. Wait till the AL-7103 goes thru all the acquisition stages and reaches Step-track
4. Turn AL-7103 to Peak
5. Make sure Tracking Signal has at least 8 dB/Hz on the AL-7103 Spectrum Analyzer
screen
6. Change Polarization Switch to the opposite Polarization
7. Make sure there is no signal on the opposite Polarization just the noise level
8. Change Step-Track setup to: Step-track Axes: Sk.
9. Make sure that the following parameters are set correctly: PolSkew Step-type:
ON_MIN, Axis 3 Sector: 10.0 and Axis 3 Velocity: 20.0 (in the newly supplied
models these are part of the default settings)
10. Set Signal threshold to 80 dBm (write down the original setting!)
11. Activate Step-track
12. Log Step-track, PolSkew Deviation for 2 minutes
13. Read mean value of the deviation.
14. Insert the mean value into the PolSkew Offset with an opposite sign (if the logged
deviation was +2.0 deg, have to enter 2.0 into PolSkew Offset). Note that the offset
value should not exceed 5 degrees in either direction. Thats unless the satellite has
a known Polarization Skew anomaly (Ex: most of the Eutelsat satellites have 3.5
degree offset from nominal)
15. Turn AL-7103 to Peak
16. Return the Polarization Switch back to it original position
17. Return the Step-Track setup back to Step-track Axes: ConScan
18. Return the Signal threshold to its original setting
19. Activate Acquire
20. To validate that the Polarization Skew is correct, repeat steps 3-13. Make sure that
now the recorded PolSkew Deviation mean value is within +/- 0.5 degree. Then
repeat steps 15-19
21. Save settings in non-volatile memory

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