
Field Service Procedure – Replacement Pol Pot Kit, 6003A/6004
Page1of7
Document No
135301 Rev B
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1. BriefSummary:
Troubleshootingdocumentfordiagnosingafaultwithandreplacingthepolpotonthe6003A/6004seriesantennas.
2. Checklist:
VerifyRangeofMotion
VerifyPotFeedback
MeasureResistance
3. TheoryofOperation:
Apolangpotentiometerisusedtoprovideafeedbackreferenceforthepositionofthefeedassemblyforlinear
polarization.Thepotactsasapotentialdividergivinganoutputvoltagewhichvariesfrom0Vdcto5Vdc.ThePCU
convertsthevoltageoutputfromthepotintothenumericalvaluedisplayedontheDAC.Afailurewiththepotcausingit
tooutputanincorrectvoltagewillresultinthefeedassemblynotbeingalignedcorrectlycausingbadcrosspolisolation.
Oneindicationthatthereisafaultwiththefeedalignmentofthesystemisthatthetargetlightwillbepermanently
illuminatedontheDACandtheantennawon’ttargetcorrectly.Itwillsit8degreesaboveorbelowthesatellites
elevationlookangle,aspartoftheantennastargetingprocedureistotarget8degreesaboveorbelowthesatellite,
calculatetheautothresholdsettingbasedonthenoisefloorlevelandthenalignthefeedforthecorrectreception
positionbasedonthevesselsGPSpositionandthelookuptableintheDAC.
Ifthesystemisunabletodrivethepolmotortoobtainthecorrectfeedback,orifthepothasfailedandwon’tgivethe
correctfeedback,theantennacan’tcompletethetargetprocessandtheantennawillstayinthisposition.Settingthepol
typeto“0009”willmaketheantennatargetbyremovingtheautopolfunctionfromthetargetingprocess;howeverthe
mis‐alignmentofthefeedwillcausebadcrosspolisolation.
4. VerifyRangeofMotion:
FirstverifythesettingsintheDACarecorrect;thepolscaleshouldbesetto0090togivethefeed180degreesofmotion.
Thedefaultpoloffsetis0030(howeverthesemayhavebeenmodifiedslightlyto“trim”thepolangle).Ensuretrackingis
offthendrivetheelevationto0degreestomakeiteasiertoviewthefeedassemblyfordiagnosticpurposes.
Setthepoltypeto“0009”tosetthemodeofthepolassemblyfromautomatictomanual.Nowenterthepolwindowand
holdthedownarrowtodrivethefeedassemblyintoitsendstop.Atthelowerendoftherangethepolcountshouldbe
approximately28,atwhichpointtheLNBshouldbehorizontalwiththecoaxcablespointingtowardstheleftwhenview
facingthefeedassembly.Attheupperendoftherangethecountshouldbeapproximately210andtheLNBshouldhave
moved180degrees,i.e.thecoaxcablesarenowpointingtotheright.
IfnopolmotordriveispresentverifythepolreadingontheDACisn’toutofrange(i.e.displayingavalueofeither0or
255).Ifoneofthesevaluesaredisplayedit’spossiblethepotisn’talignedcorrectlyandthatadjustingitmaybringitback
towiththescaletheDACrecognizes.Backthepotofffromthemaingearandrotatethepot,verifyingthatthefeedback
valuechangesontheDAC.Ifso,calibratethepolpotandverifyoperationasdescribedinthelaterstagesofthis
document.IfthepolcountontheDACdoesn’tchangewhenthepotisadjustedthepothasfailedandisoutputtinga
defaultvalue.SeeVerifyingtheResistanceofthePolPotsectionbelow.Ifthisisthecasenodrivewillbeissuedtothe
polmotorasthevalueisoutoftherangewhichthesystemoperatesin.