
Field Service Procedure - Replacement Pol Pot Kit, 6006C, 6009C,
9597B & 9507
Page1of7
Document No
135302 Rev B
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1. BriefSummary:
Troubleshootingdocumentfordiagnosingafaultwithandreplacingthepolpotonthe6006C,6009C,9597Band
9507seriesantennas.
2. Checklist:
VerifyRangeofMotion
VerifyPotFeedback
MeasureResistance
3. TheoryofOperation:
Apolangpotentiometerisusedtoprovideafeedbackreferenceforthepositionofthefeedassemblyforlinear
polarization.Thepotactsasapotentialdividergivinganoutputvoltagewhichvariesfrom0Vdcto5Vdc.ThePCU
convertsthevoltageoutputfromthepotintothenumericalvaluedisplayedontheDAC.Afailurewiththepotcausingit
tooutputanincorrectvoltage,willresultinthefeedassemblynotbeingalignedcorrectlycausingbadcrosspolisolation.
Oneindicationthatthereisafaultwiththefeedalignmentofthesystemisthatthetargetlightwillbepermanently
illuminatedontheDACandtheantennawon’ttargetcorrectly.Itwillsit8degreesabove(or8degreesbelowathigh
elevations)thesatelliteselevationlookangle.Aspartoftheantennastargetingprocedurethesystemwillcalculatethe
thresholdvaluebasedonthenoisefloorlevelandthenalignthefeedforthecorrectreceptionpositionbasedonthe
vesselsGPSpositionandthelookuptableintheDAC.
Ifthesystemisunabletodrivethepolmotortoobtainthecorrectfeedback,orifthepothasfailedandwon’tgivethe
correctfeedback,theantennacan’tcompletethetargetprocessandtheantennawillstayinthisposition.Settingthepol
typeto“0009”willmaketheantennatargetbyremovingtheautopolfunctionfromthetargetingprocess;howeverthe
missalignmentofthefeedwillcausebadcrosspolisolation.
4. VerifyRangeofMotion:
FirstverifythesettingsintheDACarecorrect,thepolscaleshouldbesetto0090togivethefeed180degreesofmotion.
Thedefaultpoloffsetis0030(howeverthesemayhavebeenmodifiedslightlyto“trim”thepolangle).Turntrackingoff
(ifapplicable)anddrivetheelevationto0degreestomakeiteasiertoviewthefeedassemblyfordiagnosticpurposes.
SetthepoltypesettinginthesetupmenuoftheDACto“0009”tosetthemodeofthepolassemblyfromautomaticto
manual.Nowenterthepolwindow(aftertherelativewindowinthe“antenna”screenoftheDAC)andholdthedown
arrowtodrivethefeedassemblyintoitsendstop.Atthelowerendoftherangethepolcountshouldbeapproximately
28,atwhichpointthepolangstopplateonthefeedshouldbehorizontalfacingtotheright(whenlookingfaceontothe
feed).
IfnopolmotordriveispresentverifythepolreadingontheDACisn’toutofrange(i.e.displayingavalueofeither0or
255).Ifoneofthesevaluesaredisplayeditspossiblethepotisn’talignedcorrectlyandthatadjustingitmaybringitback
withitsrangeofoperation.Backthepotofffromthemaingearsprocketandrotateitspulley,verifythatthefeedback
valuechangesontheDAC.Ifso,calibratethepolpotandverifyoperationasdescribedinthelaterstagesofthis
document.IfthepolcountontheDACdoesn’tchangewhenthepotisadjustedthepothasfailedandisoutputtinga
defaultvalue.SeeVerifyingtheResistanceofthePolPotsectionbelow.Ifthisisthecasenodrivewillbeissuedtothe
polmotorasthevalueisoutoftherangewhichthesystemoperatesin.