
Field Service Procedure – Replacement PCU Kit, ST88, ST94 & ST144
Page7of22
Document No
137738 Rev A
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12. Drift:
Ifaratesensoris“drifting”,itsnominalvoltageoutputhaschangedfromthecorrect2.5VDC.Thiswillcauseerrorinthe
axiscontrolloopandcausetheantennatomove.ItismorecommontoseethisdriftintheazimuthaxisastheCLandEL
axisbothhavealongtermreference,providedbythetiltsensor.However,shouldtheratesensorsdriftbelargeenough,
itcanover‐compensatethetiltsensorandthesystemwilldriveintooneoftheCLorELendstops.
Toverifyifthesystemisdriftinginazimuth,turntrackingoffandmonitortherelativeposition.Understaticconditions,
whenthevesselsheadingisunchanged,therelativecountshouldremainstationary.Iftherelativevaluebeginsto
changefromitscurrentposition,theazimuthratesensorisdrifting,introducingerrorintotheaxiscontrolloop.
IftheratesensorsarecheckedasOK,ashipsgyrocaninducedrift.ThiswillintroducelooperrorintothePCUcontrol
loopandcausetheantennatodrift.ThiscanbeverifiedbycheckingtheheadingdisplayedontheDACagainsttheships
actualheading.Thetwoheadingsshouldbethesame.Ifthereisadifference,enableSatRefModetotemporarilybypass
theshipsgyrotoprovethefault.IfenablingSatRefModedoespreventdrift,verifytheheadingsource.
13. FurtherDiagnostics:
Ifanyoftheabovecheckshaveindicatedaproblem,oneormoreoftheaxiscontrolloopshaveincorrectlooperrors.The
mostlikelycauseofthisisadefectiveratesensor.Torectifythis,replacethemotionplatformPCBandrepeatthechecks
above,toverifytheantennanowfunctionscorrectly.
Shouldtheproblempersist,thereareotherpossibilitiesthatcanproducethesameresults.Thesecanbebad
connectionsbetweenthemotionplatformPCBandPCUmotherboardorthePCUitself.
14. 400MHzModemLEDIndicators:
Fordiagnosticpurposes,the400MHzFSKModemAssemblieshaveanLEDIndicator(locatedonthebottomlefthand
sideoftheEnclosureforBDEmodemsanddirectlyunderneaththeRotaryJointportonthe09SeriesPCU).Byobserving
theamountofambercoloredflashesduringpowerup,themodemsconfigurationmaybeestablished.Youcanalso
verifythecommunicationslinkbetweenabovedecksandbelowdecksmodemsthemselves.Refertothebelowlistfor
anexplanationofthedifferentLEDstates.
Uponpowerup,themodems’LEDwillflashamber.Thenumberofflashesindicatesthedashnumberconfiguration
ofthemodem.Refertotheconfigurationonpage8ofthisdocumentfortheappropriatedashnumber
configurationforyourmodemassembly.
Solidgreenindicatesdualchannelcommunicationslockbetweenmodems(i.e.thereisenoughsignalbeing
receivedtoestablishcommunications).
RedandGreenalternatingLEDsindicatesasinglechannelfailure(i.e.thereislowRSSIsignalstrengthonone
channel).
AflashingRedLEDindicatesnocommunicationbetweenbothmodems(2failedchannels),(i.e.thereislowRSSI
signalstrengthonbothchannels).
SolidRED‐Modemfaultdetection,hardwareorsoftwarefailureofthemodem.
SolidORANGE‐SoftwareupdatetotheModeminprogress.