Description
7200 Series Earth Station Antenna Controller
The General Dynamics 7200 Antenna Controller is a state-of-the-art automatic positioning system which incorporates advanced control modes and an enhanced menu-driven user interface to provide accurate antenna positioning with minimum operator effort. Fully automatic tracking of inclined orbit satellites is accomplished with the revolutionary GDST Orbit Prediction Track (OPT) algorithm, which generates future AZ and EL pointing data by propagating a physically valid orbit through initial measured data to the time of interest. This type of ephemeris prediction offers increased efficiency and accuracy over methods which merely use measured data in a curve fitting routine to predict a trajectory.
Easy Operation
The Model 7200 user interface employs a front panel graphics display which provides convenient menu-driven editing and control function selection. In addition, a “Target-Oriented” operating environment allows the system to have custom configured control modes for multiple satellites, with simultaneous maintenance of corresponding data bases for each. The system is configured around the GDST Model 7200 Antenna Control Unit (ACU), contained in a 7-inch rack mountable cabinet. The system is controllable via Ethernet or RS-232E / RS-422 serial ports, allowing remote operation or integration with a supervisory monitor and control computer.
7200 Standard Components
The standard product is provided as a 2-speed system for AZ and EL. This is accomplished by application of user-settable high and low speed control signals to variable speed AC drives (housed in the 7150 Antenna Drive Unit), which in turn control standard 3-phase induction motors. For 3-axis systems, circuitry is provided for the control of an AC synchronous stepping polarization motor. The AZ and EL motor controllers employ integral electronic protection, and the drive cabinet includes NEMA-rated circuit protection devices for each motor/motor controller, sized appropriately for each application. The drive cabinet housing is foot-mounted and comes standard as a NEMA 4X-rated enclosure for outstanding corrosion protection.