Operating SeaTel Antennas
The DAC 2200 Controller | Targeting the satellite | Turning off the Error light | SeaTel DAC 2200 Installation and Operation Manual |
The Seatel DAC 2202 and DAC 2200 have 4 menus controlled by the touch panel on the right of the front panel.
Pressing the NEXT button one cycles through the following four menus.
STATUS shows version numbers , errors, and status
SHIP shows latitude, longitude and heading.
SATELLITE shows satellite longitude, threshold, frequency, baud, LNB volt and NID.
ANTENNA shows azimuth, elevation, AGC, relative azimuth and polarization.
In each of these menus, one can drill down to greater detail by pressing the ENTER button.
To edit any particular item, press the left arrow to move the cursor under the character that you wish to change, and use the up and down arrows to change to the required value.
If the antenna is not tracking the satellite, or is tracking the wrong satellite, you may need to point it back at the target satellite during troubleshooting. To do this you need to tell the antenna, once again, which satellite to point to.
Press the NEXT button to cycle through the menus until you see the SAT menu.
Press the ENTER key once to enter the SAT menu.
Press the left arrow to enter edit mode, as if you were going to change the satellite longitude.
If the displayed satellite longitude is correct, it is only necessary to press the ENTER key again to target the satellite. If the satellite information is incorrect, you would use the up and down arrows to edit each digit before pressing enter.
You can now press the NEXT button a few more times and return to the AZ EL (Antenna) menu. Make note of the Azimuth and Elevation after the antenna has settled down.
When targeting the satellite, the antenna calculates the target azimuth and elevation using the ships latitude, longitude, and heading, and the satellite longitude and then points to a location in the sky 10 degrees above where the satellite ought to be. It knows that there can be no satellites in this location, so it measures the off-satellite signal strength or AGC. Once it knows what the signal strength is off satellite, it adds about 100 counts to this AGC and sets the THRESHOLD. The antenna then moves down 10 degrees in elevation to where it expects to see the satellite, and looks for a signal level or AGC that is above the THRESHOLD.
If it finds a signal above the threshold, it will go into TRACK mode. If id does not see an AGC above the threshold, it will go into SEARCH mode and start a spirally increasing search pattern until it finds the satellite or reaches a preset limit.
Press the NEXT button to cycle through the menus until you see the SAT menu.
Press the ENTER key once to enter the SAT menu.
Press the left arrow to enter edit mode, as if you were going to change the satellite longitude.
If the displayed satellite longitude is correct, it is only necessary to press the ENTER key again to target the satellite. If the satellite information is incorrect, you would use the up and down arrows to edit each digit before pressing enter.
You can now press the NEXT button a few more times and return to the AZ EL (Antenna) menu. Make note of the Azimuth and Elevation after the antenna has settled down.
When targeting the satellite, the antenna calculates the target azimuth and elevation using the ships latitude, longitude, and heading, and the satellite longitude and then points to a location in the sky 10 degrees above where the satellite ought to be. It knows that there can be no satellites in this location, so it measures the off-satellite signal strength or AGC. Once it knows what the signal strength is off satellite, it adds about 100 counts to this AGC and sets the THRESHOLD. The antenna then moves down 10 degrees in elevation to where it expects to see the satellite, and looks for a signal level or AGC that is above the THRESHOLD.
If it finds a signal above the threshold, it will go into TRACK mode. If id does not see an AGC above the threshold, it will go into SEARCH mode and start a spirally increasing search pattern until it finds the satellite or reaches a preset limit.
A red error light on the front of the antenna controller indicates that there has been an error condition since the controller was last reset. An error light does not necessarily mean that there is currently an error. The error may have long since cleared, or it may still be current. The light will stay on until the error status is cleared by the user.
To clear the error light, press NEXT until you get to the SEATEL STATUS menu. Then press ENTER about 3 times to get to the ERROR screen.
The number on the right of the screen indicates the error that has occurred. See error codes here.
To clear the errors and the error LED, simply press the left arrow, to go into edit mode, and press ENTER. The errors should clear and the LED should go out. If it does not, the error still exists, and needs to be addressed.
The numbers on the left of the screen indicate how many errors have occurred. It is quite normal to have numbers showing on the left of the screen and it is even OK for these numbers to increment slowly, perhaps about once per minute. This indicates that minor errors have occurred, like packets being dropped, and should not be of great concern, unless the number continues to increment regularly.
To clear the error light, press NEXT until you get to the SEATEL STATUS menu. Then press ENTER about 3 times to get to the ERROR screen.
The number on the right of the screen indicates the error that has occurred. See error codes here.
To clear the errors and the error LED, simply press the left arrow, to go into edit mode, and press ENTER. The errors should clear and the LED should go out. If it does not, the error still exists, and needs to be addressed.
The numbers on the left of the screen indicate how many errors have occurred. It is quite normal to have numbers showing on the left of the screen and it is even OK for these numbers to increment slowly, perhaps about once per minute. This indicates that minor errors have occurred, like packets being dropped, and should not be of great concern, unless the number continues to increment regularly.