DAC97/03 & XX97A CRASH COURSE

ACU / Antenna System Check

Press RESET on the ACU front panel to initialize the system. Verify the display shows "SEATEL INC - MASTER"
and the ACU software version number. Wait 10 seconds for the display to change to "SEA TEL INC - REMOTE"
and the PCU software version number. If the display shows "REMOTE INITIALIZING” wait for approximately 2
minutes for the antenna to complete initialization and report the Antenna Model and PCU software version.

If the antenna model is reported incorrectly, proceed to PCU configuration below.

Basic settings (like Rx Frequency, Satellite angle, etc) will be entered from the four quick access buttons ( SHIP,
SAT, ANTENNA, MODE), using the numeric keypad to edit digits.

To go into Setup Mode:

Press mode until you see STATUS.

Press ENTER (you will now see STATUS REMOTE AUX xxxx)

Use the keypad to enter 7979, and then press ENTER

You are now in SETUP.

In SETUP mode, pressing the MODE button advances you to the next parameter, pressing ENTER stores any
value you entered and advances you to the next parameter.

Key in the value of EL TRIM, press ENTER, and then press ENTER again to advance.

Enter the value of AZ TRIM, press enter, and then press ENTER again to advance.

Scroll through the entire setup parameters to verify your parameter settings.

Note for Negative values, after entering the digits, press the “N/S E/W” key once before pressing ENTER, and
then press ENTER again to advance.

Always save your configs before exiting.

There are two (2) settings to save, one (1) is the DAC settings and two (2) is the PCU settings.

To save DAC settings:

At the “SETUP SAVE NEW PARAMETERS” screen, press the UP arrow, and then Enter.

To save PCU settings :

Press ENTER several times to select REMOTE PARAMETERS. Press UP arrow and then ENTER to save the
system type in the PCU.
To Disable/Enable DishScan
To toggle the ON/OFF state of DishScan, select the REMOTE COMMAND window on the ACU.

1- Key in ".94 ENTER" (note the decimal point). "^0000" should appear in the command window.
2- To toggle the current DishScan state, key in 67 and hit the ENTER key. If DishScan was ON it
will now be OFF, if it was OFF it will now be ON.

To enable Satellite Reference Mode

Select the REMOTE COMMAND window on the ACU.
1 Key in .94 and then hit the ENTER key (note the decimal point) to access the utility commands.
"^0000" should appear in the command window.
2 Key in 71 and hit ENTER to put the PCU in Satellite Reference Mode.

To disable Satellite Reference Mode (return the PCU to normal mode)

Select the REMOTE COMMAND window on the ACU.
1 Key in .94 and then hit the ENTER key (note the decimal point) to access the utility commands.
"^0000" should appear in the command window.
2 Key in 0 and hit ENTER to put the PCU back into normal mode.

The PCU is already configured but just in case you need to configure PCU.

To configure the PCU, select the REMOTE COMMAND window on the DAC-97 by pressing the MODE key until
this window appears (if the DAC-97 will not advance beyond the REMOTE AUX window, enter 7979 and press
ENTER).

In the REMOTE COMMAND window, key in ". 7 8 ENTER". An "N" should now appear in the
command window.
NOTE: Configuring the PCU turns DishScan OFF - You must turn DishScan
ON by following procedure above (Turning Dishscan On)

For 9797A Model Antenna:

1 Key in "0208" to select system type 208. The display should now show "N0208".
2 Press ENTER to send this system type command to the PCU.
3 Press ENTER several times to select REMOTE PARAMETERS. Press UP arrow and then ENTER to save the
system type in the PCU.
4 Press ANTENNA, MODE, N/S to display the Remote Version Number. It should now display "9797A VER
1.nn".
STATUS WORD S0000 - Error 8 Decoding [.83]

To Read and Decode an Error 0008 (Pedestal Error) Code:

1. At the Remote Command window key in: . 83, ENTER (note the decimal).
2. The display will show S0000. Press ENTER again to access the Remote Monitor
Window read the status word or S word.

Reset Antenna ^0090 [.94]

The most reliable way to reset the antenna is to remove power or shut off
the breaker for a few seconds, for a hard reboot. With a TV antenna, simply
powering off the DAC will reset the antenna, but a VSAT needs the breaker
reset.

If cycling the power is not an option, due to the antenna power source not accessible, or the radome access
restricted, one can do a soft reset by entering the command ^0090 and ENTER. You should see an error alarm
light on the DAC and the antenna will be initializing.

Error Codes
These are listed in the SeaTel manuals. The error code on the right side of the display is a system error that
breaks down to these entries. A number that isnt here indicates multiple errors (ie. a 20 indicates a 16 and a 4
error).

Code Explanation
128 Satellite Out Of Range
64 Reserved for future use
32 Reserved for future use
16 Conscan Error
8 Pedestal Error
4 ACU-PCU Communication Failure
2 Wrong Synchro Converter Type
1 Gyro Read Error