ARCH

Intelligent rotor control with remote LAN port.

ARCO is a modern rotator controller designed for reliable operation with virtually any rotator ever made, commercial or home-made.

The movement of the rotator is carefully controlled using automatic adaptive , gradual/decreasing speeds, reducing inertial stress and extending the life of the rotator, antennas and tower.

Built to last, built for safety, built for total satisfaction! Enjoy new features that give your gear extra protection and longer life!

ARCO is a completely self-contained standalone rotation controller that requires no computer or any external devices or power for installation and operation, while providing a wide selection of interfaces for remote control when needed.

It features multiple ways to control azimuth or elevation direction using a neat graphical user interface on the 7" touch screen. The azimuth heading is displayed on a great circle map, centered on the user relative to the rotator installation location, with four different beam settings, real-time gray line projection, multiple color options and automatic day/night color schemes.The controller supports

Touch'n Turn function , entering the fastest possible route by simply touching the desired direction on the great circle map.

In addition to the classic tactile CW and CCW buttons on the front panel, the Point and Shot knob and the keyboard for entering the route, virtual on the touch screen or hardware, connected to the ARC USB host port.

Along with manual control, ARCO offers rich connectivity for your computer using the standard RS-232 port, USB serial port that requires no driver installation on Windows 10, macOS and Linux, and Ethernet port to enable control over the Internet .

For motor control, ARCO uses a high-current 4-channel PWM driver with overload, short circuit and overheat protections, combined with an internal self-driving current monitoring power supply, preventing damage to the driver caused by operational failures.

This combination can safely drive any DC motor up to 48V or any AC motor up to 24V, including innovative brake control that reduces solenoid heat.

Engine starting and stopping uses configurable, ultrafine smooth speed ramps, significantly reducing the stress of inertial forces to the rotator, tower and antennas, extending their lifespan.

The gradual speed control uses an automatic adaptation procedure that considers the variable and dynamically variable resistance caused by wind or ice.

For its basic operation, ARCO uses integrated linear power for silent and interference-free operation.

The built-in separate power supply for the motor is selectively controlled and completely turned off when the motor is not running, to avoid causing any possible interference to sensitive receivers.

For high-voltage or high-power motors, ARCO provides common control outputs for industry-standard MODBUS RTU control and inverters.

All rotator settings, including compensating for power loss in the motor cables, are menu-driven, conveniently without having to open the cover and change some internal wiring.

Networking is another strong point of ARCO.

ARCO not only supports LAN, but allows you to create a simple yet powerful and isolated two-wire local LINK bus by pairing multiple ARCO controllers together for automated stack monitoring, multi-directional beaming and counter-rotation for rotating towers.

The unique feature of ARCO is the direct control of rotators connected to another ARCO controller, located on the same LINK bus or anywhere in the world via Internet connection.

All this complex control is greatly simplified using only two, easy-to-handle, SYNC and ALIGN buttons, and a single ANTENNA button that allows you to choose one of three antennas installed on the same rotator with different heading offsets, or any other antenna present on the network Local LINK via another ARCO or on a remote LINK network via ARCO controller connected to the Internet.

For unattended remote operation over the Internet, ARCO offers a self-parking function and physically disconnects all cables running to the rotator port from the rotator hardware when the connection is terminated, drops, or if ARCO switches to shutdown mode, in order to minimize possible damage from strong static or nearby lightning during thunderstorms. The firmware provides a wide range of additional protections and self-explanatory error messages for quick troubleshooting in the event of a failure.

All this enclosed in a compact and completely aluminum container with always free firmware updates.

Specifications