28 EuroPak-15a Receiver User Manual Rev 5
Chapter 3 Operation
Before operating the EuroPak-15a for the first time, ensure that you have followed the installation instructions
in Chapter 2. From here on, it will be assumed that testing and operation of the EuroPak-15a will be performed
while using a personal computer (PC), which allows the greatest ease and versatility.

3.1 Pre-Start Check List

Before turning on power to the EuroPak-15a, ensure that all of the following conditions have been met:
• The antenna or signal generator is properly installed, powered, and connected
• The PC is properly connected using a serial cable, and its communications protocol has been
configured to match that of the EuroPak-15a
Supply power to the EuroPak-15a only after all of the above checks have been made. Note that the warm-up
process may take several minutes, depending on ambient temperature.

3.2 Start-Up

The EuroPak-15a’s firmware resides in non-volatile memory. After supplying power to the unit, wait a moment
for self-boot, and the EuroPak-15a will be ready for command input.
The initial start-up indicator to let you know that the EuroPak-15a's main serial port is ready to communicate:
• Your PC will display the following prompt, indicating you are connected through the COM1 port:
[COM1]
The receiver has 4 modes of operation including power-up mode:
•Power-Up
• Operational
•Fault
• Maintenance
The EuroPak-15a is in power-up mode after receiving a reset signal. While in this mode, everything is disabled
except for the clock generators and microprocessor interface. During this mode, Firmware (FW) is transferred
from Flash to RAM, the 32-bit CRC is verified on the FW load and the Initiated Built In Test (IBIT) is
exercised to determine whether the receiver is usable. This mode ends when the functional blocks of the
receiver have been enabled, initialized and the IBIT has been successfully executed.
The EuroPak-15a is in operational mode following power-up mode and before a fault is discovered by the
Continuous Built In Test (CBIT) and goes into fault mode when the device outputs are affected by one or more
faults preventing its use.
The EuroPak-15a is in maintenance mode when it is loading firmware. Maintenance mode can only be entered
via the Power-up mode.
Once you are connected, commands can be entered as explained in Section 3.3, Communicating with the
EuroPak-15a on Page 29.