The new installation is a fully L-band-over-fibre integrated downlink which covers all mediator satellites in the range from 30° west to 100° east.
Hiltron Communications, a globally active satellite systems integrator, manufacturer and distributor, has completed a custom-made turnkey TVRO satellite platform control system for Nilesat. The new installation is a fully L-band-over-fibre integrated downlink which covers all mediator satellites in the range from 30° west to 100° east, operating in C and Ku bands simultaneously.
Speaking about the installation, Nilesat Head of Ground Segment Engineer Osama Tantawy said: “Located at our ground station in Giza, the new downlink gives us the reliability and flexibility we needed for backing up our existing fixed TVRO antennas. Incoming signals from all antennas on the new platform, 32 feeds in total, are connected to the master control room via fibre-optic links. Hiltron has produced and integrated a complete solution including its HMCS monitoring and control software. The company worked closely with us from initial design right through to factory acceptance test, onsite installation, commissioning and training. The project was completed successfully and on time thanks to the experience and teamwork of everyone involved.”
Hiltron Managing Director Antonio Monteverde added: “We are very pleased to have been chosen to work with Nilesat on this project. The infrastructure we have provided includes a 3.7 metre motorised antenna with a Hiltron HMAM motorised mount and Hiltron HACU antenna control unit, RF-over-fibre links from RF Design, plus an LNB power supply and L band switch from ETL.”
Hiltrons HMCS monitoring and control application is designed to control all relevant satellite equipment in a master control room. It allows operators to control equipment from multiple vendors within a unified graphic display. HMCS also provides an SNMP interface to a high-level system. Advanced alarm message handling is included plus the ability to select stored profiles, transponders and slots from a database.
Hiltron’s HMAM is a motorised satellite antenna mount designed for two-way satellite communication or receive-only downlink applications. It can be used in a wide range of roles including broadcast and telecommunication downlinks. An optional motorised feed changer allows the head to be moved quickly to a new position for switching between frequency bands. HMAM comes complete with professional-grade drives for azimuth and elevation plus a high-precision polarisation drive. The combined head and drive form a three-axis motorised mount with more than 270 degrees of azimuth adjustment, 90 degrees of elevation adjustment range and fully adjustable polarisation.
