A new Hiltron satellite communication project is now housed at a major teleport in Latvia, the result of a project conducted with Danmon Group Sweden. A very important aspect of this timing is that this satellite communication project includes a five-channel satellite link that will carry television content to Europe from the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The main aspect of this project is a 3.6 meter satellite dish on an HMAM motorized mount plus a Hiltron HACU antenna control unit and an HDCU-E ice-sensing and dish heating system, for use with large satellite antennas, all of which are part of the Hiltron SORBAS product family. HMAM is a motorized satellite antenna mount designed for two-way VSAT communication, or receive-only downlink applications, and can be used for a wide range of applications including broadcast and telecommunication downlinks.
Hiltron HMAM motorized satellite antenna mount with 3.6 meter dish.
An optional motorized 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 polarization drive. The combined head and drive form a three-axis motorized mount with 180 degrees of azimuth adjustment, 90 degrees of elevation adjustment range and fully adjustable polarization.
Hiltron's HACU is designed to control three-axis motorized antennas. The antenna control unit and associated motor-control electronics are contained in an IP65-rated weatherproof outdoor housing with a hinged front access port secured by dual key screws. The HACU can be operated from a PC running a graphic user interface compatible with standard web browsers. The control GUI displays all the information required to set and maintain azimuth, elevation and polarization, including current and target positions plus a database of potential accessible satellites.
The Hiltron HDCU-E is capable of handling up to 450 kilowatts of power across multiple heating groups. Each group is divided into three independently-controlled heater arrays. Each array in turn feeds up to three antenna heater circuits. A four-group configuration, for example, allows control of 12 arrays addressing a total of 36 heating circuits. This modular control approach permits easy configuration of parameters such as antenna size, number of heater pads and the power requirement of each pad.
Snow detection is via a reflective sensor with a polarizing filter. Each heater circuit is individually supervised and controlled via user-adjustable minimum and maximum thresholds. Sequential switch-on is performed within the controller to prevent rapid changes in current load when the antenna heating process is activated or deactivated. Sequence timing is user-configurable.