Skycasters Adds New Antenna for Expanded Satellite Internet Teleport Infrastructure

Jan. 5, 2012

Skycasters, has reached a major milestone in their teleport expansion project, and have erected a new 8.1m uplink antenna. The new antenna has significantly higher gain than their existing 6.3m antennas, and will add additional reliability and redundancy to their expanding satellite Internet teleport infrastructure.

Manufactured by Vertex (a division of General Dynamics), the antenna's reflector is a thin skin of aluminum secured to a skeleton structure. The structure holds the aluminum skin in proper alignment, allowing it to focus captured RF energy on the feed. The giant, yet amazingly precise, 8.1m reflector is nearly four stories tall and had to receive clearance from the FAA prior to construction. It is supported by a nearly two-ton kingpost which is bolted to the antenna pad.

Previous improvements to their expanded satellite Internet teleport infrastructure include a new UPS system, a new state-of-the-art fire suppression system, and a new diesel generator.

Skycasters' new UPS system is a twin to their existing Galaxy 4000 UPS system. The new unit was fitted with an external bypass switch, which will allow them to route power around the UPS in case of a catastrophic failure.

The new fire suppression system uses a chemical called FM-200, which replaces the Halon used in previous generation systems. If the system goes off, evacuation is still necessary, but FM-200is far less toxic than the previous systems.

The new Caterpillar 150 kW diesel generator joins two other generators already in place. These three generators will provide sufficient power to support Skycasters' current building plans as well as allow for future growth and construction of additional antennas.