29-08-2019 | Link Microtek Ltd | Subs & Systems
Link Microtek has devised and fabricated a complex microwave feed assembly for employment in a Ku-band mobile satellite-communications antenna system.
Extensively used around the world by news crews, first responders, government agencies and defence units, such mobile antenna systems offer a durable and quickly deployable option for anyone needing reliable satellite communications facilities in remote locations.
The assembly includes a feed arm, transmit and receive filters, a rotary joint and an OMT. As well as satisfying the tight space constraints forced by the compact nature of the antenna system, the feed assembly had to fulfil strict performance criteria about low transmission losses and cross polarisation, as well as high isolation within transmit and receive channels.
Steve Cranstone, Link Microtek’s managing director, takes up the story: “The integrated feed assembly plays a crucial role as it interfaces with the system’s transmit amplifier, conical feed horn and receive LNB,” he said. “It was certainly no easy task to bring together the various elements of the assembly and ensure that as a whole, it delivered the requisite performance and reliability.
“While this was an extremely complicated and challenging project, our experienced engineering team was able not only to design and build the individual elements but also to integrate them successfully to meet all the stringent specifications demanded by such satcom applications.”
