AFC
This is a picture of one of our "Gun Turret" antennas. We have four
of these, manufactured by AFC (Antennas For Communications). These are
5M in diameter, but don't perform as well as the 4.5M Patriot antennas.
They're made from three sections of laid-up fiberglass, with a flame-sprayed
Aluminum coating. The surface finish is rather rough, and I'm sure the
alignment of the three sections has shifted some in the five years they've
been in use. The ring section rotates for Azimuth psositioning, driven
by a 1H.P., 230VAC, 3-phase motor located under the white box. The motor
is geared down 200:1, and uses a chain drive (!) to turn the ring. This
one is parked on TELSTAR-6, located at orbital slot 93W. The AFC dish behind
it is parked on GE-2, orbital slot 85W. The large dish behind both of them
is a 13M TIW antenna, and is positioned on
GALAXY-8i. It's one of our two
identical main uplink antennas.
This is the same antenna from the rear.The Elevation motor is a 1H.P.,
230VAC, 3-Phase motor with an angle reducer driving two lead screws. The
antenna behind it to the left is a 7.1M Andrew antenna with a high-speed
control system. We can swing it from one end of the satellite arc to the
other in less than 30 seconds. Really impressive to see it move that fast.
The structure off to the right is part of a 7.1M-equivalent TORUS antenna
with 18 separate feeds. It covers most of the CONUS satellite arc, and
is our primary downlink antenna for turnaround services. The Andrew is
used for special events, and as a back up for the TORUS if an LNB dies.
Here's a view of the other side of the antenna looking back towards
the Patriot.
