Upgrading a 3-Meter S/X-Band Antenna with GS-400II at Zentrum für Telematik e.V. (Germany)

Zentrum für Telematik e.V. is a German research institute that operates a 3-meter ground station antenna on the rooftop of its building in Würzburg. The antenna, equipped with a S/X-band feed, was mounted on a positioner whose tracking system had become unreliable over the years. After meeting our team, Zentrum für Telematik asked us to replace the entire tracking section, keeping their existing dish and feed. We selected our GS-400II Large Antenna Tracking System and designed two custom components to install it on their rooftop without modifying the antenna or the existing anchors.

Do you want to see how the tracking system of a 3-meter ground station antenna is upgraded? In this video, we show the whole installation step by step, from the removal of the dish from the old positioner to the new antenna working on GS-400II. Here is what we did during the installation.

How we upgraded the 3-meter S/X-band antenna of Zentrum für Telematik with GS-400II

This is the 3-meter ground station antenna of Zentrum für Telematik, installed on the rooftop of their building in Würzburg. The dish, equipped with a S/X-band feed, was mounted on an elevation-over-azimuth positioner. Its antenna control unit had become unreliable, so the team decided to replace the entire tracking section while keeping the dish.

The first step of the installation was the removal of the dish from the old positioner. With the help of a crane, the antenna, weighing almost 250 kg, was lifted from the rooftop and set aside safely. The old positioner, still visible at the bottom of the picture, was then removed from the rooftop.

GS-400II Large Antenna Tracking System and its dedicated column, delivered to the customer and ready to be installed. On top of GS-400II you can see the red custom interface we designed and built to mount the customer's dish without modifying the antenna. The custom column was designed to fit the existing rooftop anchors.

The new column is lowered by crane onto the existing rooftop platform. Since it was designed to match the anchors already in place, it was fixed directly to the original bolts. No changes to the rooftop structure were needed, saving time and costs for the customer.

GS-400II, with the custom dish interface already mounted, is lifted and placed on top of the new column. With a payload capacity of 400 kg, GS-400II easily supports the almost 250 kg of the antenna, leaving a comfortable margin.

The 3-meter antenna is now installed on GS-400II through the custom interface. Its high pointing and tracking accuracy makes GS-400II ideal not only for S-band, but also for X-band, where the higher frequency requires greater precision. The existing dish and feed are now ready for more years of satellite passes.

This project shows that an aging ground station does not need to be rebuilt from scratch. By combining GS-400II with a custom column and a custom dish interface, we gave Zentrum für Telematik a new tracking system while keeping their existing antenna, feed and rooftop anchors. We would like to thank the team of Zentrum für Telematik e.V. for their trust and for the great collaboration during the design and installation phases.

Do you have a ground station antenna whose tracking system needs an upgrade? Contact us to find the best solution for your system.