Catania Teleport update: Mechanical assembly of the second antenna completed

The installation works of the BT1000Ku antennas are continuing at the Gomedia teleport headquarters in the industrial area of Catania.

In recent weeks the heat has dominated the days making it impossible to work on the antenna during the day, but our team, engaged in the assembly of the second 10-meter antenna, did not give up and accepted the management's proposal. to operate during the night.

It was thus possible, enjoying the absence of the sun, to continue with the work.

After inserting the first installation devices inside the hub, the latter was placed horizontally in order to continue with the assembly of the reflector basket.
The assembly operations of the basket took about three days, during which sixteen ribs were fixed to the hub, subsequently connected to each other through the braces and diagonals.

During the various assembly operations of the basket, 1,628 bolts were tightened up to the tightening torque and checked several times, to validate the rigidity of the system and to be able to continue with the positioning of the reflector panels. Operation preceded by the assembly and positioning of the quadripod.

Subsequently, the sixteen panels that make up the reflector were positioned, each of which was positioned on the basket.
Once positioned, each panel was fine-tuned through the eight adjustment points until an alignment closest to the theoretical position was achieved.

For this procedure, a total station was used which allowed the team to reach the set goal.
In the following, it was possible to concentrate on optimizing the theoretical position of the Sub-reflector, verifying the distance from the feed, the flatness and the centering with respect to the reflector system.
Once the operations have been verified, the installation of the Feeder system has been carried out.

A few hours later, taking advantage of the early hours of the morning, a second team of technicians directed the lifting of the reflector and its positioning on the previously installed pedestal. For this operation, the assistance of a mobile crane was used.

Finally, the handling system was tested to define the mechanical assembly completed.

Everything went according to plan!
The results obtained, given the delicacy inherent in some operations, allowed a sigh of relief for everyone.

At the moment, in the absence of the radioelectric tests to be carried out, it is considered premature to sing victory, but given the performance of the twin antenna, installed a few meters ahead a few months ago, we have no doubts about the achievement of the future result.

Now is the time for our team to recover strength and restart with the assembly of the third antenna, which will begin this week.