Part 2 - Aligning the antenna.
Step 3. Mounting the VSAT Equipment
Building the antenna is time consuming, depending upon its size it may take from one day to three days. The larger antennas will need the help of a crane to position the reflector on the mounting supports. On the left you can see the reflector carefully guided into place, and loosely bolted into place, but the bolts that control the antenna position are always left loose to enable final alignment with the satellite.
Typically a transceiver or BUC is mounted on the antenna support frame, then the signal (IF) cables are connected from the antenna to the building where the modem and Internet routers are housed.
We recommend that our clients use a UPS between the main A/C power supply and the electronic equipment by the antenna. This is the best way to prevent damage in the event of power cuts or power surges.
Step 4. Antenna Alignment
In their orbit above the earth the satellites are located a few degrees apart, and so finding the target satellite can be a difficult task. A professional installer will find a satellite in a matter of a few hours. Installers with less experience may take weeks of frustrating effort before getting the correct alignment.
The final step in alignment is the Peak and Pole procedure. The satellite operator engineers look carefully at the signal being generated by the new site, and they will insist on correct alignment of the antenna and the polarizer in order to insure that the antenna is not interfering with adjacent satellites or with other poles on the same satellite.
Even though the larger antennas may sometimes sit on non-penetrating mounts, in Florida we are prone to high winds, and our installation of the Andrew 4.5M was safer being mounted on a special concrete pad, but the smaller antennas of 3.8m or less can often sit on the roof of a building or on a firm flat piece of ground.
In these photographs we show the installation of an antenna in a grass lot, but sometimes this is impossible. if you need to install on a concrete parking lot or on the roof of a building in you will first need to install a load frame and then the antenna is attached directly to the load frame.
