In earlier posts, we discussed about our geostationary station facilities.

Now it is time to take care of the low earth orbit (LEO) station that is operated together with ISAE.

With Jérémie C., my colleague from ISAE, we spent a couple of hours re-aligning the antennas of the LEO station. Some refurbishing work on the building roof called urgently for a re-alignment.

It basically boils down to the following steps:

1. Using the antenna controller, align the antennas with E=0 and Az=0 (according to the vu-meters).
2. Check with a compass whether the antennas are truly flat and pointing to N.
3. If not, align mechanically the antennas. This might involve climbing on the mast 🙂
4. Using the antenna controller, point the antenna “full scale” (E=180, AZ=360).
5. Check with a compass whether the antennas are truly flat and – again – point to S.
6. If not, align the scale of the VU-meters with the fine tuning knobs on the controller and go back to step 5.

Now, keep in mind that the antenna aperture is large enough (> 30°) to accommodate for rough (i.e. handed compass) alignment.

Enough  text, here are some snapshots !