Photos from Optus Satellite facility

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BarTender

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#86797 13-Jul-2011 23:10

Saw this..

http://www.zdnet.com.au/optus-satellite-facility-tour-photos-339318475.htm

Appeals to the geek in me.

Geese

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#493174 14-Jul-2011 07:00

If I upload a photo of a satellite dish I saw on the West Coast in the middle of nowhere, does anyone here have the knowledge to say what it might be for?

BarTender

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#493220 14-Jul-2011 09:13

IlDuce: If I upload a photo of a satellite dish I saw on the West Coast in the middle of nowhere, does anyone here have the knowledge to say what it might be for?

It's probably just used for picking up Chinese TV or out-of-band Aussie TV. Depends on where it was pointing.

Geese

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#493224 14-Jul-2011 09:33

Its at Okarito Forks at the power station there, pointing very low (?).

The dish is quite big, I'm 6 ft tall and below eye level with that "danger - non-ionizing radiation" sign.

I didn't hang around long, as the sign freaked me out, I wasn't sure if standing where I was, was safe, or whether I was getting microwaved? Would I have needed to get inside between the dish and the other bit to get zapped, or would just standing by the fence be hazardous?

Zeon

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#493226 14-Jul-2011 09:45

Could potentially be a terrestrial link with that kind of alignment?

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gzt

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#493239 14-Jul-2011 10:39

BarTender: Saw this.. http://www.zdnet.com.au/optus-satellite-facility-tour-photos-339318475.htm Appeals to the geek in me.

There is a strange figurine bust in photo six, looks like something from Planet Of The Apes.

Whatever it is anyway, IMHO every satellite facility should have a bust of Arthur C. Clarke in the lobby.

cyril7

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#493242 14-Jul-2011 10:48

Could potentially be a terrestrial link with that kind of alignment?

Nah, still aiming very high, definitly not terrestial, my guess is a broadband link.

Cyril

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knoydart

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#493267 14-Jul-2011 11:51

The thing about the photos from Optus is they must have had a good tidy up as Broadcast technical areas are never that tidy (and there is always that odd wire going between rows of racks!)

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#493275 14-Jul-2011 12:05

If you remember the general direction it was pointing in you can use DishPointer to see what sat it's pointing to, and then Lyngsat to figure out what is on that bird.
My punt on it would be it's pointing to Apstar 6 or one of the similar birds in the west of us and being used for Pactel or similar for broadband. But it's a very fixed structure with a wire fence and all. So it could always be a legacy downlink for Analogue TV. But normally they are right next to a massive TV Transmission tower. What else was around the location. It wouldn't be Whahopi since you said it was on the west coast, and it doesn't look like that.

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#493288 14-Jul-2011 12:29

Interesting Pics there!
I have to talk to Broadcast the Operations guys for my work setting up SNG links here for TV news, pity they couldnt take pics in the control rooms..

As well as the small antennas there they have remote Spectrum analysers on dishes in other Coverage locations like for the NZ only beams, not sure how they connect to them but sometimes it is very slow for updates!

knoydart

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#493292 14-Jul-2011 12:36

techricky: As well as the small antennas there they have remote Spectrum analysers on dishes in other Coverage locations like for the NZ only beams, not sure how they connect to them but sometimes it is very slow for updates!

I´d suspect something like an IP link to a Spec Ana based out at Sky in Mt Wellington or hanging off one of the dishes at TVNZ AKL. That or they can dial into th satellite itself and have a look at what being uplinked (unlikely but never asked how they remote in to country only beams).