Cable
& Wireless
Brechin Satellite Earth Station
Brechin Satellite Earth Station
is located at Ardovie Quarry, near Brechin, Angus on the east coast of Scotland
on a hilltop site that is also home to the ADQ DN, an integral part of the Cable
& Wireless national network.
There are three Earth Stations at
the site, each operating in the 12-14 GHz Ku-Band and carrying circuits ranging
in capacity from 64 kb to 8 Mb. Each antenna has it's own integral tracking
system to ensure that the antenna is always correctly pointed at the satellite
it is working with. The largest Earth Station, BRE-1, was built by Mercury at
a cost of around £2 million and was opened on July 19 1991 by the then Scottish
Secretary Mr. Ian Laing.
BRE-1
provided the first direct satellite links with North Sea oil rigs and platforms
and European destinations from Scotland and continues in this role today. The
11 metre NEC antenna for BRE-1 dominates the local skyline and is clearly visible
from Arbroath, some 12 miles away to the south east. Beside being the largest
earth station at Brechin, BRE-1 is also the most powerful. Its force air cooled
Traveling Wave Tube amplifiers can deliver up to one kilowatt of RF power into
the antenna. The antenna tracks the Eutelsat W1 satellite located at 10 degrees
East.
BRE-2
entered service in 1996 in response to oil industry customer demands for cheaper
satellite bandwidth. Currently BRE-2 tracks the Intelsat 603 satellite at 335.5
degrees East and carries international traffic for African and South American
customers. Until recently the 8.1 metre Vertex antenna tracked the Intelsat
706 satellite at 305 degrees East, a role now carried by BRE-3.
At
a mere 4.6 metres the Andrew built antenna for BRE-3 is the smallest antenna
at Brechin, tracking the Intelsat 706 satellite at 305 degrees East. BRE-3 carries
traffic for several North Sea customers including Shell's huge Cormorant and
Fulmar North Sea oil platforms. BRE-3 entered in to service in 2001 and was
built as part of the £13 million expansion of C&W Global International Satellite
Communications, driven by increased demand for high speed IP based services.
The
Operations staff are responsible for the day to day running and maintenance
of the three earth stations, the ADQ DN equipment, the hilltop sites at Tay
Bridge (DND DN1), Craigowl (CGL) and Bruxie (BXH) and DND CD1 at Dundee Ninewells
Hospital.
Note: This page is not subject
to updating. The information contained may no longer be accurate. Photographs
of Brechin Satellite Earth Station are used with permission and are ©Copyright
of their respective owners
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