Hiltron Experiences Growing Demand for Satcom Systems in MENA 

Hiltron's HSACU satellite newsgathering antenna controller

Hiltron GmbH, Germany’s leading satellite and wireless communication system integrator, reports growing demand for satcom infrastructure and services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Exhibiting at CABSAT 2012 in Dubai, 28 February through 1 March, the company held discussions with new and existing clients in the broadcast and teleport-service-provision sectors.

“CABSAT 2012 itself proved an excellent show,” comments Hiltron GmbH Managing Director Michael Schiestl. “Many of the world’s largest satcom equipment manufacturers attended as exhibitors, attracting a lot of serious buyers from Morocco right across to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. With 60 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, including eight of the 12 OPEC member countries, the MENA region is economically rich and home to about 6 per cent of the world’s population. Its geographical area is huge, making satellite networking a highly efficient option for point-to-point communication and direct-to-home broadcasting.

“Increased satellite communication capacity across the region is proving a major spur to the market. Interest in 26.5 to 40 gigahertz Ka-Band satcom is growing, allowing use of much higher carrier frequencies than Ku-Band and K-Band.”

CABSAT 2012 also provided a venue for the MENA introduction of Hiltron’s HSACU satellite newsgathering antenna controller. 

Designed for integration into SNG trucks or for refurbishment of existing SNG antenna control systems, the HSACU is housed in a compact rack-mountable chassis and provides efficient control of three-axis motorised antennas up to 2.4 metres in diameter. Azimuth, elevation and polarisation control are performed entirely in software.

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Full control of the Hiltron HSACU can be performed locally or from a remote IP browser. Local control is achieved via front-panel pushbuttons and a colour touch-panel graphic display. In IP remote control mode, the entire system can be controlled from wherever is convenient to the SNG workflow. Fully automated acquisition of accessible satellites can be achieved within less than 2 minutes. An internal DVB-S/S2 tuner is provided for satellite verification.   

Heading determination is performed using a GPS and/or a fluxgate compass. The HSACU includes dual-axis compensation of truck inclination. It is compatible with resolvers, potentiometers. inclinometers and direct-current drive-motors.

Hiltron's primary role is the provision of turnkey systems including design, manufacturing, supply, installation, commissioning, training and support. The company offers complete solutions for fixed and mobile microwave broadcast links; DVB MPEG DSNG systems; L Band and IF Band fibre-optic systems; DVB-T encoding and multiplexing headends; ATM/SDH/PDH/IP transport networks; DVB-S/S2 satellite uplinks for TV, radio and data transmission; VSAT systems, TVRO systems for cable headends or terrestrial retransmission; and IPTV headend antenna systems.

In its manufacturing role, Hiltron designs and produces redundancy-system controllers; fibre-optics; remote monitoring and control systems including SNMP; motorised antennas; satellite antenna de-ice controllers and L Band splitters.

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Hiltron operates from modern purpose-built headquarters at Backnang near Stuttgart. On-site facilities include a large technical operations area with high access doors and ceiling capable of accommodating satellite-link vehicles complete with antennas. 

Hiltron GmbH is part of the Dan Technologies group, one of Europe's leading suppliers of audio, video, transmission products and digital media solutions.

The Dan Technologies Systems Integration Division covers a wide spectrum of operations ranging from designing, installing and commissioning studios, playout centres, news rooms and satellite systems, to the complete infrastructure of television and radio stations for major broadcasters and service providers worldwide.

The Dan Technologies group is operating internationally from offices in Germany, United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Vietnam and Dubai.   

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