Air Force One
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- Southbury LES:"Outages are Not Acceptable" Maritime Reporter, Jan 2003 #15
If you are concerned about the effects of Satellite Communication service provider consolidation, you will like the Telenor/Comsat hook-up.
If you care nothing about corporate takeovers, rather are focused on ensuring the availability of a strong satellite communication signal, always, you will like the Telenor/Comsat hook-up.
In short, if you use satellite communications services, you will probably like and benefit from the Telenor/Comsat hook-up.
Hardly "news," the integration of Comsat into the Telenor family has been evolving for a year, the latest metamorphosis of Comsat, a pioneer in delivering satellite communications for the safety of ships at sea. Upon visiting recently with Guy White. Telenor's Southbury. Conn, station director, it is apparent that the combination is yielding positive and immediate benefits for the maritime community users.
From the beginning The Southbury Land Earth Station (LES) is. if nothing else, seated in one of the most picturesque spots in Connecticut, enhanced greatly by the fall foliage in late October. Contracted for construction on November 28, 1973, the LES began providing signals for the commercial mariner in 1976, with the launch of the Marisat satellites.
(Interestingly, one Hughes-built, Telenor-owned Marisat satellite is still in operation, making it the world's oldest operating commercial satellite. It is still piloted by Telenor from Bethesda, Md..
and as a back-up. from Southbury. Conn.
It is leased to the National Science Foundation and is used to supply a communication link — the only satellite communication link - to Scott Station, South Pole).
It is the Southbury LES' scenic locale that made it a natural for the LES, though not for aesthetics alone. As White explained, topography is the key "We, for the lack of a better term, sit in a bowl, which effectively shields the station from interference from terrestrial microwave towers ... and there are a lot of terrestrial microwave towers." Plus, he points out the location's good circuit connections to both New York and Boston as an advantage. In addition, the LES has an almost personal source of power, as it is connected directly to the nearby Shepauge Dam's hydroelectric plant (both dam and plant are Connecticut's largest), which is powered by the waters of the Housatonic River.
This provides a reliable, clean source of power, with White emphasizing 'reliable.' "We double up on everything around here ... outages are not acceptable." While some would dismiss this as perhaps marketing hype, coming from White, a 23-year employee of the station with the technical knowledge to fix any- thing on premises, it is undeniably true.
"We take safety at sea very seriously," he said. Factor in, also that the LES provides the communication links to Air Force One and the space shuttles, and the magnitude of reliable service is clear. "I never want to get a call from Kennedy Space Station and hear that a shuttle launch was aborted because of us." While the station's five massive dishes (four active, one back-up) provide 95 percent of the station's visual impact from the outside, the guts of the operation and the roughly $150 million worth of equipment housed in the technical shed is a real eye-opener.
A veritable smorgasbord of communication technology from the "stone age" Telex to the station's new No. 7 signaling switch — which handles the equivalent of 180 T1 lines — are housed here.
The new signaling equipment, White said, is proof of Telenor's commitment to reliable communication and the Southbury Station. According to White, the new No. 7 switch, which takes full advantage of the latest technology to deliver expanded communication capacity in a condensed size, provides more flexibility, capability and is a move toward a "self-healing network" concept.
Another major upgrade complements of the new parent company is a brand new Uninteruptable Power Supply (UPS), a major enhancement for the Southbury LES and a virtual guarantee that a power problem will not take the station offline.
With the high commitment to the latest communication and computing gear, it is ironic to note that the station uses — in addition to computerized and electronic means — Morse Code as part of its warning system to alert staff engineers to problems.
Telenor's acquisition of Comsat followed an interesting period to Comsat, as less than a year previous it had been acquired — evidently, for quick resale — by Lockheed Martin. Despite an incredible number of corporate consolidations and takeovers in corporations around the world — some justified, some mystifying — this collaboration, by all appearances, will continue to be a rousing success. Before the acquisition, "Comsat and Telenor technical voices usually teamed and were always the loudest," at^Inmarsat meetings in London, said White. "Telenor is very clever," he said, noting how the company was a pioneer in integrating GSM cellular sites at sea so cellular phone users out of range can "roam" through the satellite. "We (Comsat) brought to the equation software knowledge and switching capability — we build things here off the shelf."
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 45ronments. The new agreement will address speci? c techni- cal gaps in the UUV defense and offshore energy markets especially for long duration, multi-payload mission opera- tions where communications are often denied or restricted. As part of the new alliance, Metron’s Resilient Mission Autonomy portfolio
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 41Image courtesy Outland Technology Image courtesy Exail Image courtesy Submaris and EvoLogics Vehicles The ROV-1500 from Outland Technology represents a leap forward in underwater robotics, a compact remotely operated vehicle (ROV) weighing in at less than 40 lbs (19kg) the ROV- 1500 is easy to transport
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 40NEW TECH OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 All photos courtesy MTR unless otherwise noted NEW TECH, PARTNERSHIPS LAUNCH IN LONDON With Oceanology International now one month in the rear-view mirror, MTR takes a look at some of the interesting technologies launched before, during and after the London event.
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 39Photo courtesy Global Ocean Design Figure 7 A 35Ah AGM lead-acid battery is tested using the West Mountain Radio CBA to show the effect of simply ? lling the battery voids with mineral oil as a compensating ? uid. The CBA is programmed to cut-off at a voltage of 10.50v. The top line (red) shows the
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 37the acid available to the plates. The mat is slightly compressed between the plates when assembled in a frame. Because the plates and mats are packed fairly tightly, they are virtually immune to vibration. The remaining volume around the plates is air-? lled, so that even if the case of the AGM battery
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 36, and their capac- from the overall buoyancy, while carried inside, they subtract ity may fall to as low as 60% of rated capacity as they ap- their air weight; and 2) it is easier to exchange batteries on a proach 0°C depending on current drain. Lead acid batteries small ocean lander or AUV by unplugging
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 35Figure 1 A self-righting vehicle design with buoyancy high and weight low, WHOI’s SeaBED AUV captures the attention of a pair of curious Antarctic penguins as it is deployed from the British research vessel James Clark Ross. Vehicle designers allowed for temperature reduction of battery capacity. Recharge
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 29n January, Norway said “yes” to sea- bed mining, adding its weight to the momentum that is likely to override the calls for a moratorium by over 20 countries and companies such as I Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung. Those against mining aim to protect the unique and largely unknown ecology of the sea?
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 26FEATURE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTATION & SENSORS Kevin Mackay, TESMaP voyage leader and Center head of the South and West Paci? c Regional Centre of Seabed 2030. Kevin in the seismic lab at Greta Point looking at the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano 3D map completed with data from the TESMaP voyage
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 25landslides as well “Preliminary water column data from cializes in sea? oor mapping techniques, as earthquakes and eruptions,” said Maxlimer show airborne ash that had served as voyage lead. Phase one saw the Caplan-Auerbach, whose work has pri- yet to completely settle on the sea? oor,” scientist
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 23,” explained Caplan-Auerbach. Seismology studies waves as they move through solid Earth, while acoustics examines those waves in ? uids such as water or air, although the two overlap. Seismometers are best for studying processes that shake the ground, like magma moving underground. “These quakes are generally
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 19About the Author vey with the pipe tracker is not required, resulting in signi? - Svenn Magen Wigen is a Cathodic Protection and corrosion control cant cost savings, mainly related to vessel charter. expert having worked across The major advantage of using FiGS on any type of subsea engineering, design
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 18TECH FEATURE IMR There are also weaknesses in terms of accuracy because of FiGS Operations and Bene? ts signal noise and the ability to detect small ? eld gradients. In Conventional approaches to evaluating cathodic protection this process there is a risk that possible issues like coating (CP)
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 17• Integrity assessment, and otherwise covered, e.g., by rock dump. As for depletion of • Mitigation, intervention and repair. sacri? cial anodes, this can be dif? cult or even impossible to Selecting the best method for collecting the data these work- estimate due to poor visibility, the presence of
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 16SENSORS By Svenn Magen Wigen, FORCE Technology he principle behind sacri? cial anodes, which are water structures, reducing the need for frequent repairs and used to safeguard underwater pipelines and struc- replacements, which also aligns well with sustainable opera- tures from corrosion, is relatively
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 13nyone familiar with glider hardware options integrated for a broad Glider answers that need,” said Shea autonomous underwater ve- range of missions. Quinn, Slocum Glider Product Line hicles (AUVs) is certainly “As the use of Slocum Gliders grew, Manager at TWR. A familiar with the popular- so did
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 11assist in identifying mines and act as a neutralization device. About the Author Bottom mines pose even greater chal- David R. Strachan is a defense analyst and founder of lenges. Unlike contact mines, bottom Strikepod Systems, a research and strategic advisory mines utilize a range of sensors to
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 9systems can detect mines just below the mines, as well as their locations, remains largely a mystery, surface, even those hiding in murky water. The Airborne Laser although reports suggest that over three hundred have been Mine Detection System (ALMDS) from Northrop Grumman deployed off the coast
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 8INSIGHTS SUBSEA DEFENSE Copyright RomanenkoAlexey/AdobeStock WHEN THE SHOOTING STOPS: BLACK SEA MINE CLEARANCE WILL FEATURE ADVANCED TECH, CONOPS By David Strachan, Senior Analyst, Strikepod Systems ince the beginning of the war in Ukraine, mine warfare mines have been the weapon of choice for both
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 4Editorial NIWA-Nippon Foundation TESMaP/ Rebekah Parsons-King www.marinetechnologynews.com ast month marked the resounding NEW YORK 118 E. 25th St., New York, NY 10010 return of Oceanology Interna- Tel: (212) 477-6700; Fax: (212) 254-6271 tional in London, perennially one Lof the world’s most important
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 3EMPOWERING World leading electric underwater robotics Seaeye eM1-7 Electric Manipulator • Seven function work class manipulator • Compatible with most work class ROVs • Maximum reach 1,990mm • Lift capacity 122kg/454kg (max/min reach) • Precise position and force feedback • Modular self-contained
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 43, equipment makers, designers, research institutes and class societies: all of them are crucial,” – Eero Lehtovaara, Head of Regulatory & Public Affairs, ABB Marine & Ports All images courtesy ABB Marine and Ports providers on developing standards and print and accelerate the commercialized tection
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 42Marine & Ports. ABB Marine & Ports Head of Regula- transporting goods, whether considered eters, for example: a seafarer acting in full tory & Public Affairs, Eero Lehtovaara tons per mile or emissions per ton-mile. compliance with training requirements has carved out an unusual - and possibly However
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 41Nautel provides innovative, industry-leading solutions speci? cally designed for use in harsh maritime environments: • GMDSS/NAVTEX/NAVDAT coastal surveillance and transmission systems • Offshore NDB non-directional radio beacon systems for oil platform, support vessel & wind farm applications