It was destined for demolition<\/a> before Canadian aerospace company ThothX signed a 20-year lease for the facility in 2022, with minor repairs beginning last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week, the 29-metre-wide parabolic antenna received its first radar signal since 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I flew 18,000 kilometres from Canada to conduct this test and so, you can imagine, I was delighted when we managed to receive the first signals from [the satellite],” ThothX chief executive Brendan Quine said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “This gives us a proof-of-concept for the project, and allows us to move forward to the next step, which is to finish the refurbishment.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dish needed to be aimed precisely at a satellite of interest in order to receive the signal.<\/p>\n\n\n However, it had only been rotated a handful of times since the late 1980s and rarely beyond the range of motion needed to be stowed for the cyclone season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with a new back-end radio system, the dish’s bearings required flushing with fresh oil and decades-worth of pigeon droppings removed, the latter of which was an ongoing battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The antenna’s optics, a six-metre-deep tube at its centre, were also cleaned by hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the comprehensive works and lofty goal, the latest test came down to three men and a hand-operated drill fitted to the rotator mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ThothX Australia director Phil Youd compared the manual operation to fine-tuning the dish atop a caravan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Some have got their satellite dishes … it’s the same principle as that to find a satellite except it’s far more accurate with what we’ve got,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It is a pinpoint that we are looking for; whereas in a caravan, they’re looking for a broad beam coming down from the satellite, we are looking at one little frequency.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n After several minute adjustments, the OTC dish managed to lock on the position of geo-stationary object NSS-12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States-built satellite provides a wide range of services to Australia, such as television broadcasting, online banking transactions, emergency beacons, and military communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With its proof-of-concept secured, ThothX plans to invest upwards of $10 million into the OTC dish, which it says will take a key place in its global satellite tracking network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dish’s location in remote Western Australia, discovered by Mr Quine while searching Google Earth, is particularly well-positioned to give potential military clients a strategic advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our adversaries are very active in space,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Carnarvon is in a perfect location to monitor these activities because we can monitor the whole Pacific theatre.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said an active radar would surpass the usefulness of telescopes used to monitor satellites, which could be affected by the weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “If you’re waiting for your adversary to move a spacecraft, you kind of want to know immediately what’s going on, and you want to be able to protect your own assets from things crashing into it,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state government contributed $50,000 towards the OTC dish’s refurbishment in September as part of a regional development grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ThothX said those funds would go towards repainting the antenna and installing new power systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A fresh outer coating to help the dish withstand Carnarvon’s corrosive ocean winds is next on the agenda, with hopes for a full radar demonstration in the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, the company expects to install more equipment and software that will allow the OTC dish to locate spacecraft up to 50,000 kilometres from Earth at an approximate three-metre margin of error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The space company compared the project to its refurbishment of the 46-metre-dish at Algonquin Radio Observatory in Canada, one of several it operates across North America, Europe, and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It took about 15 years for the Algonquin dish to become fully operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Youd, who also manages the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum, said he was glad to help restore the local landmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: ABC News WA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week, the 29-metre-wide parabolic antenna received its first radar signal since 1987.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":154862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,35,713],"tags":[14658,14659,4553],"class_list":["post-154855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-breaking-news","category-canada","tag-carnavon","tag-overseas-telecommunication-commission-otc","tag-western-australia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tLike a giant caravan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘Adversaries’ above<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
More work to be done<\/h2>\n\n\n\n