Cobham SATCOM has announced that an Inmarsat Global Xpress (GX) variant of its state-of-the-art EXPLORER 8100 Stabilized, Auto-Acquire, Drive-Away Antenna System will be available for broadcast users before the end of this year. The new EXPLORER 8100GX expands the company’s EXPLORER 8000 series, which already includes 1 and 1.2 m antennas for global Ku-Band satellite services and Eutelsat’s Ka-Band NewsSpotter solution.
Currently undergoing Inmarsat Type Approval testing, EXPLORER 8100GX features Dynamic Pointing Correction technology, which enables a high degree of pointing accuracy. It can adjust in milliseconds to compensate for the vehicle it is installed on rocking on its suspension, giving broadcasters the ability to transmit live, high definition multimedia without interruption from anywhere in the world and in almost any weather conditions.
Cobham’s new GD2049 multi-port antenna installed on a Thales Hawkei vehicle at MSPO Poland. © Image supplied courtesy of Thales.
The system ensures a stable link to the Global Xpress network in winds up to 112 km/h or when people enter and exit the vehicle. The stabilization technology is even more important on the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Ka-Band frequencies used by Global Xpress, which require better pointing accuracy than Ku-Band services to maintain a stable, high-bandwidth link to the satellite.
EXPLORER 8000 antennas are claimed to offer unparalleled Comms-On-The-Pause performance, ensuring high-quality connectivity that is available even when other antennas would have lost their connection to the satellite. In the field, the EXPLORER 8000 series delivers availability of vital communications whatever the conditions, supported further by industry-leading fast satellite acquisition with initial pointing achieved in less than four minutes, making getting connected to a satellite a quick and easy process.
“Cobham SATCOM already offers leading EXPLORER Fly-Away terminals for Inmarsat Global Xpress, and the introduction of EXPLORER 8100GX is the natural next step to expand our offering,” said Henrik Nørrelykke, Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing, Land Mobile, Cobham SATCOM. “With the technology already proven in the field, EXPLORER 8100GX offers the same unique Dynamic Pointing Correction provided by our other EXPLORER 8000 Drive-Away antennas, so journalists and production teams can be confident of the availability of a high bandwidth link to GX even when stepping in and out of the vehicle or in windy conditions.”