VSAT system upgrade for an air traffic control provider in Africa

ND SatCom is a leading global systems integrator of satellite based broadband VSAT modems, as well as broadcast, government and defense communication network and ground station solutions.

With more than 30 years of providing highly secure, tailor-engineered solutions, ND SatCom's diverse customer base includes satellite network service providers, international carriers, broadcasters, satellite operators, governmental institutions, corporations
and military organisations.

One of the projects that ND SatCom were involved with included an upgrade of a VSAT system for an air traffic control (ATC) provider in Africa.

All indoor equipment (i.e. modems, multiplexers etc.) needed to be modernised and required an extensive migration on many sites all over the continent.

During the migration phase, the old systems needed to remain fully functional and connected, and the customer the ability to switch the antennas between the old and the new indoor systems at any time.

ND SatCom selected off the shelf active splitters and combiners from ETL's RF components product range for this project.

Models DIV06B2A-2408 (6-way splitter) and COM04B2A-2106 (4-way combiner) are resistive in design, allowing for wider operating frequency ranges in a more cost effective, compact form factor.

Each splitter / combiner is fitted with an integrated amplifier providing unity gain signal distribution, ensuring no loss on the transmit or receive chain. ETL offer a wide range of resistive splitters and combiners for use in a variety of applications.

The ETL splitters and combiners provided a broad frequency range covering L-band and IF band, allowing distribution of IF and L-band signals from the old VSAT infrastructure for migration in to the new system.

ETL's diverse range of connector options also allowed for interface compatibility with the existing systems.