Project Description
As part of the project to digitalize the aerial video surveillance analogue network of the Ministry of Defense of a major African country, BTESA implemented all the ground level receiving stations including:
- Long range receiving stations: for air-to-ground transmission of video/audio using a dish antenna with automatic pan/tilt together with a multisector antenna. Three types of stations were deployed by BTESA
- Existing Fixed Stations: upgrade of existing stations, installing a new dish on existing turret, and electronic equipment on existing shelters.
- New Fixed Stations: new infrastructure including 30m and 50m towers, spherical radomes for the parabolic dishes, and outdoor rack with hybrid cooling for electronic equipment.
- New Transportable Stations: new shelters designed with the exact dimensions to be transported on existing trucks, and with a reinforced structure to support a telescopic mast for the satellite dish.
- Mid-range receiving stations: for air-to-ground video/audio transmissions using a multisector antenna.
- New Mobile Stations: 7m vans with reinforced structure and stabilizers to support a telescopic mast. Foldable antenna supports. Soundproof generator. Racks with shock absorbers.
- existing mobile stations: existing vans were measured on site to manufacture all mechanical and electrical adaptations to install antennas and electronic equipment.
- Short-range receiving stations: for air-to-ground video/audio transmissions using two single dipole antennas.
- Portable stations: design of an extremely compact solution, and integration of all reception equipment into a fly-case, to be used on a car.
- Monitoring and control room
- Central control rooms: reception of all video/audio signals and display (multiviewer) of up to 12 HD videos on 85 » UHD screen.
BTESA was chosen for this work for its experience both in radiofrequency and in systems integration (reception and monitoring of video/audio/data, satellite reception vehicles,…). In addition to the verified experience of having implemented turn-key projects in several African countries.
It is a multidisciplinary project. The integration of several electronic equipment and antennas from the customer represented a challenge, for the diversity of electrical interfaces, signal connectors and mechanical boxes.
The mechanical engineering department was very involved, and designed more than a hundred different mechanical parts to adapt these equipment and antennas to the different stations (fixed, mobile, portable), with strict specifications of wind resistance. Having specialized engineers in house, allowed us to change the drawings quickly to accommodate several customer change petitions near the delivery date
The electrical engineering department also did a great job, and was also able to make changes quickly on already manufactured distribution boxes
BTESA executed the project entirely in 2018, complying with the required delivery times.
