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Wolumla NBNCo satellite station tour by federal MPs
THE construction of the NBNCo’s satellite ground station at Wolumla is all but complete, with the facility now entering the testing phase.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher and Member for Eden-Monaro Peter Hendy were given a guided tour of the facility on Wednesday.
They were joined by Bega Valley Shire Mayor Michael Britten, BVSC group manager of transport and utilities Wayne Sartori and group manager of strategy and business services Lucas Scarpin.
Marty James from NBNCo’s satellite division walked the group around the facility describing the work that has gone in to its construction since March and how it will be utilised once satellites are launched.
Wolumla is one of 10 sites across Australia, but one of only two that plays host to four satellite dishes rather than two – Kalgoorlie is the other.
The additional antennae are specifically for telemetry and tracking of the satellites once they are in orbit.
In fact, Mr James said the Wolumla facility’s primary task is in satellite control and will only take on customer internet traffic if other sites break down.
Two American-built satellites are planned to be launched late next year, around six months apart - from French Guyana - to take up their orbit about Australia.
They will have a period of in-orbit testing before going online, with Mr James saying services to end users should start around the first quarter of 2016.
Visitors on Wednesday heard how each of the slabs supporting the four antennae consists of 200 tonnes of concrete as well as nine tonnes of steel.Each dish is 13.5 metres across and when operational, the station will be capable of transmitting gigabits per second.
For those technically minded, the satellites will be using the “Ka band” – pronounced Kay-Ay – which covers the frequencies of 26.5-40GHz.Mr Fletcher said it will be the first time the frequency is deployed in Australia and will allow “far and away the fastest internet speeds people can experience over satellites”.
High voltage power will be connected to the Wolumla facility within weeks, making the temporary generator that has been on site redundant, while a solar farm is also close to being connected.
The majority of the stations have on-ground solar farms, designed to offset their power consumption.
One look at the extensive cabling inside the building shows just how power-intensive the facilities will be.
However, Mr James said the site will have full power redundancy, with two complete systems – each with its own back-up power supply.
The site is heavily secured, with constant monitoring of temperatures and doors, an electrified fence and numerous security cameras.
NBNCo’s network of satellite ground stations features 24 dishes across 10 sites.
Locations of ground stations include Wolumla, Broken Hill, Bourke, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Waroona, Roma, Geeveston and Ceduna.
From the Bega District News by Ben Smyth
