SES 3 is nearing it's new orbital position at 103w. It is believed the new sat will have a standard skew. Maybe you have wondered how much trouble all those NBC affiliates will have making the change over. I was driving by the local tv station today and stopped to take a look. They have two huge dishes, I'm standing under the larger of the two, and next to it is a smaller one, both motorized these were installed in the early 80's.



Elevation motor



Azimuth motor



Skew is done with a chain driven sprocket. Look closely in the slot.




I'm told these dishes can be controlled locally or by the network. So on the day of transition New York pushes a button, the skew rotates, no need to re-point, change over done!


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