HRPT satellites give
1.1km resolution in 5 spectral bands. Two are visible, and
3 infrared. There are about 12 good images a day and this system
will provide the very highest resolution possible from weather
satellites. Because there are 5 sensors they can be mixed together
to provide stunning colour images showing an incredible amount
of detail. Remember that APT gives a pixel size of 4km and
therefore an area of 16 square km per pixel. HRPT gives a pixel
size of 1.1km and therefore an area of 1.21 square km per pixel,
an amazing increase of 13 times resolution. But there is more,
remember that there are 5 bands and that this is also a digital
system that gives 10 bit data, 1024 grey or colour levels per
band, giving a total of 50 bit data.
The system is, though, both complex and expensive and is very
definitely not for the beginner. A 90cm (3 foot) dish has to
be tracked across the sky as the satellite orbits. This is
all taken care of automatically and works really well in practice.
There are only a few HRPT system manufacturers in the world,
no commercially available receiver is capable of receiving
HRPT and so, unless you are good at receiver design and home
construction, you need to purchase a complete system from us.
Made to Quality Standard ISO9002 and certified FCC and CE.
NOAA and SeaStar (SeaWiFS) listed approved.
HRPT Antenna
The HRPT dish is 90cm (3 foot) and is fitted to a Yaesu Azimuth-Elevation
positioner unit.
The helical feed is connected directly to the preamplifier
which mounts directly behind the feed. The dish can be at ground
level on a patio stand or mounted on the side of your building.
1.7GHz PHEMT Pre-amplifier
Our 1700MHz preamplifier is regarded by many as the best available
and has a noise figure of just 0.45dB or less. It covers 1690-1710MHz
with 35dB of gain. This high gain allows the use of 20m of
cable thereby placing the sensitive electronics indoors away
from the effects of temperature and the weather. The unit is
IP67 water resistant class. The voltage range is 8-14 at a
current of 80mA and is power fed by the cable automatically
from our receiver. N connector input, F type output.
HRPT Receiver
The receiver has all known channels fitted and has surprised
many by its ability to receive temporary satellites. It has
a moving coil signal strength meter to allow easy adjustment.
Computer control of the channel selection is available if
needed for fully automatic operation.
HRPT and CHRPT USB Interfaces
The HRPT USB interface is an external unit connecting to a
USB port. It includes an analogue processing section with integrators,
sample and hold and a linear phase lock loop clock recovery
circuit. This all adds up to an interface that will produce
stunning images from this digital satellite. For CHRPT, a separate
unit is required.
AutoTrack II dish tracking controller
This will automatically point the dish at the satellite as
it orbits the earth. Tracking is completely automatic and any
errors can be "nudged" out and the error information
saved permanently.
This unit also changes the receiver channel to
automate HRPT reception under computer control of the HRPT
system.