Cobham sees the antenna as ideal for intra-Asian carriers and operators of smaller vessels to be able to capatilise on the benefits unlimited VSAT enables.
The new antenna is constructed from lightweight materials and is compatible with all Ku-band satellites.
“From the outset, the SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku was engineered to maximize performance on the smallest form factor. All vessels, including smaller tonnage, such as short sea shipping and fishing vessels, can now exploit the benefits of a new breed of high-throughput satellites,” said Christian Kock, senior sales director, global maritime at Cobham Satcom.
The antenna features an automatic roaming capability that allows vessels to stay online when sailing between different coverage areas and is able to connect to both traditional wide beam satellites and new smaller spot beams used by constellation satellites.
The new antenna can also be natively configured for dual antenna installations, eliminating a requirement for a separate dedicated switchover box and the additional complexity and cost this entails. “This is particularly important for ships which have structures that could block the direct line-of-sight of one antenna to a satellite, which will result in link degradation and intermittent connection,” explained Jens Ewerling, director, maritime broadband for Cobham.
The switch-over to the second antenna takes less than a second.
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