In February 2016 Av-Comm successfully completed a major project to decommission a 6.8m Andrew Ku Band earth station on behalf of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation at their Ripponlea studios in Melbourne.
The project was awarded through a competitive tender process with Av-Comm securing the successful bid in late 2015. The tender is the first project Av-Comm has won since being appointed to the ABC’s satellite services supplier panel late last year and was well matched to the company’s skills and capabilities.
The project involved the careful and meticulous disassembly of the Andrew 6.8m that was used to uplink the ABC’s satellite interchange services. The satellite dish is being removed in preparation for the eventual closure of the ABC’s Ripponlea site as their new Southbank facility quickly approaches completion.
The project presented some interesting challenges to our project team as the satellite dish was located in a difficult position to lift with a crane: atop a five story building with the crane having to position itself in the carpark some 30 metres away. This required the use of a massive 95 ton crane that was spectacular to watch as is lifted the satellite dish down to the ground.
Once the dish and its components were safely on the ground, our team carefully labeled, catalogued, and photographed the dish ensuring the satellite dish could be returned to service successfully in the future. The project team then packed the satellite dish and it components into a shipping container for shipping back to Sydney where the dish will be refurbished and allocated to another project.
Av-Comm would like to thank the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for the opportunity to work with them on this exciting project as always we appreciate the opportunity to further develop our skills and knowledge with large satellite dishes and look forward to working on many future projects in the future together.
