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Our primary business is providing system engineering and project management support including the support of contract negotiations, specification, RFP development, design, acceptance testing, design trade-off and analysis etc. We also provide assistance with commercial aspects including business planning, OPEX and CAPEX planning, service definitions and platform optimisation. Expertise covers all VSAT vendor platforms including iDirect, HNS, Viasat, Comtech etc. The Systems House has no affiliation with any satellite operator or equipment vendor and is therefore able to offer completely unbiased assessments and analyses.
Some of the projects completed in recent years are described below, illustrating the nature and diversity of experience in satellite technology and applications. Note that this is only a small sub-set of the projects undertaken to date:
The Systems House provided consulting services to a leading South African enterprise service provider in terms of strategy formulation and business case development pertaining to C and Ku band GEO VSAT services to the enterprise market as well as assessment of upcoming LEO solutions such as Starlink, Oneweb, Kuiper and others. Assessments of broadband product options from HTS satellites is also included in the scope of work provided.
This study was commissioned to provide an understanding of the current use of C band for satellite services in Africa, the amount of capacity available and being used, and the possible mitigation and migration strategies if a portion of the C band was allocated to IMT services. Measurements of fill factor on numerous satellites over the continent were undertaken and data sourced on the number of C band terminals in operation per application, and total capacity used per application. The considerations for IMT and satellite sharing of the C band were also analysed.
The Systems House undertook the design, testing and commissioning of two multi-antenna teleports for a leading ISP in Africa. The first included a 13m Ku band system, 13m C band system, 6m C band system and four collocated test VSATs.
The second teleport included 3 x 7.3m antennas,1 x 6.1m antenna, 2 x 3.8m antennas and multiple smaller antennas as well as overall site planning, equipment containers, generators, UPS, and integration of the VSAT hubs.
The project included the integration of multiple iDirect hubs, SkyWAN hub, SCPC modems and a SkyWire system onto these antennas and a fully remotely accessed Monitor and Control system and remote spectrum analyser. The project was completed in six months.
The work package also included business analysis and documentation of the VSAT network installation, commissioning and operations procedures.
Extensive consulting services were provided to the South African National Space Agency (previously CSIR Satellite Applications Centre).
Projects at their Hartebeeshoek Earth Station included an 11m C band TT&C antenna system, 13m Ka band antenna system, and various VSAT projects. Services offered included project management, contract management and system engineering. A detailed risk assessment of the earth station was completed.
The Systems House was contracted for the complete design, system engineering and project management for the retrofit of a 12m S band earth station to provide uplinking for TT&C services
The Systems House was responsible for the full teleport design at Accelon in Lagos, Nigeria (now Internet Solutions Nigeria). The teleport includes both Ku and C band earth stations (3.8m – 4.8m antennas) operating on NSS-10, Astra-2F, IS-907, NSS-12 and Arabsat-5A satellites. The work included earth station and hub design and commissioning as well as ongoing operational support including expansion planning, capacity planning, traffic engineering, RFT modifications and optimisation, CAPEX and OPEX planning etc.
The teleport utilised a combination of Hughes HN7000 and iDirect Infinity VSAT platforms. An additional work package included the specification and design of a VSAT cross-pol measurement system to facilitate correct linear polarisation during installation of VSATs.
The Systems House supported Sunspace, a South African satellite manufacturer, by providing system engineering and design services required for their Geostationary satellite development program. This includes a total system design including the space and ground segment components. A modelling tool has also been developed to assist in the rapid trade-off of satellite parameters such as mass (bus, payload, fuel), on orbit lifetime, number of transponders, EIRP, G/T, antenna sizing and much more.
More recently engineering consultancy services have been provided to the Space Advisory Company (SAC), specifically relating to communications satellite payload design and assembly, integration and test thereof.
The Systems House, under contract to Reutech Solutions Ltd, provides high-level technical support to the South African National Defence Force on their C and Ku band satellite networks, including scoping, writing of technical statements of work, tender evaluation, proposing long term strategies and technology evolution. Recent activities include upgrading of two teleport antennas and migrating services to new satellites.
These systems provide a key communication platform to troops across Africa.
The Systems House was contracted by MBV Ubumbano to support the NEPAD E-schools Satlink project RFI response evaluation. An overall network system concept was developed and all VSAT ground segment responses to the RFI were evaluated. This included both a functional and performance evaluation.
The Systems House also reviewed the space segment analysis performed by MBV.
The Systems House was contracted to assess network problems experienced by Africa Telecommunications on a VSAT network used to provide voice and data services across sub-Saharan Africa. The network utilised a Gilat Dialaw@y platform on Panamsat-10 capacity. The evaluation included many aspects including analyis of commercials, NMS log files, issues such as cross-polarisation, rain fade, quality of installations, hub operational procedures and internet connectivity aspects.
On completion of the evaluation, Mr Blatch also supported Afritel’s legal proceedings against the VSAT operator by serving as the key technical witness for Afritel.
As part of a Blue Platinum consultancy team, The Systems House was responsible for the VSAT network design for Communications Carrier in Kenya. This included analysis of available space segment capacity and ground segment solutions based on CommCarrier’s market requirements. Various different broadband VSAT platforms together with local access via Wireless Local Loop were assessed and recommendations made.
The Systems House performed an audit of the VSAT systems operated by BTC (Botswana) and Face Technologies (Zambia) ahead of a planned satellite migration of both networks. Detailed procedures for performing the migration were then compiled including changes required at the hub and remote sites.
The BTC network is a Hughes Direcway 6000 system used for voice and internet services whilst the Face Technologies network utilises an HNS ISBN/PES 5000 network for WAN backbone services. The Face Technologies’ network was migrated in February 2006 without any complications and is now fully operational on Eutelsat E7B. The BTC network was successfully migrated in May 2006.
Under contract to MBV Ubumbano, The Systems House has assisted in the process of the establishment of an Orbcomm Gateway Earth Station in Southern Africa by scoping the requirements, drawing up of RFPs, and assisting with obtaining a license for operation of the GES. The GES has subsequently been installed and is fully operational.
A European satellite operator wished to establish Ka band gateways in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Systems House surveyed possible locations and performed detailed RF surveys covering both L band and Ka band, in order to identify interference and determine site viability for the Ka band services.
Under contract to Eutelsat, The Systems House completed testing and analysis of the outroute and inroute link margins and performance on the Hughes DirecWay hub operated by Telma, Madagascar, which uses Eutelsat W3A space segment. The hub and RFT are located at the Telma Earth Station in Antananarivo with remote sites located across the country. The audit provided conclusive information on the origin of network problems.
A similar exercise was performed at Azur Congo, which included earth station and link auditing as well as providing a two-day training course to local staff to increase their skills on satellite communications.
The Systems House completed a thorough audit of the Botswana Telecom Corporation (BTC) Direcway VSAT hub, the earth station, selected VSAT terminals, RF equipment, operations procedures, staff skills etc and presented the findings to senior BTC management.
The Systems House was contracted by Associated Press of the UK to supply, install and project manage an eleven site receive only Ku band VSAT network for distribution of press releases to newspaper offices around South Africa and Namibia. The entire project was completed within 6 weeks of placement of order.
New Artel in Rwanda was looking to expand both its satellite and terrestrial wireless operations and contracted the Systems House to lead this activity. The project included modification to existing antennas as well as installation of a new 3.8m tracking antenna and iDirect hub.
Other activities include generating business plans, financial forecasts, generating operations procedures, capacity planning and many more activities in support of the business.
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