Value over three years of about £ ¾million

Norsat International of Canada has just signed a three-year agreement to purchase satellite communication antennas from ERA Technology. The agreement is for a minimum order per year with an approximate value over three years of £0.75 million. The model covered by the agreement is the ERA 1m Ku band segmented Diamond antenna which is to be integrated into Norsat’s OmniLink™ portable satellite terminals (formerly referred to as the “pico-terminal”). Norsat OmniLink™ portable satellite terminals allow the transmission of high quality voice, video and data signals from areas where there is no infrastructure, where land-based communication conditions are distressed, or where the environment is far from ideal.

Norsat International recently announced that CBS News has contracted to purchase two Norsat NewsLink™ terminals. The Norsat NewsLink™ is a member of the Norsat OmniLink™ family of portable satellite terminals designed specifically for satellite news gathering. The purchase contract for the two units is for delivery in early January 2003 and for immediate field deployment in the Middle East.

Michael Heaven, Norsat’s Chief Operating Officer, said, "We evaluated several portable antenna solutions for our OmniLink Terminal Family and found that the 1m ERA carbon fibre antenna offered us the lowest possible weight with the very best performance in a sectionalised, portable package. The combination of Norsat's RF solution and ERA's antenna provides our customers with a suitcase-size, broadband satellite terminal achieving data rates over 4Mbps worldwide."

The compact and specially designed terminal can be carried in two suitcases and deployed and set up easily in the field in several minutes without tools. It allows the transmission of broadcast quality MPEG-2 video via DVB-S over satellite. The terminal is ideally suited for the transmission of video, voice, and IP data in remote or hostile environments.

Dr Robert Pearson, Head of the ERA Antenna Systems business, said, “We have a track record of success dating back more than 25 years, and this latest order is confirmation of our continuing leadership in the supply of small satellite ground terminal antennas. Our capabilities range from the supply of high-performance military satellite communications terminals to the development of low cost consumer products. As another very recent example of our innovation, ERA’s unique low profile scanning antenna is changing the face of mobile satellite communications by making it possible to fit unobtrusive antennas to smaller vehicles allowing the use of satellite services on the move.”

As well as supplying its range of type-approved “Diamond” satellite communications antennas, ERA remains active at the leading edge through research programmes from UK Government, European Space Agency and other agencies, the outcomes of which are feeding into future product developments. Today, its activities are focused on providing systems integrators with antenna technologies that match their cost, performance, size and quality requirements in key market sectors covering Commercial Antennas, Satcom Ground Terminals and Airborne Systems.