Elston Engineering Services has worked with Advent Communications on their ranges of Satellite News Gathering (SNG) antenna systems for many years.  The Mantis Mk3 Mount was designed jointly by Advent, Carbon Fibre Technologies (CFT) and EES to achieve a carbon composite 3-axis mount at one-third the weight and half the cost of its aluminium predecessor, without compromising its performance with the 1.9 meter diameter Mantis dish.  This could not have been achieved without intensive use of Solid Modelling and Finite Element Analysis.

The lightweight 2.4 meter diameter Mantis dish was then devised with surface accuracy sufficient for operation at all three communications bands:  C, Ku and Ka.  Again the use of Finite Element Analysis was crucial.

The larger dish needed a stiffer mount, the Mk4, to achieve the required stiffness and pointing accuracy.  The Finite Element analyses guided the structural design and choices for the carbon composite lay ups.

The latest Advent FlyDrive antenna continues the tradition of lightweight carbon composite construction guided by the structural design and Finite Element analyses of Elston Engineering Services, with carbon composites tooled and made by Altanet Technology.

Photos Courtesy of Advent Communications