INTREPID 500S S-band ground station antenna system uses a 5,0 meter diameter mesh dish antenna with a very high surface precision. The giant GS-400 antenna tracking system allows high precision pointing and tracking of satellites in the sky.
An affordable S-band ground station antenna system with 5,0 meter diameter mesh dish antenna for satellite communication.
Thanks to specially developed technologies, INTREPID ground station antenna systems can be used to support spacecraft exploration and satellite missions in Earth orbit. This ground station can record telemetry data transmitted to Earth from spacecraft or perform radio science (by adding receivers or transceivers not included with INTREPID). INTREPID ground station antenna systems have very precise mounts that allow accurate tracking of spacecraft, using high directivity antennas – this reduces background noise helping to detect faint signals from spacecraft. Ground station antenna system are remotely operated to control antenna position, to detect even the faintest signals.
INTREPID 500S 5.0m S-band ground station antenna system: specifications
- Antenna diameter (m): 5
- Antenna type: Prime focus
- Working frequency: 2200 – 2450 MHz
- Bandwidth: 250 MHz
- Feed: Optimized for S-band
- Polarization: circular, left and right hand
- Mount: GS-400 antenna tracking system
- Pier: C400-HEAVY High load capacity pier for concrete base
- Remote control: yes
- Maximum slewing speed: 2°/sec
- Weatherproof: Yes
Much more than an amateur rotator.
The INTREPID 500S ground station antenna system does not use an amateur radio antenna rotator, but the large GS-400 antenna tracking system that we have specially designed and built to be more robust, precise and reliable. The GS-400 antenna tracking system has 400 Kg load capacity with very high precision pointing and tracking (encoders with a read resolution of 0,0015°). It can also be equipped with a special electronic security system (optional) which “parks” the antenna pointed at the Zenith (the vertical position) when the wind exceeds 50 Km/h, offering the lowest resistance to the wind.

INTREPID
INTREPID: Apollo 12 Lunar Module that landed on the Moon just 600 feet from the planned target (Surveyor 3 probe).
INTREPID ground station antenna systems are named in honor of the Lunar Module “Intrepid” that landed on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969. Astronauts were able to land the Lunar module in the Ocean of Storms just 600 feet from the planned target: the unmanned Surveyor 3 probe that previously landed on Moon surface on April 1967. Credits: NASA.