Aflenz earth station
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Aflenz earth station
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| Basic data | ||||
| Place: | Aflenz | |||
| State: | Styria | |||
| Country: | Austria | |||
| Coordinates: 47 ° 33 ′ 15.7 " N , 15 ° 17 ′ 33.1" E | ||||
| Use: | Telecommunication system | |||
| Data on the transmission system | ||||
| Construction time: | 1980 | |||
| Position map | ||||
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The Aflenz earth station is the only earth station in Austria. The operator is A1 Telekom Austria : It is directly connected to the Vienna Arsenal radio tower via radio relay and dedicated line. It was built in 1980 and the architect was Gustav Peichl . The Aflenz location was chosen because there is no electromagnetic interference from airports (radar).
Initially, the system consisted of one mobile and three stationary parabolic antennas, which were expanded to four with a diameter of over 10 m and 50 smaller parabolic antennas for satellite communications by the beginning of the 2010s . The facility extends to around 6,500 m² and the operating rooms are largely underground.
The Aflenz earth station serves as one of three locations for measuring new earth stations in the EUTELSAT system.
There are two large parabolic antennas with a diameter of about 30 m and a weight of over 200 t. More antennas are added every year. They are aimed at more than 20 satellite systems. The earth station is independent of the public power supply thanks to emergency power generators and has its own control rooms, which are manned throughout. This radio station establishes telephone and Internet connections overseas and broadcasts television within Europe and North America. There are also “mobile antennas”. One of them is the "TES", which is mounted on a trailer.
There is a visitor center and guided tours by appointment; At the moment, however, there are no longer any private tours, only for school groups or companies.
