Chapter 6 — RADAR AND SATELLITE EQUIPMENT 



Operation and Maintenance 

 of Equipment 



This equipment is operated and maintained 

 by specially trained Electronics Technicians 

 and Data Systems Technicians. Aerographer's 

 Mates do not operate the equipment but work very 

 closely with the technicians In the different as- 

 pects of th9 satellite data presentation. These 

 Aerographer's Mates also receive special train- 

 ing. 



RECORDER-WEATHER DATA 

 FACSIMILE RO-402/UMH 



The purpose of facsimile recorder RO-402/ 

 UMH is to reproduce meteorological information 

 transmitted from satellite -borne weather sen- 

 sors. The transmitted information may be re- 

 corded directly from a weather satellite receiving 

 station or from a magnetic tape. Provisions have 

 been made to connect to land-line circuits when 

 necessary. The recorder may be operated as 

 a remote unit such as the Recorder Group 

 0A-8726/UMH (figure 6-12), or used in con- 

 junction with the Receiver Recorder Set, AN/ 

 SMQ-6A(V). (See figure 6-13.) For more detailed 

 information refer to Operation and Maintenance 

 Instructions Manual, NAVAIR 50-30RO-1. 



RECORDER TEST SET 

 TS3011/GMM 



The test set is used for alignment and main- 

 tenance of the various facsimile recorders. The 

 test set provides the necessary signals to check 

 the starting, phasing, video (shades of gray 

 and resolution), AGC, and stopping functions 

 of the recorder. For more detailed informa- 

 tion refer to NAVAIR 17-15B-50. 



Illilfikiiilllll 



i 



MECHANICAL SATELLITE 

 TRACKING EQUIPMENT 



Valuable meteorological information is re- 

 ceived from the Automatic Picture Transmis- 

 sion (APT) System contained on meteorological 

 satellites. Before this data can be received, 

 a directional antenna must be directed at the 

 satellite so as to acquire the maximum possible 

 signal strength with a minimum of noise. The 

 procedure used to keep the antenna pointed at 

 the satellite is referred to as '•tracking." 



209.423 

 Figure 6-12.— Recorder, Weather Data, Facsim- 

 ile, RO-402/UMH shown in Recorder Group OA- 

 8726/UMH. 



In order to perform the task of determining 

 those orbits where acquisition of data is pos- 

 sible and computing the necessary "tracking" 

 data, mechanical equipment and information are 

 necessary. These include the plotting board, 



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