A mobile satellite news gathering system using a flat antenna

We propose a mobile SNG (satellite news gathering) RF terminal that transmits TV programs from a ship or a vehicle to a broadcasting center in real time via a communications satellite. The terminal consists of a transmitter using beam steering flat antenna with 16 subarrays and of a turntable and pitch-roll stabilizer for mechanical tracking. The antenna beam is steered according to a received beacon signal, and rapid tracking with an accuracy of 0.05/spl deg/ cart be achieved even if slant angles in the pitch and roll of the ship in which the terminal is set, are /spl plusmn/10/spl deg/ and /spl plusmn/15/spl deg/. We demonstrated the good performance of the terminal by transmitting a TV program from a ship in Tokyo Bay.