Tuesday August 5 9:07 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Microdyne Corporation
Microdyne's July Telemetry Equipment Orders Top $2 Million
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Microdyne Corporation (Nasdaq:MCDY) today said it received hardware orders at its Aerospace Telemetry
Division for $2.2 million for the month of July, and follows a $3.1 million bookings month in June.
The largest single order in the month, for $1.3 million, was for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii. There, the Navy will
use Microdyne telemetry receivers to upgrade the site's capacity to monitor and evaluate new higher data rate telemetry streams from weapons and weapon
platforms under test and evaluation by the Navy.
``The Navy has a need to be able to track vehicles and demodulate telemetry data rates of up to 20 millions bits of data per second,'' explains Chris Spitz, President
of the Aerospace Telemetry Division. ``Microdyne's wideband telemetry receivers and diversity combiners are designed and manufactured specifically for such
applications.
``Over the past decade, engineers and scientists have become increasingly interested in far larger data samples,'' Spitz says. ``When the state of the art permitted the
gathering and transmission of information a few times a second from a few dozen sites on a missile, satellite, aircraft, or space vehicle, engineers had to be content
with what they could get. Moreover, too much data overwhelmed the ability of computers to log and interpret what was coming in. Now, transducers can provide
much more frequent and accurate data from many more sources, and computers can analyze massive amounts of data in real time. The new systems improve data
collection by removing the telemetry bottleneck. These new systems will help speed the pipeline of data from objects in space or in the air to receiving stations on the
ground.''
The Navy will use Microdyne's Model 1400-WBA wideband telemetry receivers, Model 3270-PC wideband diversity combiners, and Model 1200-MRC
telemetry receivers. Delivery of the products is scheduled for the balance of 1997 and into 1998.
Telemetry: what it is, how it is used
Telemetry is the technology of measuring various equipment performance parameters at a distance, and is required when the object under test is moving too quickly
or is at too great a distance to use wires. Information may consist of readings from hundreds of sensors recording such things as heat, vibration, stress and
operational performance. Each sensor will produce its own data stream which must be transmitted and captured. In telemetry, data is gathered, multiplexed, and
transmitted at microwave frequencies, usually in a rapid burst form, toward a ground station. There, a highly selective radio receiver gathers the information. In other
applications such as weather satellites or space vehicles, the information will consist of data and video transmissions. The U.S. Government operates several hundred
ground stations, each of which may have racks of telemetry receivers. Other governments operate dozens of sites.
Telemetry receivers monitor the multiple data streams produced by thousands of sensors on board fast-moving vehicles such as aircraft, missiles, satellites, or the
space shuttle. Diversity combiners allow two telemetry receivers to monitor a data stream from an object that may be rotating and thus changing the polarity of its
signal. Signal simulators are used to test other telemetry equipment.
Microdyne's Aerospace Telemetry Division
Microdyne's Aerospace Telemetry Division, located in Ocala, Florida, is the world's premier developer and manufacturer of telemetry receivers; the specialized
high-frequency radios used in aerospace and satellite communications. The Aerospace Telemetry Division is also a provider of systems integration services for
telemetry programs. Formed in 1968, the division has been responsible for technical innovations in the design and application of telemetry products throughout the
space era. Today, the division's products serve the needs of the aerospace industry, satellite communications providers, and other users of high-precision,
high-reliability long-range monitoring and control equipment.
Microdyne has been a long-time supplier to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and NASA, and was awarded an $11 million systems integration contract by the Italian
Ministry of Defense in late 1996. Also during the past year, Microdyne has been awarded contracts to supply telemetry gear for such uses as low-earth-orbit
satellite terminal equipment, Japan's FSX fighter program support, the Singaporean government's aircraft test program, AT&T satellite control modernization, as well
as numerous NASA, NOAA, and other U.S. government agency programs.
About Microdyne
Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and with offices and representatives around the world, Microdyne Corporation is a diversified manufacturing, technology,
and services company. Microdyne's Aerospace Telemetry Division is the world's premier developer and manufacturer of telemetry receivers; the specialized
high-frequency radios used in aerospace and satellite communications. Microdyne's Support Services Division is a provider of value-added outsourced services,
including telephone technical support , and warranty and after-warranty service depots.
Microdyne's shares are traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market; symbol MCDY. For additional information on the company, please visit Microdyne's web site at
www.microdyne.com.
SOURCE: Microdyne Corporation |
