Monday September 8 8:26 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Microdyne Corporation
Microdyne Reports August Telemetry Equipment Orders of $2 Million
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Microdyne Corporation (Nadsdaq: MCDY) today said it received hardware orders at its Aerospace Telemetry
Division of $2.0 million for the month of August, including equipment for use by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, EG&G, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation;
and Orion Network Systems, Inc. The $2.0 million continues a strong order pattern that includes bookings of $2.2 million for the month of July, and $3.1 million of
bookings month in June.
Among the orders received in the month was one for Microdyne's new WCS-4CS cosecant-squared tracking antenna. Lockheed Martin will take delivery on the
antenna later this month for use in a telemetry application at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
``This is a product line we will watch closely,'' said Chris Spitz, President of the Aerospace Telemetry Division. ``There is a viable and growing niche market in
single-axis antennae for specialized applications. The WCS-4CS fills that niche with a high quality, attractively priced product.''
Microdyne also reported orders from Orion's Satellite Division for telemetry telecommand and control, or TT&C, units for use at a commercial satellite control
facility in Virginia. A second TT&C equipment order was received from Integral Systems, Inc.
``This is the satellite housekeeping function,'' Mr. Spitz explains. ``A satellite continually monitors its own state of health, and that data is stored until the satellite
receives an order to transmit it to an earth station. When it comes, it does so as a burst. It may take a bank of receivers to record all of the data, which is then
logged onto a computer for real-time analysis. Software updates may need to be transmitted, or the satellite's orbit may need to be shifted.
Other major orders in the month came from EG&G and from Edwards Air Force Base, California, for telemetry receivers to be used in flight test programs; and
from the U.S. Navy's Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, for shipboard missile test applications.
-- 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, NASA, and NOAA.
-- 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 SSD 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 |
