MI Technologies Delivers Efficient Automated Feed Exchangers to L3

April 26, 2007

MI Technologies Delivers Efficient Automated Feed Exchangers to L3 Communications

MI Technologies has completed construction of two large compact range automated feed exchangers for L3 Communications in Greenville, Texas. Each feed exchanger will be used in an MI-508C compact range for production testing of high performance antennas.

The feed exchangers dramatically improve throughput time for antenna testing by providing fast and accurate automatic feed and RF component changes.

Gary Kendall, Vice President at MI Technologies, said, "The MI-Technologies" automated feed exchanger is unique in several ways. It uses a linear translating concept for moving the feeds, rather than a rotating method, it has eight compact range feeds compared to the usual four or five and offers full polarization control for all eight feeds."

Each of the two identical feed exchangers weigh in at 10,000 pounds, are 16-feet long and 8-feet high. Each feed exchanger carries eight feeds to cover a range of frequencies selected by the user. With all feeds being pre-aligned and interchangeable, the operator can select any combination of feed sets that best meet the test requirement. Compared to the time it takes to manually change a feed and its complementary RF equipment, MI Technologies' automated feed exchangers complete each change in minutes.

"Our customers can expect a significant improvement in throughput for antenna testing," Kendal added. "In addition to improved speed, the automated exchangers ensure accuracy, repeatability and improve quality by eliminating errors associated with manual feed changes."

Click here for more information about the MI-508C Compact Range.

Click Here to see the Automated Feed Changer in Action!
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