SOME OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INSTALLATIONS I HAVE MADE WHEN I WAS DOING THE TVRO BUSINESS
As referred in my history web page , I was one of the oldest makers and installers of satellite TV systems in Thessaloniki , starting from 1984 by designing a satellite TV Antenna (mainly 1.8 diameter dishes) and little later producing and installing these antennas. A little later we added 3 meter systems - dish hardware including horizon to horizon motorized mounts sold as default - imported from E Europe ( but dyecast design made in Canada) . These systems were the most favoritism that time for most end users.
Below you will find illustrated pictorials of these old installations, including some historical background. I was very unfortunate however that much of my TVRO installations album/ file has been lost on 1992-3 when i was operating the Pieria TV in Katerini, as someone stollen the picture dossier among with other very useful materials and equipment. Please see special article with the history on Pieria TV here
Notice that after 20+ years none of these companies noticed on the text exist.
Zacharias
Liangas
Pictures
personal copyright 2003-2005
Please email me at zliangasfive (in number) at gmail dott com
(Thessaloniki)
This
system has been made in the start 90's period. A professor,has
shown an interest in installing a system for
monitoring the stars , but the system has been fully
completed for TVRO use. I am not sure if the system has been used for
astrophysical reasons but the LNB are still the TVRO as used
before
(Thessaloniki)
A little afterwards ( 1 month?) they shown an interest for a 3 meter system. The funniest is that the same night the system has been installed , a pirate TV transmission with satellite TV Programs has been transmitted from an unknown point , but surely from a further point closer to Hortiatis , and next day the local authorities were supposed that this transmission was originated from FM100 system !
The system was then used primarily to relay BBC and Deutsche Welle though more recently its relay use has been declined
The headquarters of FM 100 are located in the Angelaki street , the also called stations street . The rear part of these buildings belong to Hellexpo, the main exhibitions super hall of Thessaloniki and still the larget exhibitions hall in Greece( about 15000 sqm) with more than 15 exhibitions every year . .
And about the 3 m antenna we used: Its design is 8 pieces of aluminum abt 1,5 mm thick
The
second system installed for the university , after an
interest of a professor of Mathematics, though the system and
its installation was very simple,its maintenance was much of
headaching and requirements of this professor and caused me to lose some
important
equipment.
Antenna is barely
shown as is it several meters far from
the edge
System has been installed 3 months after the system of Thessaloniki. That installation was not without incidents between them and the police, as it happened with the municipality of Thessaloniki and police for the installation of the radio station . It has been rumored that the same police force used in Thessaloniki ( which came from Athens ) was also in force in Ptolemaida.About 400 persons of the force have been used ...
The system has been at start installed in the mayor's building abt 2 km ouside the city. and included 3 TVRO dishes with 2x 3m dishes and one 1.8 m dish and a full relay system with 5 Uniden TVRo receivers , 5 transmitter of 5 W and 5 lazy-H type UHF antennas and Heliax cables. Later they moved the system to the hotel .All of this equipment was available in the local market (Thessaloniki). The system has been used in that point for several years and then transferred to a hotel 1 km far from that point . ON a recent visit to the city the system has been dissolved and used for several other personal installations of the members of the municipality team.
The mayor's building shown at left , is a preschool child station if i am correct. THis building ws on the start of its make and recently (2005) is has been grown into a 2-3 store building in between a very rich green farm
Ptolemaida is the city of production of electricity for all Greece . There are several lignite power plants outside the city and the older times nearly all inhabitants of the city worked in the power plants
This
system has been installed as a oppression follow-up of the
system of Prolemaida, little time after the project in Ptolemaida
has
been concluded . Kozani is located 20
km south of Ptolemaida and is the capital of the county
The
system has been installed in a school in the outskirts
of the city ( for that time) about 3 km SE from the city's center It
included the same material as the above installation.
It is is still in use today (~2000) and relays RTL , RAI 1 ,
Kanal 1 russia and MTV German ( all free to air channels) ,but about 4
- 5 yearrs ago it has been transfered to another point , possibly
the mountains at south.
The picture shown in the left is a photo shot of the building where the
antennas were installed .Unfortunately I have not made any picture those
times of the installation. It was a very abrupt case that amused all of
our team.
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This is a set of 3 pictures from Kaduna, North Nigeria on Feb '90
The left shows the TVRO antenna on the top of a container together
with the Greek flag , as the owner of the company in Nigeria is Greek man
, though he lives in Nigeria for more than 20 years
At the right there is a hot water solar system made by the 'mother
company' of the TVRO systems , Thermocal . I Used the facilities of the
family's ( those times) company Thermocal to produce the 1.8 m diameter
antennas.
At the rear part of the solar hot water is a metallic
container that 'contains' the electronic system of my promotional
TVRO system with 3 m dish, an analogue sat receiver and a small TV set .
As far as i remember there were also other TVRO systems in
the trade fair with 5 and even 7 m mesh antennas on the C
band as mine's , however my system had the best efficiency and result over
remaining systems
We were the guests of the head person of the company 'Hydro Construction ' who
is Greek. His company is involved to desiugn and install complete irrigation
systems. ie from drilling to community water tanks . IN his pavilion
except the drilling and irrigation systems also photo-voltaic [from his
side, just introduced for autonomous usage] , solar systems and TVRO were
exhibited.
( my TVRO antenna is shown behind the drilling machine at right
The picture on bottom comes from the Feb 26th 1990
issue of "the reporter" newspaper featuring
a "trade fair special "
THis was the first part of my trips to Nigeria together with my father . we
spent one month on that area. A few months later I gone again to his house
on Zaria , N Nigeria for setting up a (never made) TV
channel
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Two systems in Nigeria . Both
systems have been installed
by our dealer in Nigeria but later tested by me .
The system at the left is in Idah ( middle Nigeria) and the left in Lagos. the late system was used mainly for receiving the
Italian channels from Eutelsat 13E but several days before
i visited the city/house the satellite has been replaced by a
new one ( Hotbird?) which had a different 'footprint'
(illumination pattern)
Shot on 1991
- in the factory of Thermocal , the family's company
Antenna bought from Spain for experiments.
Another
heavy design antenna made experimentally by us Also these
early times . As far as
I can remember it's weight exceeded 100 kgs! It's diameter is 1.8
m Later this antenna left by someone very stupid to the trash ...
And here is a picture from one to-be that time cooperator who wanted to use our factory's facilities for producing 'uncommon type' TVRO dishes for that time. This person came from USA and was an expert(?) in telecoms and very proud of his design . The designer is shown at the left and my father at the right .
The antenna is 1.8 x 1.2 m perforated aluminum .
The funniest thing is that he did not know that in Europe , from the start of the satelitte TV era (85-7) we used Ku band. As in result this antenna performed about 2-3 db less than a 1.2 m solid dish! Its design was 3 sheets of perforated aluminum that then combined into one dish. And really i wondered before we made the installation if this antenna could ever operate! .
And this is another system installation (with 3 antennas 1.8 m and 3 m )
in a trade fair together with our mother company Thermocal (hot water
heaters and storage radiators )
As far as i can remember te fari was in Lamia on the centre of Greece
Updated 8-5-10
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