Communications Equipment

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Pelican
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Communications Equipment

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Fearless upper and lower CCX panels
Courageous W/T office
Fearless Comcen
Puma BWO 1966
Punched tape
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Last edited by Pelican on Mon Mar 11, 2019 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Pelican
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Re: Communications Equipment

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Pelican wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:58 am Fearless upper and lower CCX panels
Corageous W/T office
Fearless Comcen
Puma BWO 1966
Punched tape
Buntings office HMS Q.E. 2018
Bridge - MCO - of Bulwark 2018
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Pelican
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Re: Communications Equipment

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"Chief! The Buffer says we have no heat resistant black paint onboard!

This one is resident in The Ship at Noss Mayo, Devon"
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: Communications Equipment

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Please see the attached for a visit to Cavalier.
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Re: Communications Equipment

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1982, SHINER WRIGHT IN THE W/T OFFICE OF KIRKLISTON
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Little h
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Re: Communications Equipment

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The equipment capabilities might have changed .... but .... feel like I can still relate to this activity (only I was usually in the seaboat)

HMS Kent
‏Verified account @hms_kent
55m55 minutes ago

Our Communicators conduct Comms Checks to enable the ship to control the Helicopter and Ship’s Boats at range.
EHZxjrtWwAIZull.jpg


Late edit; I'm guessing that it is a 'Bowman' variant.
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Little h
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Little h
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Re: Communications Equipment

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US NAVY Communications Facility in Sicily (1 of 4)

Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-speed satellite communications network

Ongoing Italian Legal Spat Over MUOS Network Puts Africa, Middle East Coverage at Risk
By: Sam LaGrone May 12, 2016 9:04 PM
081103-N-9698C-001 USNI News.jpg

Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) located at Naval Computer and
Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific, Wahiawa, Hawaii. US Navy Photo



A local legal battle over a U.S. Navy communications outpost in Sicily risks muting vast swaths of high-speed satellite communications coverage for U.S. forces in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

At issue is a ground communication station tied to the Navy’s new $7.8 billion Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-speed satellite communications network. The Italian based station, one of four, is currently shut down due to a court order from the Sicilian municipality of nearby Niscemi, according to a Thursday statement from Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) to USNI News.

For more than a year the Niscemi ground station has been shut down and despite a recent court ruling that would clear the way Italian defense ministry, there’s no clear legal path forward to reactivating the ground station. Last week an Italian court ruled in favor of the Italian defense ministry in one of two case between locals upset with the installations – the No MUOS collation who have fought the site for ten years. However, there are other legal challenges in different parts of the national and local legal systems that could keep the site offline for longer.

“We are still determining how this ruling will affect the unresolved court challenges that remain,” Patrick Alwine, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Rome told USNI News on Wednesday.
“Given the decision and the importance of MUOS for our mutual security in the Mediterranean, we are confident that Italian authorities will be able to resolve quickly all remaining court challenges.”

Unlike other legal challenges the Navy has faced when met with local opposition to installations in the U.S., the service and the U.S. government are not a party in the ongoing legal disputes with the MUOS ground station and has to watch from the sidelines.

“The main defendant is the Italian ministry of defense, who acted as a guarantor of the agreement allowing the U.S. Navy to build the receptors,” read an early May story from Defense One.
“The plaintiffs are a group of organizations (including the World Wildlife Fund) led by the No-MUOS committee, who oppose the MUOS on grounds that range from the ethical and environmental to protection of health.”

Regardless of the legal standing of the installation, the onoing shutdown of the Sicily station, “risks ability to conduct worldwide operations with full capacity and system redundancy in 2016 if there are further delays for operations of the MUOS Niscemi ground station,” according to a Thursday statement from SPAWAR.

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The MUOS satellites are perched in geosynchronous orbit over their respective geographical coverage areas. The ground stations both transmit and receive data from the satellites and those with MUOS capable radios. The station in Sicily is close to the center of the coverage of the satellite and in an ideal position for clear transmissions to the MUOS over the region.

Unlike the 1990s Ultra High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) system the Pentagon currently uses for satellite communications, the MUOS radios can be used on the move, transmit data at speeds of a smartphone on a broadband cellular network and operate through dense top cover like a jungle canopy.

However, without the Italian ground station U.S. forces would be unable to use many of the next generation features of the system in most of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Without the ground station, users of MUOS radios could probably still talk to each other by bouncing their messages off the satellite. They could also use one of these MUOS-equipped ships or aircraft as a ground station, but this would significantly reduce the bandwidth of the system, said Bryan Clark, naval analyst Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA)

The use of the system on the move will be an important feature, particularly for ground forces. Voice and data communication networks during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were well established over a decade of fighting but future conflicts will likely not allow U.S. forces to construct similar extensive communication networks.

MUOS capable radios are slowly trickling into U.S. forces after years of stops and start and aren’t widely used yet. But given the site in Sicily covers the one of the areas where the U.S. has been the most active in the last decade, getting MUOS coverage for Africa and the Middle East online is a priority for the Pentagon.

While the military is eager for the coverage to go online for MUOS there is one option not yet on the table, according to the Navy.

“There has been no discussion of alternate sites or of moving the NRTF Niscemi MUOS ground station to another location,” SPAWAR said.

Article carried in USNI News and text copied in full because of the importance of the matter.

_______________________________________________________

Q. after more than three years does a more recent update on any outcome from the court case exist?
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Little h
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Re: Communications Equipment

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Little h wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 1:10 am US NAVY Communications Facility in Sicily (1 of 4)

Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-speed satellite communications network

Ongoing Italian Legal Spat Over MUOS Network Puts Africa, Middle East Coverage at Risk
By: Sam LaGrone May 12, 2016 9:04 PM


Q. after more than three years does a more recent update on any outcome from the court case exist?
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In late 2017 the facility in Sicily was operating, see a few excerpts below:-

Navy Satellites Program Navigating Obstacles
1/9/2017 By Jon Harper

A critical Navy satellite program continues to face challenges as the Defense Department and its industry partners seek to improve the communications capabilities of deployed troops.

The $7 billion mobile user objective system, known as MUOS, is designed for narrowband communications. It aims to give U.S. forces a global smartphone-like capability with its new wideband code division multiple access waveform.

The system is expected to provide troops with higher data rates and voice quality, improved operational availability, and access to the Global Information Grid and Defense Information Systems Network voice and data services.

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The Navy has faced political opposition from local residents in Italy who believe that the ground station in Sicily poses a health risk due to radiation.

“We do not give a damn how much money the Americans have spent on this military toy,” said Marianna Garofalo of the group, Mothers Against MUOS, during a protest that took place in March 2016, according to Time magazine. “We are concerned about the health of our children and they treat us like a bunch of guinea pigs.”

For now, the system remains operational, Becker said. “We’ve come through some challenges … working with the local government there.”

The issue was handled by the Italian court system, and the U.S. Navy received permission to continue to operate the ground station, he noted.

Harrison said the health concerns were unfounded. “If you look at the science this was a non-issue to begin with. … There’s no risk to anyone around that area. But nevertheless, once people get worked up about it, sometimes the facts don’t matter.”

It’s hard to foresee if it will be a lingering concern, he said. “They’re probably in the clear for now but these kind of local political issues can be unpredictable, so you never know.”
Garofalo said opponents “will not give up and will continue to struggle.”

MUOS holds great promise despite its setbacks, experts said. It can provide more than 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the legacy ultra high frequency follow-on cNatonstellation, known as UFO.

“If you look at the technical capabilities of MUOS and the type of bandwidth and the number of users that can be on … at any given time, it is big leap ahead from the previous generation of satellites,” Harrison said.

“That’s important because the legacy UFO system was oversubscribed. It was very much in high demand,” he added.

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Source National Defense Magazine where the full article can be read

_________________________________________________________________

Q. so that was 2017 ... what is the situation now?
Little h
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Little h
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Re: Communications Equipment

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US NAVY Communications Facility in Sicily (1 of 4) - (continues)

Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-speed satellite communications network


NCTS Sicily - Who We Are, What We Do
Story Number: NNS180313-06Release Date: 3/13/2018 10:18:00 AM
By PO2 Benjamin Larkin, Technical Support Communications Watch Officer

SIGONELLA, Sicily (NNS) -- From Naval Computer and Telecommunication Station's (NCTS) first presence in Sicily 50 years ago, to today's initiatives in the Mediterranean, information and communications serve as critical enablers, with a distinct ability to determine the victor in any conflict.

Reliable communications warn allied nations of the adversary's presence or possible invasion, and intercepting intelligence turns the tide of battle. NCTS Sicily serves the 6th Fleet area of operations by ensuring each and every warfighter has access to reliable, secure communications. The command's main site in Sigonella, Sicily, supports rebroadcasting vital messages to nuclear missile deterrent forces across the Europe and Africa theatres. This means that the Sailors, host nation civilians, and U.S. civilians work 24/7 to guarantee that critical messages make it to the warfighter without interruption or delay.

NCTS Sicily operates and maintains all internet services provided for Naval Air Station Sigonella. Loss of such communication connections is detrimental to the warfighter planning and operations, and the NCTS team at the local network service center (LNSC) work to make sure any downtime is resolved as quickly as possible.

Lt. Cmdr. James Scianna, executive officer for NCTS Sicily, said, "We're not the people you call when things run smoothly. When your internet works and you have access to critical communications, most folks don't know who NCTS is. But the second the internet is down, or your boss cannot reach her boss on VTC (video teleconference), we're the people on speed dial."

Perhaps the most commonly used support system is housed at the Technical Support Communications (TSCOMM) site where NCTS Sicily personnel provide U.S., NATO, allied air strike, anti-submarine, surface fleet, search and rescue, and ballistic missile defense forces with multiple lines of data and communication across various spectrums. With missions constantly being underway and ever-changing, the NCTS Sicily personnel of TSCOMM work closely with U.S. fleets, squadrons, and mobile units to make sure they have access to the valuable warfighting communications tools they need to successfully complete their corresponding missions.

NCTS Sicily is also responsible for one of the key Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) antenna arrays that deliver worldwide coverage for our ground troops in multiple areas of responsibility with global positioning satellite (GPS) and satellite communications (SATCOM) at a moment's notice. This means that ground troops in various parts of the Middle East and Africa are able to call in support equipment, emergency evacuations, or tactical strikes with high precision, ensuring greater mission success.

NCTS Sicily remains the ever-vigilant watchstander dedicated to ensuring mission success across the Mediterranean and North African areas of responsibility. One of only three NCTS sites in both Europe and Africa, NCTS Sicily provides reliable and secure air and surface communications for U.S, NATO, and allied forces.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

Source US Navy

_________________________________________________________________

Q. So that is early 2018 .... what is the situation now?
Little h
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Little h
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Re: Communications Equipment

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US NAVY Communications Facility in Sicily (1 of 4) - (continued 1)

Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-speed satellite communications network



From Sigonella to Muos, the winds of war in the Middle East reach Sicily

01/08/2020 - 12:28 by editorial staff

A major anti-war demonstration is expected on Sunday in front of the American military base, while denials continue on the use of the equipment housed on the island

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US Navy spokesman for the US naval air base station, vessel lieutenant Karl Schonberg, said "Nas Sigonella had no role" in the American raid in which General Soleimani was killed. In recent days, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio had also spoken of "false news". «I read false news that the US drone that hit Soleimani in Iraq started from the Italian NATO bases. It's absolutely untrue, "wrote the foreign ministry's official in a social media post.

But now there is a suspicion that instead Niscemi's Muos may have been used in some way. The Sicilian regional deputy of the M5S Giampiero Trizzino, speaking of the possibility that the Muos of Niscemi had played an active role in the attack on Iran, however, denied. "Muos has nothing to do with the attack," he said.

Giampiero Trizzino has been fighting for years against Muos, a high frequency and narrowband military satellite communications system managed by the United States Department of Defense. The system consists of four satellites and four ground stations, one of which was completed in late January 2014 in Sicily, near Niscemi. In a thousand controversies. In January 2019, the Administrative Justice Council for the Region of Sicily, the TAR appellate body, declared the three appeals against Muos di Niscemi, which stands in the Sughereta nature reserve, established by the Sicilian Region in 1997, inadmissible. «The battle on Muos continues - says Giampiero Trizzino - today I will go for this reason to meet the Minister of the Environment Costa ».

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Source of excerpt above (using Google translate facility); La Sicilia
Little h
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