The Mobile Satellite Users Association (MSUA) has presented Mobile Satellite Pioneer Awards to Sea Tel founder Robert J Mathews and Sea Tel engineer of 26 years, Pete Blaney.
Satellite 2015, Washington DC - The Mobile
Satellite Users Association (MSUA) has presented Mobile Satellite
Pioneer Awards to Sea Tel founder Robert J Mathews and Sea Tel
engineer of 26 years, Pete Blaney. Now a product line offered by
Cobham SATCOM, Sea Tel has been a driving force within the maritime
satcom industry for over 35 years. The awards were presented at the
MSUA's Satellite 2015 luncheon in Washington DC today (17 March
2015).
The awards recognise the pair's and Sea Tel's contribution to
the development of mobile satellite technology and are specifically
for 'development of the first maritime stabilized satcom system'.
Sea Tel has been a pioneer in the maritime satellite world since it
began in 1979, when founder Robert J. Matthews designed the first
mechanically stabilized antenna pedestals for the fledgling
INMARSAT-A mobile satellite communications system. Pete Blaney
joined Sea Tel, shortly after working with Robert throughout the
eighties, to further develop maritime satcom capabilities.

In 1993, under Pete's direction as Chief Engineer, Sea Tel
introduced the first fully electronic, servo-stabilized maritime
pedestal, the 1893, used by several OEM suppliers on INMARSAT
Standard-M antennas. The following year, the 2494 was introduced,
the first Ku-band DIRECTV stabilized maritime pedestal that allowed
small boat owners to receive satellite TV under motion.
The next pioneering innovation occurred in 1996 when the Sea Tel
96 series fully closed loop stabilized pedestals were released.
This advancement increased the pointing accuracy from 1.0 to 0.1
degrees allowing a Tx/Rx system to operate at Ku-Band under the
most severe ship motions. The Sea Tel 9797 2.4m C-Band antenna
followed the next year, which became, and still is, the industry
standard antenna for Maritime C-Band communications.
Sea Tel, Inc. was acquired by Cobham in 2005. And since 2012 has
been part of Cobham SATCOM. While RJ left Sea Tel in 2008,
Pete and the former Sea Tel R&D organization are today
responsible for Cobham SATCOM's large and bespoke VSAT antennas and
TVRO, which are engineered in Concord, California and continue to
be sold to customers in the merchant, offshore and yachting sector
under the Sea Tel product line.
"I am proud to be a key contributor to Sea Tel's pioneering
advancements in the maritime VSAT industry and honored to be
presented with this award," said Pete. "As part of Cobham SATCOM,
the pioneering spirit of Sea Tel products is still alive, with the
recent introduction of two types of dual band antennas. Our QOR
platform that uses two optimized feed and reflectors mounted 90
degrees apart and our subreflector switched antenna that uses one
reflector for both bands. Both new technologies are representative
of Cobham SATCOM's position at the forefront of maritime
communications technology development."
About Cobham
Cobham protects lives and livelihoods with its differentiated
technology and know-how, operating with a deep insight to customer
needs and agility. The Group offers an innovative range of
technologies and services to solve challenging problems across
commercial, defence and security markets, from deep space to the
depths of the ocean. It has market leading positions in air-to-air
refuelling; aviation services; audio, video and data
communications, including satellite communications; defence
electronics; life support and mission equipment. The most important
thing Cobham builds is trust.
About Cobham SATCOM
Cobham SATCOM develops, manufactures, sells and supports
satellite and radio communication terminals and earth stations for
land, marine and airborne applications. With the ever increasing
demand for communication, our products and services are used to
satisfy the needs of a wide variety of commercial, governmental and
recreational applications.
Cobham SATCOM uses state-of-the-art technologies to design
affordable, highly reliable high performance systems that have
decreased over time in terms of size, weight and power consumption.
Our products enable people to stay in touch under the most
challenging and demanding conditions. When traditional
communication technologies fail, Cobham SATCOM's products will keep
providing our customers with high quality voice, data, and
multimedia communications.
Our product designs have evolved tremendously during their
decades in service in use around the world in a variety of domains
and environments. We market under the AVIATOR, EXPLORER, SAILOR®
and Sea Tel brands. Please refer to our websites for our list of
global distributors and partners. Cobham SATCOM has design,
development and manufacturing facilities in Denmark, South Africa
and the USA.
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Contacts:
Cobham SATCOM
Casper Jensen
Vice President, Business Development
+45 3955 8815
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