Madley Communications Centre

Madley Communications Centre
Madley Communications Centre
	Earth station
Location	Kingstone, Herefordshire
Coordinates	52°01′55″N 2°50′26″W / 52.03198°N 2.84049°W
Construction started	1975
Inaugurated	September 1978
Owner	BT Group
Landlord	BT Group
Technical details
Floor area	218 acres (0.88 km2)

Madley Communications Centre is BT Group's earth satellite tracking station, between Madley and Kingstone, Herefordshire, England.

Earth position

It lies on Coldstone Common at

Roman road running south from Kenchester

passes close to the north of the site.

Geology of the area

The site is in a sheltered rock bowl between the

Black Mountains. This allowed the ground to take the weight of the large receiving dishes, but the most important fact was the lack of background electronic noise. What nearby electronic noise there was compared to the strength of heat felt on the Moon from an electric fireplace on Earth.^{[citation needed}

]

History

The site first went into service in September 1978

airfield RAF Madley,^[3]

built in 1940.

Structures

There are over 65 dishes, the smallest being 90 cm (3') with the three main dishes each having a diameter of 32 metres (105') and weighing 290 tonnes. Madley 1, the first of the dishes, tracks a satellite about 22,236 miles (35,785 km) away, positioned over the Equator in geostationary orbit. The site covers a range from 66 degrees east to 314 degrees east, covering two thirds of the planet.

Transmissions

Madley was the first UK satellite site to transmit a fully digital transmission via

time division multiple access (TDMA).^{[citation needed}

]

Until its closure in 2008,

Goonhilly in Cornwall

provided a similar role.

Other use of grounds

The grounds are leased as an educational nature reserve, Madley Environmental Study Centre.

References

^ Tony Reeve (2005). "SMR record 42062 - Madley Satellite Communication Centre". Historic Herefordshire Online. Retrieved 10 September 2006.
^ BBC news report of anniversary celebrations, 25 September 2008
^ Hilary White (1992). "SMR record 12530 - Airfield, Madley". Historic Herefordshire Online. Retrieved 10 September 2006.

External links

BT VSAT Services

Madley Environmental Study Centre

[BT-1] Tony Reeve (2005). "SMR record 42062 - Madley Satellite Communication Centre". Historic Herefordshire Online. Retrieved 10 September 2006.

[2] BBC news report of anniversary celebrations, 25 September 2008

[airfield-3] Hilary White (1992). "SMR record 12530 - Airfield, Madley". Historic Herefordshire Online. Retrieved 10 September 2006.

[3]