A total or partial shutdown of power is an unlikely event, but one which could cause highly detrimental consequences if not dealt with swiftly and in an organised way. Numerous factors can cause a site, locality or even a widespread region or country to lose power. It could be severe weather or an operational or technical fault that leaves businesses and homes vulnerable and causes knock-on issues for the utility provider. Fortunately, there is a contingency plan: Black Start.
What is Black Start?
Black Start, also known as restoration, is the process where independent, auxiliary generating sources are used to restore power when there is a total or partial shutdown. The affected area can continue to function off-grid until repairs are made, and reconnection is possible.
Power disruption can go almost unnoticed thanks to black start capabilities, but it means finding connectivity solutions that enable remote troubleshooting, and quick, seamless restarts.
A quick, affordable solution for black start capabilities
When sourcing a terminal that supports M2M or IoT deployments, ease of installation is critical to serving as many critical points of infrastructure as possible with minimal complexity and in the most time- and cost-efficient way. Complex installations not only cause added expense at the set-up stage but during an outage, valuable time (and therefore cost) can be expended troubleshooting and resolving their often many multiple points of potential failure.
Our cutting-edge hardware can be powered by independent power sources and have been designed to be user-friendly, agile and cost-effective, making them ideal solutions for utility companies seeking a smooth and affordable connectivity solution for their black start processes.
Key features of our terminals
With low standby power consumption, our Hughes 4500 and hybrid 4510 terminals are an excellent solution when there is a disruption to power, as they continue to operate effectively using alternative powers sources, such as solar, battery and even wind. Their auto-on and auto-context activation automatically restores connectivity, with the integrated connection watchdog meaning no manual intervention is required to recover from an outage.
Installation of our 4500 and 4510 terminals is highly convenient, requiring no PC. Instead, a one-piece auto-acquire unit is simply placed at the end of a single cable carrying Ethernet and power, with the SIM card then mounted securely inside. With minimal intervention or know-how needed, this easy installation negates the need for lengthy journeys to multiple sites by specialist Satcom engineers, thus expediting the black start process.
The Hughes 4500 and 4510 terminals operate in the S-band, enabling fast and resilient connectivity, and with an omnidirectional antenna, acquiring a signal from any direction is also much more straightforward.
Cost-efficiency from EchoStar Mobile
At EchoStar Mobile, we aim to make high-quality connectivity available for all businesses. With our innovative approach, we have developed cost-effective hardware, single subscriptions for multiple sites, and customised price plans to deliver affordable and versatile solutions for almost any organisation.
Benefits for other sectors
The benefits of our hardware are not limited to the utility sector. The 4510’s and 4500’s user-friendly design and low power consumption make them a superior option for other sectors, including pipelines, civil infrastructure and transport systems. Developed to be fully weatherproofed, these terminals can be used for long-term, outdoor installations in remote areas. Meanwhile, as small, agile units, they are perfectly suited to moving, as well as fixed, sites.
To learn more about the benefits of mobile satellite services and our hardware, please visit our mobile satellite data services pages or get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.