Azimuth chain from Goonhilly satellite, 1962-2008

Large azimuth chain from moving mechanism for the Goonhilly satellite antenna (Arthur), probably made by British Telecom, British, 1962-2008. Probably spares from the original construction

Built in 1961 by the UK Post Office, Goonhilly Earth Station is a large satellite communications site. Built initially to receive signals from the Telstar satellite, the site in Cornwall was for it westerly location and view of the transatlantic path of Telstar. Its first antenna dish, named "Arthur" was built in 1962 to link with Telstar. It was 25.9 metres in diameters and weighed over 1,100 tonnes. This Azimuth chain was part of the mechanism for steering the large antenna to track the low earth orbit path of Telstar satellite across the sky.