The key factor influencing the size of future radio aperture synthesis telescope projects is the cost of the antenna dish and its drive and axis system. A good drive and axis system is of vital importance to the antenna performance as it is directly related to the antenna pointing and tracking accuracy. In this paper, various different drive systems have been

investigated and, finally, a compact, modular, scalable, combined elevation and azimuth drive and axis unit design is presented. In this proposed design, the elevation drive and axis component shares virtually all parts with the azimuth drive and axis component and many commercial off-the-shelf parts are used for both axis and drive linkage. This design

can also assure the required pointing and tracking accuracy is met. Since it is a self contained unit, the assembly, installation, and maintenance are further simplified, resulting in overall lower cost.