Self-aligning antenna

Abstract

This paper describes an automated antenna rotating system which will find and rotate to the direction of maximum received signal strength for a selected TV channel. The antenna system is implemented using a microprocessor based control system. When a channel is selected, the microprocessor, tunes a field-strength measurement system to this channel. The antenna is fixed on to a stepper motor which rotates through 360° while the field strength measuring unit takes measurements at every’ step position. At the completion of one revolution, the microprocessor examines the measured field strengths and finds the direction corresponding to the maximum. It then issues a signal to the motor controller to rotate the stepper motor to this direction. The application of this system is particularly suitable for TV reception in Sri L anka, where the unique problems that exist, render conventional antennas unsuitable. The overall operation of this system, as well as its individual blocks and .he associated software are described in this paper.