Dennis,

I am just getting into the information gathering mode on this project. For
several reasons a physically moveable antenna is not desired. I am looking along
the lines of changing the phasing feed to two closely placed antenna's to track
the signal only at receive time.

I don't yet have enough info to get a feel for what is practical and what isn't
- but I do appreciate your input. Thanks.

William Rhoads

Dennis Plunkett wrote:

> RE Smart Ant
>
> I have done one of these. The RSSI signal is generally good enough, you will
> require some smart logic to "Hunt" for the signal. Check to ensure that the
> RSSI has enough range and doesn't flatten out to much at the lower signal
> levels. Converting this into an 8 bit value will be more than enough.
>
> Now for the TIPs on controlling the ant, use a stepper drive, as vibration
> and wind and that sort of thing will cause the ant to move. Note that it is
> difficult to track a fast moving target!
> Fade margins will cause trouble ,be ready for these as levels of 100dB per
> second can be found.
> Ensure that you don't attempt to track to a low level RSSI signal ie. Chose
> the lowest level carefully.
> Ensure that the RSSI is after all the IF stages, as adjacent channels may
> cause you to lock onto a non existent signal
>
> That's about it, you will find out other smaller (Trivial) problems as you
> continue.
>
> Dennis
>
> -=====================================================================-
>
> Dennis Plunkett: Embedded Hardware, Software design
> NEC Australia DRMASS
> Line Interface cards
> TRX software
> ISDN interface card
> ph 03 9264-3867
>
> -=====================================================================-