Microprocessor-based antenna rotor controller
First Claim
1. A system for automatically controlling the rotation of an angularly positionable antenna from one angular position to a desired new angular position, comprising:
- a plurality of destination indicia, each of which specifies a geographic location;
display means for displaying said plurality of destination indicia;
manual selection means associated with said display means for selecting one of said destination indicia;
a memory containing a table associating each of said plurality of destination indicia with a geographical reference location in latitude and longitude and a time zone offset variable specifying the time zone of said geographical reference location with respect to an arbitrary reference time zone;
retrieval means associated with and activated by said manual selection means for retrieving from said table said geographical reference location associated with said selected desired destination indicia;
calculating means for calculating a desired angular position for said antenna by determining an angular offset of said antenna from an arbitrary reference angle based upon the location of said geographical reference location with respect to an arbitrary reference location; and
energizing means for energizing an antenna rotor shaft such that said shaft is rotated to said desired angular position.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method for automatically controlling the rotation of an angularly positionable antenna from one angular position to a desired new angular position. The disclosed technique provides the user with a list of destination indicia, each of which corresponds to a geographic location. The user is also provided with a selector for choosing one or more of the available destination indicia. Once the user selects a destination index, a retrieval system automatically retrieves the appropriate geographic reference location from a destination indicia table stored in memory. A calculation is then automatically performed to determine the desired angular position of the antenna with respect to an arbitrary reference angle. The antenna rotor shaft is then energized to rotate the shaft to the desired angular position.
58 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for automatically controlling the rotation of an angularly positionable antenna from one angular position to a desired new angular position, comprising:
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a plurality of destination indicia, each of which specifies a geographic location; display means for displaying said plurality of destination indicia; manual selection means associated with said display means for selecting one of said destination indicia; a memory containing a table associating each of said plurality of destination indicia with a geographical reference location in latitude and longitude and a time zone offset variable specifying the time zone of said geographical reference location with respect to an arbitrary reference time zone; retrieval means associated with and activated by said manual selection means for retrieving from said table said geographical reference location associated with said selected desired destination indicia; calculating means for calculating a desired angular position for said antenna by determining an angular offset of said antenna from an arbitrary reference angle based upon the location of said geographical reference location with respect to an arbitrary reference location; and energizing means for energizing an antenna rotor shaft such that said shaft is rotated to said desired angular position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for automatically controlling the rotation of an angularly positionable antenna from one angular position to a desired new angular position, comprising the following steps:
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a) storing a table in an electronic memory, said table including a plurality of destination indicia and a plurality of sets of geographic coordinates in latitude and longitude, each said destination index being associated with one said set of geographical coordinates; b) displaying said plurality of said destination indicia; c) selecting a desired destination index from among said displayed destination indicia; d) retrieving said geographic coordinates corresponding to said desired destination index from said table stored in said electronic memory; e) calculating an angular offset for said desired destination index based upon the location of said retrieved geographic coordinates with respect to an arbitrary reference location in latitude and longitude; and f) rotating an angularly positionable antenna to said angular offset as determined in step (e). - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for automatically controlling the position of a rotatable antenna;
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means for storing predetermined geographical locations corresponding to a plurality of destination indicia;
means for selecting one of said stored destination indicia;means responsive to said selecting means for calculating an angular position for said rotatable antenna corresponding to said selected destination indicia; and means responsive to said calculating means for positioning said rotatable antenna to said angular position. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification