System and method for accurately directing antennas
First Claim
1. A system for accurately finding a current azimuth of an antenna by non-magnetic means, comprising:
- i. a first GPS receiver located at a first position coinciding with an antenna;
ii. a second GPS receiver located at a second position spaced by a minimal distance from said antenna and in an arbitrary direction with respect to said first GPS receiver;
iii. rotatable optical means which is positioned adjacent to said antenna, said optical means configured to visually sight said second GPS receiver and being independently rotatable, with respect to said antenna, about a vertical axis mounted on a tower of said antenna from said initial direction to a second direction until said optical means points in the direction of said second GPS receiver;
iv. a rotation sensor coupled to or included with said optical means and configured to measure an angle between an initial direction that is parallel to a current pointing direction of said antenna and said second rotated direction; and
v. processing means configured to calculate, with respect to true north as derived from said first and second GPS receivers, a first azimuth to a line between said first position and said second position, and the current azimuth of said antenna by subtracting said angle from said first azimuth.
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Abstract
A system for accurately directing a directional antenna, that includes a calibration system for finding the current azimuth of the antenna and a rotation sensor attached to the antenna, for measuring deviations from the current azimuth of the antenna. The calibration system includes a first GPS receiver located at the antenna'"'"'s position; a second GPS receiver located adjacent to a visible object at a minimal distance from the antenna and in an arbitrary direction with respect to the first GPS receiver; rotatable optical means positioned adjacent to the antenna in an initial direction being parallel to the current direction of the antenna, the optical means being coupled to a meter for measuring the angle between the current direction and the direction to the visible object by rotating the optical means until seeing the visible object and means for calculating a first azimuth from the position of the first GPS receiver to the position of the second GPS receiver and the current azimuth of the antenna by subtracting the angle from the first azimuth.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for accurately finding a current azimuth of an antenna by non-magnetic means, comprising:
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i. a first GPS receiver located at a first position coinciding with an antenna; ii. a second GPS receiver located at a second position spaced by a minimal distance from said antenna and in an arbitrary direction with respect to said first GPS receiver; iii. rotatable optical means which is positioned adjacent to said antenna, said optical means configured to visually sight said second GPS receiver and being independently rotatable, with respect to said antenna, about a vertical axis mounted on a tower of said antenna from said initial direction to a second direction until said optical means points in the direction of said second GPS receiver; iv. a rotation sensor coupled to or included with said optical means and configured to measure an angle between an initial direction that is parallel to a current pointing direction of said antenna and said second rotated direction; and v. processing means configured to calculate, with respect to true north as derived from said first and second GPS receivers, a first azimuth to a line between said first position and said second position, and the current azimuth of said antenna by subtracting said angle from said first azimuth. - 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 accurately finding a current azimuth of an antenna by non-magnetic means, including the steps of:
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a. acquiring position data of a first location which is at a distance from an antenna; b. acquiring GPS data of a second location which corresponds to the location of said antenna; c. using data of said first and second locations to find a first azimuth to a line between said second and first locations; d. aligning rotatable optical means configured to visually sight said first location along a first direction that is parallel to a current pointing direction of said antenna; e. rotating said optical means about a vertical axis, with respect to said antenna, from a first direction that is parallel to said pointing direction to a second direction until a mark adjacent to said first location is sighted through said optical means when aligned with said second direction; f. measuring an angle between said first and second directions; and g. calculating a second azimuth, which corresponds to said pointing direction of said antenna, by subtracting said angle from said first azimuth. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification