Antenna Bearing Tool

Antenna Bearing Tool is an alternative to a magnetic compass for installers of telecommunications antennas. A known landmark is used as a reference. The land mark must be visible and identifiable from the BTS.

NOTE: Solar Panel installers also find this App useful.

There are a many reasons for using this method in preference to using a compass:

1. Antenna bearings are usually referenced to True North and it is a common mistake to apply the correction for a magnetic bearing in the wrong direction, therefore doubling the offset.

2. In many cases steel work or electric power sources affect the compass.

There 2 modes of operation, Cellular and Point to Point [Microwave links.]

Cellular mode: NOTE: [BTS = Cell Phone Tower]

The principle of use is simple:

1. The Icon for the BTS is located on the map at the transmitting site.

2. The Icon for the Land Mark is located on the map at the land mark.

3. The desired antenna bearing [degrees true] is entered via the pop-up keyboard. [Tap the white text to activate the keyboard entry]

4. The two lines on the map show the line to the land mark [RED] and the desired antenna bearing.

You can then point the Red line towards the land mark and aim the antenna along the Green line. Alternatively the Offset can be read from the screen and a protractor/theodolite used in place of the phone.

Point to Point mode:

Operation is similar to Cellular mode except that co-ordinates for Aend, Bend and landmark are entered and the bearing, path distance and the offset are calculated.

For most latitudes the sun can be used as a land mark using the SunDial button.

In The Pipeline:

Suggestions welcome

Keywords: Antenna, Cellular antenna, Compass , Microwave, Orienteering, Solar Panels, Mecca