CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

FM Direction Finder has wide applications like navigation of ships, aircrafts, missiles, radar,
tracking satellites and other astronomical radio sources. In the field of communications, certain
requirements could be to cross check the intensity, direction and positioning of transmitters
employed in a cluster of a GSM network . It might be used to locate the radio sources temporarily
jamming any communication network. It is also used extensively in spectrum management for
checking the growth of transmitters in specific regions like radio astronomical observatories, etc.
Several radio direction finders have been built in the past. Different techniques have been employed
in different instruments. These instruments could be broadly classified under vector-type or scalar-
type of radio direction finders. The vector-types require both amplitude and phase information of the
electromagnetic field at the antenna aperture, while the scalar-types require only amplitude
information. In general, these instruments employ these measurements at various points in the three
dimensional space.
The direction of radio signal is determined by applying some algorithms on these measured
values. The direction finding could be either online or offline or both. The detected object may be a
radio source or a passive device illuminated by electromagnetic radiations (like in RADAR).
Majority of these instruments operate with small or medium bandwidths. With the increase of
spectrum allotment to the communication channels and their growing numbers, the requirement of
band coverage in radio direction finding has increased. Attempts have been made in recent years to
broaden the frequency coverage.
In certain instruments based on the principle of radio interferometer, the intensity of the
signal plays an important role in phase detection. If the signal to noise ratio is weak, the phase
information might not be recovered correctly, especially when the source of the signal is amplitude
modulated. On the other hand, the scalar-type radio direction finders might not be significantly
accurate in pointing the direction, but might work at relatively low signal to noise ratios, and could
also cover very wide range of frequencies. With the development of algorithms for categorically

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analyzing the terrestrial spectrum, a requirement from the low frequency radio astronomy
community grew for having a portable ultra wide band radio direction finder. This requirement was
for cross verification of the direction of narrow and broad band radio sources. Based on the
requirement, a scalar type of online radio direction finder was designed.

FM broadcast radio sends music and voice with higher fidelity than AM radio. In frequency
modulation, amplitude variation at the microphone causes the transmitter frequency to fluctuate.
Because the audio signal modulates the frequency and not the amplitude, an FM signal is not subject
to static and interference in the same way as AM signals. Due to its need for a wider bandwidth, FM
is transmitted in the Very High Frequency (VHF, 30 MHz to 300 MHz) radio spectrum. VHF radio
waves act more like light, traveling in straight lines; hence the reception range is generally limited to
about 50-100 miles. During unusual upper atmospheric conditions, FM signals are occasionally
reflected back towards the Earth by the ionosphere, resulting in long distance FM reception. FM
receivers are subject to the capture effect, which causes the radio to only receive the strongest signal
when multiple signals appear on the same frequency. FM receivers are relatively immune to
lightning and spark interference.

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 CHAPTER 2

HISTORY OF DIRECTION FINDING SYSTEMS

2.1 LOOP ANTENNA

Early direction finding technology required a movable directional loop antenna and a receiver. The
arrival angle is measured by moving the antenna until a maximum or minimum signal strength is
achieved. The simple loop antenna (Figure 3-1), or some derivative of it, can still be found today.
One of the disadvantages of using this method is that the signal being measured is reduced, while
noise from other directions is not. To overcome this problem, wave amplitude comparison (using
two directional antennas with different orientations) was introduced.

Fig. 2.1 Loop Antenna

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2.2 ROTATING LOOP
It was not always feasible or desirable to physically move the antenna. As a result, some RDF
technology used a fixed antenna that measured signal strength to provide an azimuth. One of the
earliest of these systems used fixed crossed loops to feed a small orthogonal loop arrangement with a
rotating loop inside of it. This was called a goniometry. Today, the term goniometry may refer to any
type of mechanical or electrical cyclic sampling equipment.

2.3 CATHODE RAY TUBE

The first cathode ray tube (CRT) direction finder used cross loops. Instead of using a goniometer,
each loop was fed to a channel of a dual-channel receiver. The outputs from the receiver were
applied to pairs of deflection plates within a special CRT. A clear signal produced a straight line, the
angle of which gives the azimuth of the signal.

Fig. 2.2 Cathode Tube

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2.4 ADCOCK ANTENNA
Until the end of World War II (WWII), the most common type of DF system was the crossed loop or
Adcock antenna (Figure 3-3). This antenna system is still used in modified form for short-distance
direction finding systems. The Adcock antenna used top horizontal members that were well shielded,
to reduce polarization errors. These systems were small in relation to the wavelength of the received
signals. They were therefore classified as narrow aperture direction finding (NADF) systems.

Fig. 2.3 Adcock Antenna

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2.5 WULLENWEBER SYSTEM
During WWII, the Wullenweber system heralded the era of wide aperture direction finding (WADF)
systems . The Wulleweber has a circularly disposed antenna array (CDAA) up to 1,000 meters in
diameter with a large number of elements. About a third of the elements are combined to form
sum/difference beams. The beams are effectively rotated in azimuth by a rotating switch
(goniometer) which connects and combines elements around the ring.

2.6 QUASI-DOPPLER SYSTEM

This systems are of this type. In theory, the Doppler systems impose a phase modulation on the
received signal by A further variation of the Wullenweber system is called moving the antenna in a
circle. The phase of the the Quasi-Doppler or Pseudo-Doppler system modulated signal is a function
of its direction. In actual . This variation has also been called a practice, a fixed CDAA is used. The
receiver rapidly commutated-antenna direction finder (CADF). Most of samples each antenna
around the ring by using a the older groundbased EAC tactical direction finding goniometer switch.

2.7 INTERFEROMETRIC SYSTEM

Interferometric System Wavefront analysis accepts all signals but attempts to recover the major
ones. It attempts this by analyzing the Interferometric systems area completely different class of
direction finding systems. The azimuth of an incoming wave is not deduced by rotating beams. It is
taken from the phase measurements of signals, made on a number of spaced antennas. Unlike the
beam-forming type of WADFs, interferometers accept all signals on the array. Two different
approaches are used to process the results. Depending on the type of system, one or both of the
complex voltages measured on the elements of the antenna array under wave interference conditions.
Wavefront testing accepts only signals arriving from one direction or quasi uni-modal propagation
(QUMP). QUMP is achieved by detecting a linear phase shift across the array with near equal
amplitudes on all the elements. (This process is also called coincidence interferometry.) For further
information on linear phase following may be used: shift and measuring wave amplitude, see TM
11-666.Wavefront analysis (WFA). Wavefront testing (WFT).

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2.8TIME-DIFFERENCE SYSTEM
There are time-difference direction finders (TDDF) which measure the difference between the times
of arrival of the radio wave at a number of receiving sites. A hyperbolic position line is obtained
from the time difference between each pair of sites.

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 CHAPTER 3

THEORY OF OPERATION OF FM DIRECTION FINDER

The method employed is similar to the stereophonic identification of sound’s direction by human
beings using their ears. Two antennas possessing identical electrical properties (Ant-1 and Ant-2)
with polarizations aligned and directivities subtend an angle α, are positioned symmetrically with
positioned in geometrical By identical electrical properties, it is meant that the antennas possess
identical bandwidths and for every frequency, the radiation patterns, gains, polarizations and
impedances are identical symmetry with a radio source. The antennas subtend equal angles with the
source, and hence the powers received by these antennas from the source should be equal. A more
detailed with radiation. Consider one of the four radio sources ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ to exist at a
time and influence the antennas. If P1 and P2 are the powers received by the antennas Ant-1 and
Ant-2 respectively from the radio source ‘A’, then P1 = P2. Similarly for the radio sources ‘B’, ‘C’
and ‘D’, the antenna output powers could be related as P1 > P2, P1 = P2 and P1 < P2 respectively.
To be noted that the condition P1 = P2 occurs if the source is either ‘A’ or ‘C’. This is because the
radiation patterns cross each other at two points, viz. one using the front lobes and other involving
the back lobes. If the intensities and distances of each of the sources from antenna system are
assumed to be identical, then the absolute values of powers received from source ‘A’ would be more
than those received from source ‘B’. In other words, (P1A = P2A) > (P1C = P2C), where the
subscripts ‘A’ and ‘C’ represent the radio sources. For any other position of the radio source P1 not
equal to P2. The back lobes of the antennas could be further reduced by placing geometrically
symmetric reflectors behind each antenna, such that (P1A = P2A) _ (P1C = P2C).

8
 Fig. 3.1 detection of radio direction using

This could enable one to identify the position of the source (whether at front or at back). In the
design, the angular separation α between the two antennas is chosen such that the gains of the major
lobes at the points
of intersections are is less than 3 dB. The back reflector plates are attached behind each antenna such
that the gain ratio of front to back intersection points is at least 5 dB or higher.

3.1 BLOCK DIAGRAM DESCRIPTION OF THE SYSTEM

Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the system. Two electrically identical ultra wide band log
periodic dual polarized antennas are mounted in an angle and backed by a common V-shaped
reflector, such that the radiation pattern of either antenna is the mirror image of the other. The entire
assembly of the antennas could be manually rotated between 0 and 360◦ for locating the radio
source. A compass is attached to this assembly to indicate the direction of the source. The outputs
from the antennas are amplified by two RF ultra wide band amplifiers‡. The amplified signals are
selected one at a time and fed to a spectrum analyzer. This is achieved using an SPDTRF switch
controlled using a JK flip-flop. The clock to the JK flipflop (or the switching frequency) is
controlled by a manually tunable square wave oscillator.

9
The spectrum analyzer is set to the required frequency range of observation. Table 1 lists the
specifications of the devices and modules used.

Figure 3.2. Block diagram of the system

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 CHAPTER 4
FM DIRECTION FINDING ANTEENAS

Direction finders are normally equipped with vertically polarized antennas, making it impossible for
them to perform accurate direction finding when they encounter signals with strictly horizontal
polarization. For example, this is what happens in direction finding involving FM and TV
transmitters which are commonly equipped with horizontally polarized antennas.
Normally, of course, there is no need for direction finding with FM and TV transmitters since their
locations are well known. However, in the case of illegal transmitters using horizontally polarized
transmitting antennas, vertically polarized DF antennas and triangulation do not work. In these cases,
DF antennas with vertical and horizontal polarization are needed.
One obvious (but very poor) solution would be to simply rotate the vertically oriented dipole
antenna elements by 90° so that they are horizontal. However, this results in an overly directional
receiving characteristic. The DF accuracy and sensitivity would be inadequate in certain directions
and it would not be possible to aurally monitor signals from those directions. Around the world,
direction finders used for locating transmitters are typically equipped with a vertically polarized DF
antenna. These DF antennas usually consist of multiple vertical dipole antennas arranged in a
circular array.
Direction finders with vertically polarized antennas are not capable of accurately taking bearings on
signals with strictly horizontal polarization. This is the case, for example, in DF applications
involving FM and TV transmitters which are usually equipped with horizontally polarized
transmitting antennas and mounted on high masts for better coverage. If the DF antenna is also
located in an elevated position on a mast or on a roof, it will have more or less line-of-sight contact
with the transmitting antenna Under these circumstances, erroneous results can be produced as the
undistorted, horizontally polarized FM / TV signals reach the vertically polarized DF antenna.
In addition to the direct wave, the DF antenna also receives reflected waves with a combination of
vertical and horizontal polarization. Direction finders are normally better at measuring the vertical
components of reflections than the directly received signal. This can produce extremely erroneous

11
results due to the reflections. However, the poor DF quality usually provides a warning about this
problem when it is present.

Fig.4.1 FM Finding Antenna

Direction finding often requires an antenna that is directional - that is, more sensitive in certain
directions than in others. Many antenna designs exhibit this property. For example, a Yagi antenna
has quite pronounced directionality, so the source of a transmission can be determined simply by
pointing it in the direction where the maximum signal level is obtained. However, to establish
direction to great accuracy requires much more sophisticated techniques.

The crossed-loops DF antenna atop the mast of a tug boat.A simple form of directional antenna is the
loop aerial. This consists of an open loop of wire on an insulating former, or a metal ring that forms

12
the antenna elements itself, where the diameter of the loop is a tenth of a wavelength or smaller at
the target frequency. Such an antenna will be LEAST sensitive to signals that are normal to its face,
and MOST responsive to those meeting edge-on, this due to the antenna sensing the difference
between the voltages induced either side of it at any instant because of the phase output of the
transmitting beacon. Turning the loop face on will not induce any current flow - think of the radio
wave slipping through the loop. Simply turning the antenna to obtain minimum signal will establish
two possible directions from which the signal could be emanating. The NULL is used, as small
angular deflections of the loop aerial near its null positions produce larger changes in current than
similar angular changes near the loops max positions. For this reason, a null position of the loop
aerial is used. To resolve the two direction possibilities, a sense antenna is used, the sense aerial has
no directional properties but has the same sensitivity as the loop aerial. By adding the steady signal
from the sense aerial to the alternating signal from the loop signal as it rotates, there is now only one
position as the loop rotates 360 Degs at which there is zero current. This acts as a phase ref point,
allowing the correct null point to be identified, thus removing the 180 Deg ambiguity. A dipole
antenna exhibits similar properties, and is the basis for the Yagi antenna, which is familiar as the
common VHF or UHF television aerial. For much higher frequencies still, parabolic antennas can be
used, which are highly directional, focusing received signals from a very narrow angle to a receiving
element at the centre.

CHAPTER 5
13
 CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF THE ANTENNA SYSTEM

The top view, front view, back view and side view are respectively. The log periodic antennas have
been constructed on glass epoxy PCB substrate and are mountedover the V-shaped aluminum
reflector. ‘H’ and ‘V’ indicate the ‡ At a given time, only one polarization (vertical or horizontal) of
the antennas are selected manually horizontal and vertical polarization RF-connections for each
antenna. These output connections are provided using chassis-mountable SMAtype 50 Ohm
connectors. The compass has been mounted rigidly to the antenna system so that it rotates along with
the assembly. A video camera stand has been used as the base of the antenna assembly. Theantenna
system could be manually rotated and positioned anywhere between 0 and 360◦ in the azimuth over
the stand.

Fig. 5.1 Different view of antenna

CHAPTER 6

14
 SYSTEM SETUP AND OPERATION

For any operation, either the vertically or horizontally polarized antenna pair is selected. Figure 4
shows the complete experimental setup. For detecting the radio direction of any signal, the spectrum
analyzer’s span is set such that the signal is clearly visible on the screen. The operator should stand
behind the antenna assembly so that the radio source whose direction is under determination is not
blocked. On the spectrum analyzer’s screen, the power level of the transmitted signal would be seen
to toggle in two states at the oscillator frequency. These two levels indicate the outputs from the two
amplifiers.

Fig. 6.1 experiment setup of direction finding

The complete experimental setup. require adjustments so as to keep both the toggling power levels
within the screen. The toggling frequency could be controlled by manually tuning the oscillator such
that they are distinctly visible to the human eye. The antenna assembly should be slowly rotated (in

15
azimuth) until the difference between the two toggling power levels get minimized (preferably zero).
Since there are two possible angles at which the power levels equalize (shown in Figure 1), care
should be taken to choose the angle at which the individual antennas deliver larger powers. Under
this condition, the reading on the compass would directly indicate the direction of the incoming
signal.

6.1 DF BY TRIANGULATION
It is impossible, using amateur techniques, to pinpoint the whereabouts of a transmitter from a single
receiving location. With a directional antenna you can determine the direction of a signal source, but
not how far away it is. To find the distance, you can then travel in the determined direction until you
discover the transmitter location. However, that technique can be time consuming and often does not
work very well. A preferred technique is to take at least one additional direction measurement from a
second receiving location. Then use a map of the area and plot the bearing or direction
measurements as straight lines from points on the map representing the two locations. The
approximate location of the transmitter will be indicated by the point where the two bearing lines
cross. Even better results can be obtained by taking direction measurements from three locations and
using the mapping technique just described. Because absolutely precise bearing measurements are
difficult to obtain in practice, the three lines will almost always cross to form a triangle on the map,
rather than at a single point. The transmitter will usually be located inside the area represented by the
triangle. Additional information on the technique of triangulation and much more on RDF
techniques may be found in recent editions of The ARRL Handbook.

CHAPTER 7
16
 DIRECTION FINDING SYSTEMS

Required for any DF system are a directive antenna and a device for detecting the radio signal. In
amateur applications the signal detector is usually a transceiver and for convenience it will usually
have a meter to indicate signal strength. Unmodified, commercially available portable or mobile
receivers are generally quite satisfactory for signal detectors. At very close ranges a simple diode
detector and dc microammeter may suffice for the detector. On the other hand, antennas used for
RDF techniques are not generally the types used for normal two-way communications. Directivity is
a prime requirement, and here the word directivity takes on a somewhat different meaning than is
commonly applied to other amateur antennas. Normally we associate directivity with gain, and we
think of the ideal antenna pattern as one having a long, thin main lobe. Such a pattern may be of
value for coarse measurements in RDF work, but precise bearing measurements are not possible.
There is always a spread of a few (or perhaps many) degrees on the nose of the lobe, where a shift of
antenna bearing produces no detectable change in signal strength. In RDF measure-ments, it is
desirable to correlate an exact bearing or compass direction with the position of the antenna. In order
to do this as accurately as possible, an antenna exhibiting a null in its pattern is used. A null can be
very sharp in directivity, to within a half degree or less.

CHAPTER 8

17
 APPLICATION OF FM DIRECTION FINDER

Radio transmitters for air and sea navigation are known as beacons and are the radio equivalent to a
lighthouse. The transmitter sends a Morse Code transmission on a Long wave (150 - 400 Khz) or
Medium wave (AM) (520 - 1720 Khz) frequency incorporating the station's identifier that is used to
confirm the station and its operational status. Since these radio signals are broadcast in all directions
(omnidirectional) during the day, the signal itself does not include direction information, and these
beacons are therefore referred to as non-directional beacons, or NDBs.

As the commercial medium wave (AM) broadcast band lies within the frequency capability of most
DF units, these stations and their transmitters can also be used for navigational fixes. While these
commercial radio stations can be useful due to their high power and location near major cities, there
may be several miles between the location of the station and its transmitter, which can reduce the
accuracy of the 'fix' when approaching the broadcast city. A second factor is that some AM radio
stations are omnidirectional during the day, and switch to a reduced power, directional signal at
night.

DF was once the primary form of aircraft and marine navigation. Strings of beacons formed
"airways" from airport to airport, while marine NDBs provided navigational assistance to small
watercraft approaching a landfall. In the 1950s the aviation NDBs were augmented by the VOR
system, in which the direction to the beacon can be extracted from the signal itself, hence the
distinction with non-directional beacons. Use of marine NDBs was largerly supplanted in North
America by the development of LORAN in the 1970s.

Today many NDBs have been decommissioned in favor of faster and far more accurate GPS
navigational systems. However the low cost of ADF and RDF systems, and the continued existence
of AM broadcast stations (as well as navigational beacons in countries outside North America) has
allowed these devices to continue to function, primarily for use in small boats, as an adjunct or
backup to GPS.

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 Fig. 8.1 FM Direction Finder

CHAPTER 9
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

19
The radiation patterns of the two antennas for every frequency do not produce identical gain at the
zero axis of the antenna system. Thus the actual direction of the incoming signal might contain some
error. These errors might be corrected manually from the radiation patterns. TV and GSM
transmitters detected at the GMRT site. The measured directions and the actual directions have been
compared and the percentage errors are calculated. The use of radio for direction-finding purposes
(RDF) is almost as old as its application for communications. Radio amateurs have learned RDF
techniques and found much satisfaction by participating in hidden-transmitter hunts. Other hams
have discovered RDF through an interest in boating or aviation, where radio direction finding is used
for navigation and emergency location systems. In many countries of the world, the hunting of
hidden amateur transmitters takes on the atmosphere of a sport, as participants wearing jogging togs
or track suits dash toward the area where they believe the transmitter is located. The sport is
variously known as fox hunting, bunny hunting, ARDF (Amateur Radio direction finding) or simply
transmitter hunting. In North America, most hunting of hidden transmitters is conducted from
automobiles, although hunts on foot are gaining popularity. There are less pleasant RDF applications
as well,such as tracking down noise sources or illegal operators from unidentified stations. Jammers
of repeaters, traffic nets and other amateur operations can be located with RDF equipment. Or
sometimes a stolen amateur rig will
be operated by a person who is not familiar with Amateur Radio, and by being lured into making
repeated transmissions, the operator unsuspectingly permits himself to be located with RDF
equipment. The ability of certain RDF antennas to reject signals from selected directions has also
been used to advantage in reducing noise and interference. Through APRS, radio navigation is
becoming a popular application of RDF. The locating of downed aircraft is another, and one in
which amateurs often lend their skills. Indeed, there are many useful applications for RDF.
Although sophisticated and complex equipment pushing the state of the art has been developed for
use by governments and commercial enterprises, relatively simple equipment can be built at home to
offer the Radio Amateur an opportunity to RDF. This chapter deals with antennas suitable for that
purpose.

REFERENCES

20
1. FAA (2003). Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. US Dept. of Transportation.
2. Civil Aviation Safety Authority. "[http://www.casa.gov.au/pilots/download/NDB.pdf
Operational Notes on Non-Directional Beacons (NDB) and Associated Automatic Direction
Finding (ADF)]" (PDF). http://www.casa.gov.au/pilots/download/NDB.pdf. Retrieved
August1, 2008.
3. Bob Tait (2008). CPL Navigation. Bob Tait's Aviation Theory School.
4. Smith, D.J. (2005). Air Band Radio Handbook (8th Edition). Sutton Publishing. p. 104-105.
ISBN 0-7509-3783-1.
5. {Keen R, Wireless Direction Finding(8th Edition), 1947, Iliffe, London
6. deRosa, L.A. (1979). "Direction Finding". in J.A. Biyd, D.B. Harris, D.D. King & H.W.
Welch, Jr.. Electronic Countermeasures. Los Altos, CA: Peninsula Publishing.
7. J. Hereford and B. Edgerly (2000). "457 kHz Electromagnetism and the Future of Avalanche
([dead link]
– Scholar search
). International Snow Science Workshop (ISSW 2000).
http://www.bcaccess.com/documents/457andFuture_000.pdf.
8. Titterington, B.; Williams, D. and Dean, D. (2007). Radio Orienteering - The ARDF
Handbook. Radio Society of Great Britain. ISBN 9781-9050-8627-6.

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