[ARC5] YG/ZB Demo

[Jack Antonio]

On 7/4/2011 3:05 PM, Mike Morrow wrote:


> I think it is doubtful that a demo setup where the ZB antenna is physically
> close to the simulated YE, that one could avoid the situation described at
> the end of the quote above, where are sectors are received.  And it is
> essentially impossible to discriminate at the ZB and its BCB receiver on
> the basis of signal strength, except that as the signal grows stronger,
> more sector IDs are received.


The AN/ARA-8 homing system was like the ZB/YG system in reverse.  In the 
AN/ARA-8 directionality was in the aircraft receive system, using an 
omnidirectional signal source.  The ZB/YG put the directionality at
the source, with an omni aircraft receiver.

When I set up AN/ARA-8 and tested it in the front yard, I was not 
getting reliable indications, I attributed this to close in reflection
from cars in the driveway, street, the house itself. The distances from
source to receiver were in the order of 20 feet or so.  Also, control
of the strength of the signal source, and using double shielded coax
to the antenna were necessary to keep stray RF at bay.  The book even
mentions testing at distances of 50 feet or more, when using a
signal generator as a source.

I hope that Dave is not getting discouraged by these comments, it
sounds like an interesting project to tackle.

Jack Antonio WA7DIA/4