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Channel positioned TV antenna

Introduction

Conventional methods of watching television using an antenna is popular among communities in both urban and rural areas as, digital televisions which use satellite receivers and broadband connections require subscriptions. Despite the great advantages of digital television due to this fact many people are still attached to the conventional method of using an antenna.

The use of conventional antenna has its limitations where the signal strength is not strong enough for all the channels. This results in loss of quality of both the picture and the sound. In order to obtain a better picture quality the antenna would have to be rotated in different directions for different channels. The technical jargon related to the requirement of rotating the antenna would be discussed in detail below.

In the past rotation of the antenna was done manually where the end user would have to be satisfied with an average picture quality. In recent times rotor antennas are available which has the ability to rotate and how these products distinguish from the proposed product would be discussed in detail under literature review.

The concept of channel positioned antenna is the ability to rotate the antenna in the desired direction and then to save and recall multiple positions at a given instance in order to obtain better reception. This task would be done by using a remote controller to rotate the antenna where all the data is processed by the microcontroller 16F877A. The remote controller has been replaced by a keypad for the prototype.

Once the concept of channel positioned antenna was finalized each member was assigned with the their respective individual tasks apart from the group activities. I was trusted with role of program manager in which I was responsible for to create assembly language code for the microcontroller.

Literature Review

Television antennas are currently available in various sizes and shapes, each uses a different architecture designed for optimum reception. In order to analyze how the product that was designed would outstand from the rest, the antennas available have been categorized as follows;

  • Stationary Antenna
    • Antenna has a limited angle range.
    • The antenna has to be rotated manually.
    • In order to obtain optimal reception the antenna has to be pointed towards the transmitter.
  • Rotor Antenna
    • The Antenna can be rotated in both clockwise and anticlockwise direction.
    • Rotation of the antenna is done via a separate remote control and control box.
    • Rotor antennas commonly use the high gain architecture.

Considering the most commonly available solutions which are available in the local market that have been listed above, we believe that our product would have an edge over the other products for the following reasons.

  • The antenna would be using the high gain antenna architecture.
  • The Antenna can be rotated in both clockwise and anticlockwise direction.
  • Current television remote control could be used in order to control the antenna with a separate control box using PIC16F877A.
  • The user would be able to save and recall multiple positions at a given instance.
  • The antenna is designed to be more cost effective than currently available rotor antennas.