- #1
taylaron
Gold Member
- 397
- 1
Greetings, PF'ers
I've got a project where I'm trying to measure the distance from a stationary AM radio beacon transmitting a short coded pulse every 300ms or so to a non-stationary receiver. I'm dealing with a range of about 1 to 500 ft between points. I need to have at least 1'' accuracy. While the transmitter is easy to build, the receiver technology is a bit out of my expertise at the moment.
I expect I will need to purchase or fabricate an antenna to match my desired transmitter frequency, and then have the on-board electronics on the receiver measure the amplitude of the beacon pulse to calculate the distance. Knowing that the magnitude of the field drops with the square of the distance, the it should be a relatively simple process to take the voltage of the incoming signal and run it through a simple algorithm to calculate the distance, right? But how should I measure the voltage?
overcoming the signal reflection from nearby objects may be overcome by alternating frequencies between pulses. right? By the time the next pulse comes, the last pulse on that frequency should have dissipated sufficiently.
I have basic knowledge of radio technology and minimal knowledge of antenna theory. I will be using an Arduino Uno for the receiver microcontroller.
Thanks,
Taylaron
I've got a project where I'm trying to measure the distance from a stationary AM radio beacon transmitting a short coded pulse every 300ms or so to a non-stationary receiver. I'm dealing with a range of about 1 to 500 ft between points. I need to have at least 1'' accuracy. While the transmitter is easy to build, the receiver technology is a bit out of my expertise at the moment.
I expect I will need to purchase or fabricate an antenna to match my desired transmitter frequency, and then have the on-board electronics on the receiver measure the amplitude of the beacon pulse to calculate the distance. Knowing that the magnitude of the field drops with the square of the distance, the it should be a relatively simple process to take the voltage of the incoming signal and run it through a simple algorithm to calculate the distance, right? But how should I measure the voltage?
overcoming the signal reflection from nearby objects may be overcome by alternating frequencies between pulses. right? By the time the next pulse comes, the last pulse on that frequency should have dissipated sufficiently.
I have basic knowledge of radio technology and minimal knowledge of antenna theory. I will be using an Arduino Uno for the receiver microcontroller.
Thanks,
Taylaron