Design and Fabrication of a Compact 2D Phase Comparison Direction Finder

Abstract

In this study, a compact, low-power 2D phase comparison direction finder was designed and fabricated. For the design of the directionfinding (DF) receiver, a 2D phase comparison DF equation was derived from the structure of four uniformly arranged antennas, and the main design parameters were derived from the receiver’s system parameters. Based on the derived DF equations and design parameters, a DF receiver was designed, and a direction finder was fabricated. A comparison of the fabricated direction finder to a simulation model showed that its performance was comparable to the simulated performance and satisfied the system parameters. Moreover, a comparison of the theoretical, simulated, and actual injection and radiation DF precision showed that the fabricated direction finder had performance consistent with that indicated by the theoretical and simulation results and DF precision within 0.5°.