Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Aim a dipole antenna at a nearby radio station by aligning its axis at 90 degrees to the transmitter. So if the transmitter is due east, the antenna would be aligned north to south, for instance. Dipole antennas look like a single long wire with a feed line connected at the center. The most common use is for short wave and AM. Aiming for foreign stations is not as simple as nearby ones, because signals change due to the ionosphere, sunspots and time of day.
Use the signal strength meter on a shortwave receiver for precision antenna alignment. With a Yagi antenna or similar directional antenna, the meter will indicate a peak when the antenna is pointing directly at the transmitter. The front of the antenna has the shortest elements. The back has the longest. If possible, use a map to assist with aiming as Yagis also have a weak lobe pointing from the back of the antenna.
Aim a Yagi antenna without using a signal strength meter by finding its null. This works well for television antennas. Yagis have their worst reception to the side. Slowly turn the antenna until the signal drops out. Make note of the position. Continue turning until the signal returns, even if it's very faint. The null is halfway between the two loss of signal points. The maximum reception point will be at 90 degrees to the null. Again, the use of a map can be helpful.