JP2650254B2 - Antenna monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an antenna monitoring device for adjusting the position (direction, angle) of a satellite broadcast receiving antenna.

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional U.S. C-band receiver, the position of an antenna is adjusted by demodulating a signal received by the antenna to a base frequency band by an LNB and an IDU, and displaying the demodulated signal on a CRT of a television receiver. The antenna was moved while changing the reception frequency band, and whether or not the antenna mechanically moved to the end of the movable range was measured by the presence or absence of a return pulse from the antenna driving device.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the antenna of the C band (also Ku) is generally placed in the garden, and the IDU and the antenna position control device (which may be included in the IDU) are placed indoors. Is placed. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not clear which direction the antenna is actually facing or whether the antenna has moved to the end of the movable range without going out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an antenna monitoring device capable of easily recognizing in which direction an antenna is directed and moved to the end of a movable range even in a room.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an antenna position adjusting mechanism for controlling the direction and angle of an antenna, a satellite broadcast receiving unit for generating a signal for controlling the antenna position, and a satellite broadcast signal. And a switch for switching between a modulated high-frequency signal and a high-frequency signal B input from the outside, and a remote controller or a remote controller for switching the switch. It is configured to switch to a high-frequency signal when a power switch is turned off by a front switch of a housing housing the unit.

According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, the direction of the antenna can be seen indoors, and the satellite position and the direction of the antenna can be easily recognized.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Generally, since the antenna position control device has a memory function and uses a non-volatile memory, if the range in which the antenna is to be moved at the time of installation is stored in the memory, there is no problem.
In this embodiment, using a plurality of TV cameras at the time of installation adjustment,
Perform at least enlarged photographing of the drive mechanism and photographing of the entire antenna, switch the output of the TV camera and use one RF converter
Convert to RF and make it the same signal state as IDU RF output,
This is displayed on the CRT of the television receiver.

Here, an IDU changeover switch is provided, and the IDU is switched on to the television receiver while the power is on, converted to a signal radio frequency RF from the television camera instead of the TV signal, output from the IDU, and the antenna is connected to the television receiver. It is for projecting and driving the antenna.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an antenna monitoring apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an antenna installed outdoors, and 2 denotes an LNB, which is a device for performing a low-noise high-frequency amplifier and frequency conversion, and its output is generally 950M to 1450MHz in both the C band and the Ku band. In this embodiment, the description will be made as the C band. 3 is a column supporting the LNB2, 4 is a signal cable mounted along the column 3, and a polarizer (not shown) mounted on the front of the LNB.
Control signal lines. The description of the polarizer is omitted. twenty one
Is an indoor unit IDU, 11 is a tuner / IF unit, 12 is an FM detector, 13 is a video signal processing circuit that removes the energy spread signal from the output of the FM detector 12, performs band limiting and de-emphasis, and 14 is audio Audio detection circuit that detects and processes signals
Reference numeral 15 denotes a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer) for controlling the entire indoor unit IDU21, which can be replaced by hardware logic. 16 is a panel SN group of the front panel of the indoor unit IDU 21, 17 is a light receiving unit of the remote control 24, 18 is an RF modulator modulated by the output of the video signal processing circuit 13 and the output of the audio detection circuit 14, and the output is temporarily VHF 3CH (or 4C)
H). Reference numeral 19 denotes a high-frequency changeover switch satisfying the functions of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a changeover switch); 7, a television camera for photographing the antenna position adjusting mechanism 5; 8, a television camera for photographing the entire antenna; An RF converter that outputs the 3CH signal by modulating with the video signal of 10C, a changeover switch that controls the switch 10S,
Reference numeral 10S denotes a changeover switch for switching the output of the television cameras 7 and 8 and transmitting the output to 9. Here, if the TV cameras 7 and 8, the RF converter 9 and the changeover switch 10 are put together by the installation adjustment jig 23, these are unnecessary for normal satellite broadcast reception and may be brought by a service person at the time of installation. In a normal satellite broadcast receiver, a switch group 16 on the front panel operates keys on a remote controller 24 to turn on / off a power supply, switch a receiving channel, and switch an audio frequency to adjust an antenna position.
The microcomputer 15 of the receiver determines which key of the panel switch group 16 is pressed by key scan (KeyScan), and receives the output of the remote control 24 by the remote control receiving unit 17,
The signal is shaped into a binary signal and supplied to the microcomputer 15, and the microcomputer 15 determines which key of the remote controller 24 is the signal. In a receiver currently on the market, if there is a switch for switching between reception of satellite broadcasting and reception of U or V radio waves (hereinafter referred to as terrestrial broadcasting) on the ground, when switching to terrestrial broadcasting, the microcomputer 15 controls power on / off. It only switches between off, satellite broadcast reception, and terrestrial broadcast reception, and cannot perform channel switching or antenna position adjustment. In some receivers, when the power switch of the indoor unit IDU21 is turned off, the output of the changeover switch 19 is automatically switched from satellite broadcasting to terrestrial broadcasting. Here, it is assumed that the microcomputer 15 is divided into A and B as shown in FIG. 3 and the program of the microcomputer 15 detects whether the panel switch group 16 or the remote controller 24 switches to the satellite broadcast reception or not. That is, with the microcomputer 15A, the panel switch group 16, the remote control receiver 17,
The microcomputer 15B controls the changeover switch 19, the antenna control unit 20, and the microcomputer 15B.
For example, channel switching, audio frequency switching, polarization plane control, and the like are performed.

The operation of the antenna monitoring device of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, when switching to the terrestrial wave reception is performed by the panel switch group 16 or the remote controller 24, the input of the changeover switch 19, that is, the terminal C of the switch 19S shown in FIG.
When the output of the F converter 9 is connected, the signal of the television camera 7 or 8 comes to the terminal C of the switch 19S. At this time, if the output of the microcomputer 15A is at a low level, the output of the negative logic NOR gate 19G is at a high level, and the base of the transistor TR19T is set to a high level via the protection resistor 19R, and the TR19T
Conducts, a current flows through the coil 19L of the relay, and the switch 19S is short-circuited between the terminals a and c. Accordingly, the output of the changeover switch 19 is transmitted to the television receiver 22,
22 shows the output of the TV camera 7 or 8. Switching between the television cameras 7 and 8 is performed by the changeover switches 10C and 10S. There is no problem if the switch 10S and 10C are extended because they are direct current. By operating the switch 10C to switch between the television cameras 7 and 8, the entire antenna and the driving unit 5 are displayed on the CRT of the television receiver 22. At this time, when the panel switch group 16 or the SW of the remote controller 24 is operated, first, a high-level signal is transmitted from the microcomputer 15A to the TR 208 via the resistor 210, the TR 208 is conducted, and the main power supply + Current flows from V, and the switches 203 and 204 are short-circuited. On the other hand, when `` East '' is pressed by the SW of the panel switch group 16 or the remote control 24, the output of the microcomputer 15A becomes a high level, and if the output is transmitted to the TR 207 via the resistor 209, the TR 207 conducts, A current flows through the coil 205 of the relay,
The terminals a and b of the switches 201 and 202 are short-circuited, the DC motor 5M in the antenna position adjusting mechanism 5 rotates in the direction of the solid arrow, and the antenna turns to the east. At this time, a pulse proportional to the rotation speed of the DC motor 5M is generated by the pulse generator 5P, and the microcomputer 15A counts the output of the DG 5P and displays the numerical value.

The configuration shown in FIG. 3 is known as an antenna positioner for a U.S. C-band receiver. On the other hand, in FIG. 2, since the output of the microcomputer 15A is at a high level when the satellite broadcast is received and the main 5V is also at a high level, the NOR gate 19G is used.
Output goes low, TR19T shuts off, switch 1
In 9S, the terminals a and b are short-circuited, but if the main switch is turned off, it becomes 0 V below + B of preheat, and the negative logic NOR
If the gate 19G is operated by the preheat + B, the output of the negative logic NOR gate 19G becomes a high level, the TR19T conducts, and the switch 19S is short-circuited between the terminals ac as described above. That is, if the power supply of the indoor unit IDU21 is turned off, the terrestrial broadcast can be viewed on the television receiver 22. On the other hand, during the above-described antenna position adjustment, the installation adjustment jig 23C is placed indoors next to the indoor unit IDU21, and the satellite broadcast reception and the terrestrial broadcast reception are alternately switched by operating the remote control 24 or the panel switch group 16. By monitoring the direction of the antenna (all views) and the position adjusting mechanism on the CRT of the television receiver 22, the antenna can be easily adjusted. In addition, when noise or disconnection occurred between the microcomputer 15A and the PG5P in FIG. 3, the microcomputer sometimes erroneously recognized it. it can. In general, after the antenna adjustment is completed, a terrestrial broadcast cable is connected to the terminal P of the indoor unit IDU21 instead of the output of the installation adjustment jig 23.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

(1) Since the direction (the whole view) of the antenna can be viewed while staying indoors, it is easy to give an indication of the position of the satellite and the direction of the antenna.

(2) As you can see the position adjustment mechanism and the whole view of the antenna,
It is easy to see whether it is within the movable range. In addition, noise gets on,
If there is a disconnection, the antenna direction may be erroneously determined to be the limit. However, since the antenna is viewed with a camera, it can be immediately determined whether the determination is erroneous.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an antenna monitoring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of the changeover switch, and FIG. 3 is a circuit showing the configuration of the changeover switch for controlling the position of the antenna. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... LNB, 3 ... Support, 4 ... Signal cable and control signal wire, 5 ... Antenna position adjustment mechanism, 6 ... Antenna 1 support, 7, 8 ... TV camera,
9 ... RF converter, 10 ... Switch, 11 ... Tuner / IF section, 12 ... FM detector, 13 ... Video signal processing circuit,
14 ... Audio detection circuit, 15 ... Microcomputer, 16
... Panel switch group, 17 ... Remote control receiver, 18 ...
RF converter, 19 high frequency changeover switch, 20 antenna control unit, 21 indoor unit IDU, 22 television receiver, 23 installation fixture, 24 remote control.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An antenna position adjusting mechanism for controlling the direction and angle of an antenna for receiving a satellite broadcast wave, a satellite broadcast receiving unit for generating a signal for controlling the antenna position adjusting mechanism, and a satellite broadcast signal A first RF converter for detecting and amplitude-modulating the detection output at a high frequency again, a first television camera for photographing the antenna position adjusting mechanism, a second television camera for photographing the entire antenna, and the first television camera. A second RF converter that outputs a signal modulated with a signal from the television camera or the second television camera,
A switch for switching and outputting an output of the first RF converter and the second RF converter, wherein the switch is performed by a switch on a front surface of a housing housing a remote controller or a receiving unit; An antenna monitoring device that switches to output a signal from a second RF converter when a power switch is turned off.