WO2010114065A1

WO2010114065A1 - Level checker

Info

Publication number: WO2010114065A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/055942
Authority: WO
Inventors: 義和伊東
Original assignee: マスプロ電工株式会社
Priority date: 2009-03-31
Filing date: 2010-03-31
Publication date: 2010-10-07
Also published as: JP2010239539A; JP5384985B2

Abstract

Provided is a level checker which is used to adjust the orientation (azimuth angle, angle of elevation) of a receiving antenna for receiving a transmission radio wave (television broadcast wave). The level checker comprises a means for storing therein the television broadcast wave and the position of a facility serving as a sender which sends the television broadcast wave, both of which are associated with each other, a means for detecting the position (device position) of the level checker, a means for detecting the orientation (device orientation) of a reference axis set in the level checker, a means for obtaining the orientation (facility orientation) from the device position toward an object facility position which is the position stored correspondingly to the television broadcast wave, and a means for displaying an image indicating the facility orientation on a display screen on the basis of the device orientation and the facility orientation on the premise that the display screen is held horizontally while being directed upward.

Description

Level checker

The present invention relates to a level checker that measures the reception level of a television broadcast wave.

Conventionally, a level checker has been used to adjust the direction (azimuth angle and elevation angle) of a receiving antenna that receives a transmission radio wave (television broadcast wave) from an artificial satellite (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

This type of level checker is usually used by connecting to a transmission line that transmits a received signal from a receiving antenna. When one of the channels (transponder) provided by the target artificial satellite is specified, the specified channel is used. The signal level of the received signal is measured and the measurement result is displayed using a numerical value, a bar graph, or the like.

When adjusting the direction of the receiving antenna, first, the receiving antenna is directed to the position where the artificial satellite exists, and the antenna is shaken left and right and up and down to find a position where the signal strength is increased.
JP 2006-295363 A

However, with this method, if the direction in which the receiving antenna is first directed is greatly deviated from the actual direction, not only will there be a high possibility of capturing radio waves from other artificial satellites, There was a problem that it was necessary to search manually and adjustment was required.

That is, there is a problem that the labor for adjusting the direction of the receiving antenna may be greatly increased depending on the direction in which the receiving antenna is first directed.
In order to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a level checker that can reduce the labor of adjusting the direction of a receiving antenna.

A level checker according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a display screen for performing various displays, a designation unit, a measurement unit, a result display unit, an equipment position storage unit, a device position detection unit, and a device direction detection unit. And an equipment orientation detection means and an orientation display means.

Specified means specifies the TV broadcast wave to be checked. The measuring means measures the signal level of the television broadcast wave designated by the designation means. The result display means displays the measurement result of the measurement means on the display screen. The facility position storage means stores the television broadcast wave and the position of the facility that is the transmission source of the television broadcast wave in association with each other. The device position detecting means detects the device position which is the position of the level checker. The device orientation detection means detects the device orientation that is the direction of the reference axis set in the level checker. The equipment orientation detection means is a position stored in the equipment position storage means corresponding to the television broadcast wave designated by the designation means as a target equipment position in a direction from the apparatus position to the target equipment position. Find a facility orientation. The direction display means displays an image indicating the equipment direction on the display screen, assuming that the display screen is held horizontally and upward based on the device direction and the equipment direction.

A level checker according to a second aspect of the present invention is the level checker according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the level checker according to the first aspect of the present invention is a numerical value representing an elevation angle obtained by viewing the target facility position from the device position based on the device position and the target facility position. Elevation angle display means for displaying on the display screen is provided.

A level checker according to a third aspect of the present invention is the level checker according to the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the facility is an artificial satellite for satellite broadcasting.
The level checker according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the level checker according to the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the equipment is a broadcasting station and a relay station for digital terrestrial broadcasting.

A level checker according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the level checker according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, wherein the device position detecting means uses GPS.
The level checker according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the level checker according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, wherein the device orientation detection means uses a magnetic sensor.

According to the level checker of the first aspect of the present invention, when the direction of the receiving antenna is adjusted, the receiving antenna is directed in a generally correct direction by directing the receiving antenna in the direction indicated by the image displayed on the display screen. In addition, when the direction of the receiving antenna is swung, it is only necessary to swing the receiving antenna around the direction, so that the labor of adjustment can be greatly reduced.

According to the level checker of the second aspect of the present invention, not only the azimuth angle in the horizontal plane but also the elevation angle are displayed, so that the labor of adjustment work can be further reduced.
In particular, many antennas that receive transmission waves from artificial satellites are marked with a scale indicating the elevation angle of the antenna, so such antennas can be displayed without using a device other than a level checker. The antenna can be set to a substantially correct elevation angle based on the elevation angle value displayed on the screen.

According to the level checker of the third aspect of the present invention, the level checker can be suitably used for installation work of a receiving antenna for satellite broadcasting.
According to the level checker of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it can be suitably used for the installation work of the receiving antenna for terrestrial digital broadcasting.

According to the level checker of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the latitude, longitude, and altitude of the device position can be acquired. The elevation angle can be easily calculated.

According to the level checker of the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the apparatus orientation and thus the equipment orientation with reference to the orientation obtained by correcting the magnetic north or magnetic north with the magnetic declination (that is, true north).

The block diagram which shows the whole structure of a level checker. Explanatory drawing which shows the structure of an equipment position table. The flowchart which shows the content of the radio wave arrival direction display process which a control part performs. Explanatory drawing which shows the example of a screen display by an electromagnetic wave arrival direction display process.

10 ... Level checker 11 ... Input terminal 12 ... Display unit 13 ... Operation unit 15 ... Power supply separation filter 16 ... Measurement unit 17 ... Power supply unit 18 ... Position detection unit 19 ... Direction detection unit 20 ... Control unit

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Overview>
A level checker 10 shown in FIG. 1 receives a television broadcast wave (BS digital broadcast / CS broadcast or the like), and the signal level and transmission quality (BER (bit error rate)) of a designated physical channel in the designated television broadcast wave. , MER (modulation error ratio)).

<Configuration>
As shown in FIG. 1, the level checker 10 includes an input terminal 11, a display unit 12, and an operation unit 13. The input terminal 11 is a terminal connected to a transmission line that transmits a broadcast signal. The display unit 12 has a display screen for displaying measurement results and the like. The operation unit 13 is configured to input various commands to the level checker 10.

More specifically, the input terminal 11 is composed of a connector of the same type as that of a broadcast signal input terminal provided in a television receiver or a tuner.
The display unit 12 is a well-known device including a liquid crystal display (LCD).

The operation unit 13 is composed of a key matrix and the like, and in conjunction with the display on the display unit 12, at least the type (band name) of the television broadcast wave to be measured, the designation of the physical channel / frequency, and the display unit 12 An input operation for switching a display mode for defining display contents is configured.

Further, the level checker 10 includes a power supply separation filter 15, a measurement unit 16, and a power supply unit 17.
The power supply separation filter 15 supplies a direct current component serving as a power source for a booster that amplifies a signal received by the receiving antenna via a transmission line connected to the input terminal 11 and also via a transmission line connected to the input terminal 11. The received signal is separated from the DC component. The power supply unit 17 generates a DC component to be supplied to the booster. The measurement unit 16 extracts a signal of a designated channel from the reception signal separated by the power supply separation filter 15 and measures the signal level, and performs demodulation, error correction processing, and the like on the extracted signal. To generate a bit string representing a TS (transport stream) packet, and measure the transmission quality (MER, BER) of the designated channel using information obtained at the time of demodulation.

Further, the level checker 10 includes a position detection unit 18, an orientation detection unit 19, and a control unit 20.
The position detection unit 18 includes a known GPS unit that detects the position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the device based on a signal from a GPS satellite. The azimuth detecting unit 19 includes a known magnetic sensor that detects the inclination of magnetic north with respect to the reference axis direction (for example, the vertical direction of the display screen) set in the level checker 10. The control unit 20 controls each unit of the apparatus in accordance with the operation on the operation unit 13, the measurement result image generated based on the measurement result in the measurement unit 16, the position detection unit 18, and the direction detection unit 19. A radio wave arrival direction instruction image or the like generated based on the detection result is displayed on the display unit 12.

<Measurement unit>
The measurement unit 16 includes a known tuner module. The tuner module includes a channel selection circuit, a detection circuit, a demodulation circuit, an error correction circuit, and the like, and transmits information necessary for calculating transmission quality (MER, BER, etc.) obtained from the demodulation circuit and the error correction circuit to the control unit 20. Configured to supply. The channel selection circuit extracts the signal of the designated channel. The detection circuit detects the output of the channel selection circuit. The demodulation circuit directly demodulates the signal of the designated channel. The error correction circuit generates an error-corrected bit string by performing error correction processing or the like on the bit string obtained by demodulation.

<Control unit>
The control unit 20 includes a known microcomputer mainly composed of a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and executes measurement processing, radio wave arrival direction display processing, and the like according to the output from the measurement unit 16.

The measurement processing is processing such as measurement of the signal level of the designated channel, measurement of transmission quality, display of the measurement result, and the like. The radio wave arrival direction display process is a process of displaying the azimuth in which the equipment to which the receiving antenna should be directed is located according to the detection results of the position detector 18 and the azimuth detector 19.

Since the measurement process is a well-known process in the level checker, the description thereof will be omitted, and hereinafter, the radio wave arrival direction display process which is a main part of the present invention will be described.
In addition to the program for executing the measurement process and the radio wave arrival direction display process, the ROM, as shown in FIG. 2, includes an artificial satellite for transmitting a television broadcast wave and the position (latitude, longitude, At least an equipment position table indicating the altitude) is stored.

<< Radio wave arrival direction display process >>
Here, the radio wave arrival direction display processing executed by the control unit 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

This process is started when an operation for starting this process is performed by the operation unit 13 after the power of the level checker 10 is turned on.
When this process is started, first, in S110, a screen for selecting a television broadcast wave (BS, CS, etc.) is displayed on the display unit 12, and the user is made to make a selection via the operation unit 13.

In S120, the position (hereinafter referred to as “equipment position”) of the artificial satellite (hereinafter referred to as “target satellite”) that is the transmission source of the television broadcast wave selected in S110 is obtained from the equipment position table stored in the ROM.

In S130, the positioning result in the position detection unit 18, that is, the device position represented by latitude, longitude, and altitude is acquired and stored in the RAM.
In S140, the positioning result in the azimuth detecting unit 19, that is, the inclination with respect to the magnetic north in the reference axis direction provided in the level checker 10 is acquired.

In S150, the magnetic declination is obtained based on the positioning results (especially latitude and longitude) in S130, and the inclination in the reference axis direction acquired in S140 is calculated from the inclination with respect to magnetic north according to the magnetic declination. The inclination is corrected to be stored in the RAM as the apparatus orientation.

In S160, based on the equipment position obtained in S120 and the equipment position acquired in S130, a TV broadcast wave from the target satellite arrives in the direction from the equipment position toward the equipment position, that is, the level checker 10 position. An azimuth angle (an angle in a horizontal plane with reference to true north) and an elevation angle are calculated.

In S170, the azimuth angle calculated in S160 is changed from the value indicated in the coordinate system of the ground surface based on the latitude and longitude based on the device azimuth to the value indicated in the coordinate system on the display screen using the reference axis. In step S180, a radio wave arrival direction indicating image is generated in which an arrow indicating the converted azimuth angle and a number indicating the elevation angle calculated in step S160 are displayed and displayed on the display screen. Exit.

FIG. 4 shows a display example of the radio wave arrival direction indication image.
<Effect>
In the level checker 10 configured as described above, when the radio wave arrival direction display process is started in a state where the level checker 10 is held so that the display screen coincides with the horizontal plane and faces upward, the selected television is displayed. The azimuth of the direction of arrival of the broadcast wave (the direction in which the artificial satellite serving as the transmission source is located) is displayed on the display screen as an arrow, and the elevation angle is displayed as a numerical value on the display screen.

Therefore, according to the level checker 10, when the direction of the reception antenna is adjusted, the reception antenna is directed in a generally correct direction by directing the reception antenna in accordance with the direction indicated by the arrow displayed on the display screen and the elevation angle indicated by the numerical value. Can be directed, and when the direction of the receiving antenna is shaken, it is only necessary to shake it around the direction (the direction indicated by the arrow displayed on the display screen), greatly reducing the labor of adjustment work. Can do.

<Correspondence with Invention>
In the present embodiment, the display unit 12, the operation unit 13, and S110 correspond to an example of a designation unit, the measurement unit 16 and the measurement process correspond to an example of a measurement unit, and a part of the measurement process corresponds to an example of a result display unit. The area for storing the equipment position table of the ROM constituting the control unit 20 corresponds to an example of the equipment position storage means, the position detection unit 18 and S130 correspond to an example of the apparatus position detection means, and the direction detection unit 19 S140 to S150 correspond to an example of the apparatus orientation detection means, S160 to S170 correspond to an example of the equipment orientation detection means, and S180 corresponds to an example of the orientation display means and the elevation angle display means.

<Other embodiments>
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the facility that is the transmission source of the television broadcast wave is an artificial satellite has been described, but the facility may be a broadcasting station or a relay station for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
In this case, data in which the device position acquired from the position detection unit 18 and the measurement result (signal level) in the measurement unit 16 are associated with each other can be collected as field strength map creation data for terrestrial digital broadcasting. You may comprise as follows.

In the above embodiment, an arrow indicating the azimuth angle and a numerical value indicating the elevation angle are displayed on the radio wave arrival direction instruction screen. However, even if the measurement result (signal level or the like) at the measurement unit 16 is displayed together with this, Good.

Claims

A display screen for performing various displays;
A designation means for designating a TV broadcast wave to be checked;
Measuring means for measuring the signal level of the television broadcast wave specified by the specifying means;
A result display means for displaying the measurement result of the measurement means on the display screen;
In a level checker equipped with
Facility location storage means for storing a television broadcast wave and the location of the facility that is the transmission source of the television broadcast wave in association with each other
Device position detecting means for detecting the device position which is the position of the level checker;
Device orientation detection means for detecting the device orientation which is the orientation of the reference axis set in the level checker;
A facility for obtaining a facility direction which is a direction from the device position to the target facility position, with the position stored in the facility position storage unit corresponding to the television broadcast wave specified by the specifying unit as a target facility position. Direction detection means;
Based on the device orientation and the equipment orientation, the display screen is held horizontally and upward, and an orientation display means for displaying an image indicating the equipment orientation on the display screen;
Level checker characterized by having provided.
2. The elevation angle display unit according to claim 1, further comprising: an elevation angle display unit configured to display, on the display screen, a numerical value representing an elevation angle when the target facility position is viewed from the device position based on the device position and the target facility position. Level checker.
3. The level checker according to claim 1, wherein the facility is an artificial satellite for satellite broadcasting.
The level checker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the facilities are a broadcasting station and a relay station for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
5. The level checker according to claim 1, wherein the device position detecting means uses a GPS.
The level checker according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the device orientation detection means uses a magnetic sensor.