Til-Tek: Calculating Required Elevation Beamwidth

TIL-TEK
TIL-TEK Antennas www.tiltek.com (613) 258-5928 Form 2001-App. Note 13 Rev.0

Base St at i on
45m
( AGL)
605m ( AMSL)
Remote Si te
20m ( AGL)
150m ( AMSL)
1
7km ( 7000m)
D
L
H
Application Note No. 13
Calculating Required Elevation Beamwidth
General
When using omnidirectional or sectoral antennas, one of the first steps in selecting an antenna is
the determination of an adequate elevation beamwidth to serve all remote sites. The purpose of
this application note is to provide a method to calculate the required elevation beamwidths of
omnidirectional or sectoral antennas at base station sites. From the information calculated, an
antenna with optimum performance for the specific application can be selected more effectively.
Note: Calculations and examples below do not account for equivalent earth radius
or fresnel zone clearance as these are discussed in a separate application
note entitled Calculating Radio Path Clearance. To note also is that for
paths of 10 km or less, the effect caused by the equivalent earth radius only
adds a maximum of 1.5m additional height requirement and considered
insignificant.
In order to calculate the required elevation beamwidth, the following information is required :
1: The elevation Above Mean Sea Level (AMSL) of both sites.
2: Selected antenna height Above Ground Level (AGL) of both sites.
3: Distance between the sites.
Figure 1
Theory
As can be seen from Figure 1, the line depicting the horizontal, the line between both antennas
and the line from the horizontal line to the remote antenna form a right angle triangle where;
D = The horizontal distance between the two sites.
L = The line between the two sites.
H = Distance between the two antenna heights
Angle 2 2
1
= The coverage angle below horizontal
Since the above does form a right angle triangle, the following relationships apply;
tan 2 2
1
= ( H D)
2 2
1
= tan
-1
(H D)
Base St at i on
20m ( AGL)
45m
( AGL)
605m ( AMSL)
355m ( AMSL)
Remot e Si t e "B"
20m ( AGL)
150m ( AMSL)
2
1
7km ( 7000m)
2km ( 2000m)
Remot e Si t e "A"
HA
HB
Example 1
Based on data supplied in Figure 1, calculate the required elevation beamwidth of the Base
Station antenna.
The difference between the two antenna heights which form the H side of the
triangle is;
(605m + 45m) - (150m + 20m) = 480m
The angle 2 2
1
, below the horizontal is therefore calculated as;
2
1
= tan
-1
(480 7000m) = 3.92
Based on the above calculations, the antenna selected for the base station site must have
adequate elevation beamwidth to cover a minimum of ~4 below horizontal.
Note: Below horizontal. This can be misleading since the base station
antennas elevation beamwidths centre is normally aligned to horizontal
and if so, an antenna with an elevation beamwidth of >8 will be required.
Based on the above, the selection of possible antennas would be either standard antennas with 8
of elevation beamwidth or antennas with a combination of electrical and / or mechanical down-tilt
to provide coverage of 4 below horizontal.
Example 2
Based on data supplied in Figure 2, calculate the required elevation beamwidth of the Base
Station antenna which will provide coverage to both remote sites.
Figure 2
From the data supplied in Figure 2, one approach is to align the centre of the elevation beamwidth
to horizontal and simply calculate the elevation beamwidth requirements for closest site (Remote
Site A).This would yield the same results as in Example 1.
The above method is often utilized but is not the optimum as it does not align the antennas
maximum gain point directly at the far site where it is more than likely required. The optimum
method is to select an antenna which will centre its elevation beamwidth at the far site and also
provide adequate elevation beamwidth to cover nearby remote sites.
Example 2 (contd)
By selecting an antenna as above, optimum performance in gain will be provided and at the same
time the possibility of causing interference with existing and / or future adjacent systems will be
minimized. To do the above, both angles below horizontal must be calculated and the antenna(s)
selected accordingly. The procedure is as follows:
1: Calculate the angle below horizontal of the farthest site 2 2
1
"
The difference in height between the antenna at the base station and the antenna
at remote site (H
B
) is;
(605m + 45m) - (150m + 20m) = 480m
The angle 2 2
1
, below horizontal is;
2
1
= tan
-1
(480 7000m) = 3.92 or ~ 4
2: Calculate the angle below horizontal of the nearest site 2 2
2
"
The difference in height between the antenna at the base station and the antenna
at remote site (H
A
) is;
(605m + 45m) - (355m + 20m) = 275m
The angle 2 2
2
, below horizontal is;
2
2
= tan
-1
(275 2000m) = 7.82 or ~ 8
3: Select an appropriate antenna
Based on the results above, an antenna with an elevation beamwidth of +/-4 (or
8), aligned 4 below horizontal, as illustrated in Figure 3, would provide optimum
coverage. This can be realized using either;
a) An omnidirectional antenna with an elevation beamwidth of 8
and 4 of electrical down-tilt.
b) In the case of a sectoral antenna site where the azimuth
beamwidth is not exceedingly wide (<90), a sectoral antenna
with an elevation beamwidth of 8, mechanically tilted down 4.
c) In the case of a sectoral antenna site with a wide azimuth
beamwidth, (>90), a sectoral antenna with an elevation
beamwidth of 8 and 4 electrical down-tilt. 4.
Figure 3
Base St at i on Remot e Si t e "B" Remot e Si t e "A"
Hori zont al
8 deg.
4 deg.

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TIL-TEK

TIL-TEK Antennas www.tiltek.com (613) 258-5928 Form 2001-App. Note 13 Rev.0

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