Two Axis Feedback System for Radiosonde Antenna Tracker Controller

Radiosonde tracking during active probing in the atmosphere is essential to ensure that ground stations receive complete information from the radiosondes. This study proposes a feedback system for the closed loop control method of dual axis tracking antennas. The feedback system aims to provide information on the azimuth and elevation angle of the directional antenna so that the antenna can follow the direction of the radiosonde position accurately. The feedback element used to detect the elevation angle is an absolute rotary encoder while the digital compass sensor detects the azimuth angle. The result showed that the highest percentage of error measurement of elevation angle was 0.6% with an average error of 0.2 % with a resolution of 1.41°. Meanwhile, the azimuth angle revealed 0.83% as the highest percentage of error with an average -0.139% after calibration with a resolution of 1°.