Antenna Tilt 101
Author:sanyuan Time:2017-05-25 09:33:41
Why do I need to tilt BTS antenna?
To answer this question, we need to understand how antenna beam is radiated. Here is a visualized picture of BTS antenna's signal intensity in three-dimensional space:
From this picture, we can see that the antenna radiates signal in every direction in front of it, but the most signal-intense area is right in its front. If we just install the antenna on the tower without any modification, chances are the signals would not be fully utilized.
How do I tilt the BTS antenna?
There are two basic ways to 'tilt' the antenna, the mechanical tilt, and the electrical tilt.
The mechanical tilt is very simple. This kind of antenna has an adjustable mechanical device that fixes the antenna to tower brackets. We can adjust the antenna angle to a desired direction by handling the mechanical device.
The electrical tilt is a little bit complicated. It utilizes the wave interference to redirect the beam. Such antenna usually has one or two rotary at the bottom for the adjustment of beam angle (there is also pre-configured beam angle electrical tilt). These rotary can be rotated manually or automatically with a remote control unit (RCU). An electrical tilt with RCU is also known as Remote Electrical Tilt (RET). When you rotate the rotary of the electrical tilt, the antenna angle does not change, but the beam coming out of the antenna changes direction. Therefore, the antenna is 'tilted'.
What kind of antenna tilt do I need for BTS construction?
Most antennas are installed on high BTS towers, and usually do not need adjustment very often. If you are sure that your antennas do not need adjustment once installed, you may install a pre-configured electrical tilt or fixed mechanical tilt to save costs. If the working environment requires the antenna angle to be readjusted occasionally, then you should adopt RET. Antenna with RET will save large amounts of maintenance time and human costs.
What antenna tilt products does your company have?
We have fixed mechanical tilt, pre-configured electrical tilt, electrical tilt, and RET for you to choose.
What are these antenna tilt's differences?
Fixed mechanical tilt and pre-configured electrical tilt are not easy to readjust once the installation is finished. Electrical tilt can be very inconvenient to readjust since maintenance personnel is needed to operate the antenna. When you use electrical tilt, we recommend you apply RCU together.
I am not seeing too much of antenna tilts on this site. Where can I get more info of your products?
This is one of our websites. You may find more information of our antenna products on another site.
What advantage does your company have?
Our company owns a factory and has cooperation relationship with many other contractors. We can customize and provide you with variable antennas. We can make RET of different parameters or mechanical-electrical combined tilt for your special need.