Indeed, I've come across setups employing "radar" with similar sensors, but for my application, I prefer to utilize an encoder. With an encoder, I can obtain precise positional feedback, enabling me to determine specific angles, such as the antenna pointing at 57 degrees North East, and so forth. This level of positional accuracy isn't achievable with a hall effect switch.
I'm envisioning a user interface akin to pyModeS, where I can designate an ICAO code and direct the antenna towards its position. This interface would operate based on rules such as "if the signal strength of designated Package XYZ falls below -5dB, rotate 10 degrees clockwise; if the signal strength doesn't improve, rotate 20 degrees counterclockwise," and so forth.
Example on the UI:
