Wireless dish

Projects Networking, Protocols, and Devices
1

Hey, I need help from someone that has had some experience with wireless recivers.

I was thinking of building a wirless direction finder.

I have a transmitter that is transmitting constantly (no data just transmitting).

So if I take a dish, something like this (2.4GHz 13dBi SMA Omni Antenna with Stand for WiFi/Wireless Network (2400~2500MHz) - Free shipping - DealExtreme) and attach it to a motor + Rotary Encoder and spin the dish 360deg constantly. Would I get a noticeable spike so that I could determine which direction the transmission is coming from within the error margin of 0-5deg?

I my self am not that good with hardware but been programming for 7 years so I need help with hardware.

If there is no way this would work how would you go about this?

2

I have a transmitter that is transmitting constantly

but I'm not going to tell you any details whatsoever about frequency, power, polarisation or antenna.

3

No hope Im afraid.
The dish is far too small to be able to determine whether a signal is withing 5 degrees.
To get that level of accuracy. you would need a much bigger dish.
Something like one of these.
http://www.zdacomm.com/2-4-ghz-gird-parabolic-dish-antenna-high-gain-seires.html

4

Generally speaking, I think you will find a more accurate indication of direction by seeking the null rather than the peak signal. As alluded to by another poster, the answer is completely dependent upon characteristics of the signal you are transmitting.

A coil of appropriate diameter relative to wavelength, consisting of several turns of wire makes for a good, simple way of finding a null point and the transmitted will be along the plane of the coil.. OK, so that narrows it down to x degrees or x+180 degrees. But you get the idea.

There are 'dish pointing' gadgets on eBay for around $8 that help aim the kinds of dishes used for DirecTv and Dish Network. Maybe buy one and look inside? For that price they can't be very complex.

5

Thanks for help :).