An introduction to radio direction finding methodologies

Thursday, August 8, 2019 14:00 -15:00 EDT

ABOUT

Radio direction finding, also called radiolocation, is the process by which a source of radio frequency energy is localized.  Direction finding plays an increasingly important role in many civilian, government, and military applications, including areas such as interference hunting, search and rescue, (counter)intelligence, and localization of uncooperative sources. 

This presentation begins with a general overview of radio direction finding and radio direction finding principles, and then moves on to a discussion of the different methodologies which can be used to determine the physical location of an RF energy source.  The radio direction finding methodologies covered in this presentation include (1) manual direction finding and homing, (2) Doppler, (3) power / angle of arrival, (4) Watson-Watt, (5) correlative interferometry, and (6) time difference of arrival. For each of these methodologies, a brief technical introduction is followed by a discussion of that methodology’s relative strengths and weaknesses, appropriate applications, and the areas in which a given methodology is most commonly employed. 

Examples of how these technologies are implemented, primarily in civilian applications, will also be provided.  Throughout the presentation, emphasis is placed on the real-world applications of each of these direction-finding methods, with discussions supported by actual examples of how these methodologies are being used in field applications.