User's Manual

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AD510-10 Active Transmitter/Receiver Antenna with a 30m or

40m RG213U down-lead and DC regulator for Iridium

Telephone Systems

Introduction

Iridium telephones were originally designed to operate with passive antennae, either an

element attached directly to the handset, or a remote aerial connected with a short length

of coaxial cable. Unfortunately, a signal loss of more than 3dB in a remote antenna’s

connecting cable degrades performance due to attenuation of both the received and

transmitted signals. A 3dB loss corresponds to approximately 10m of RG213U or 3m of

RG58U coaxial cable, lengths that clearly restrict the mounting options for the antenna

using standard down-leads.

The AD510-10 active Iridium antenna (figures 1&2) is designed for use with 30m (98

feet) or 40m (131 feet) of RG213U coaxial cable terminated with type ‘N’ connectors.

Designed for harsh environments, the AD510-10 consists of two RHCP dipole antennae

housed within 4mm thick GRP radomes mounted on a common base. One antenna is for

signal transmission and one for reception. A linear power amplifier within the base and

connected to the transmitting antenna compensates for signal loss incurred mainly by the

connecting cable. Similarly, a low noise amplifier is attached to the receiving antenna via

a low loss interdigital filter to boost the signal sent to the telephone. The interdigital filter

has a bandwidth of 12 MHz centred on the Iridium band designed to attenuate any out of

band interference that may arise, for example from nearby Inmarsat uplinks.

Using manufacturing techniques proven for a range of extremely rugged GPS/DGP active

antennae, the antenna base is milled from aluminium and hard anodised, giving an

attractive green finish, which is mechanically resilient and resistant to corrosion. The

antenna’s mass is 2.6kg.

Mounting and Operation

(1) The AD510-10 should be mounted with an unobstructed view of the sky. An

aluminium bracket with V-bolts is provided to attach the antenna to horizontal or

vertical spars up to 60mm in diameter, figure 2. The bracket is shipped inverted on

the end of the AD510-10 antenna and should be detached, turned over, then

repositioned either to the centre or end of the antenna case as required using the

mounting holes in the base.

Summary of content (5 pages)

PAGE 1
AD510-10 Active Transmitter/Receiver Antenna with a 30m or 40m RG213U down-lead and DC regulator for Iridium Telephone Systems Introduction Iridium telephones were originally designed to operate with passive antennae, either an element attached directly to the handset, or a remote aerial connected with a short length of coaxial cable. Unfortunately, a signal loss of more than 3dB in a remote antenna’s connecting cable degrades performance due to attenuation of both the received and transmitted signals.
PAGE 2
(2) The RG213U coaxial down-lead is attached to the N-type connector on the underside of the antenna, figure 2. Wrapping the connectors with self-amalgamating tape is recommended for permanent installations and the cable should be taped or strapped to the spar as appropriate. (3) AD510-10 antennae supplied with 40m RG213U down-leads must be used with the accompanying AD510-40 DC supply voltage regulators (figure 3), which accept +9V to +36V dc at 500mA. The down-lead must not be shortened by the user.
PAGE 3
Figure 1. AD510-10 Active Iridium antenna Figure 2.
PAGE 4
Figure 3. AD510-40 voltage regulator and break-in for use with +9 to 36Vdc supply. The case is hard anodised aluminium and has fixing flanges. A 40m coil of RG213U cable is shown connected to an AD510-10 active antenna (top). The handset interconnect is shown trailing from the TNC to the bottom left, whilst the flying lead for connection to 9 to 36V dc supply is shown cutting the frame to the right.
PAGE 5
Figure 4. Schematic diagram for system connections (1) Mount AD510-10 active antenna with clear view of sky using bracket supplied. (2) Attach top end of 40m (or 30m) down-lead to N type connector on underside of antenna. (3) Attach bottom end of down-lead to N type connector on voltage supply regulator AD510-40 (or AD510-30). The down-lead must not be shortened by the user.