Rca Inc.

Conifer Corporation

Other

Robert M Evans

Dale L Hemmie

A multichannel, multipoint distribution services (MMDS) dipole antenna for receiving multiple channels in the S-band frequency range of 2000 and 3000 MHz is formed from a printed circuit board which is directly connected to a coaxial cable. On the printed circuit board are etched two stacked dipoles. Each of the dipoles has a first one-half element etched on the first side of the printed circuit board and the second one-half element etched on the second side of the printed circuit board. The first and second dipoles are oriented to be in phase with each other and are separated from each other at a wavelength spacing between 0.25 lambda and 0.40 lambda. The antenna of the present invention further uses a phase combining circuit and an impedance matching circuit etched on the printed circuit board for combining in phase the polarized signals, for canceling the non-polarized signals at 0.degree. and 180.degree., from the two stacked dipoles and for matching the impedance from the two dipoles to the impedance of the coaxial cable.

Stacked dual dipole MMDS feed

A television tuning system includes UHF and VHF signal paths each tuned by a tuning voltage and coupled to a common signal path by a diplexer. So that UHF signals will be attenuated so to not cause interferences with a VHF channel signal which is selected to be viewed, the UHF filter is detuned when a VHF channel is selected. Detuning the UHF filter is accomplished by modifying the tuning voltage for the UHF filter responsive to the VHF band-switching voltage.

Tuning system for a multi-band television receiver

A multiplexing arrangement enables a plurality of control voltages for controlling respective ones of a plurality of varactor controlled tunable filters, employed, e.g., prior to the tuner of a television receiver to reject undesired signals, to be generated by a single digital to analog (D/A) converter. A controller, which may, e.g., comprise a microcomputer, sequentially applies digital control words to the D/A converter and substantially synchronously causes the resultant control voltages generated by the D/A converter to be applied, through respective switches to the tunable filters. The control voltages are applied to capacitors connected to d.c. control lines for the tunable filters. The high impedance of the varactor diodes included in the filters enables the capacitors to store respective control voltages for relatively long intervals before the control voltages need to be refreshed. This enables a large number of tunable filters to be controlled by a single D/A converter.

Multiplexing arrangement for a plurality of voltage controlled filters

A method of tuning a trap circuit to a desired frequency is provided. A constant amplitude signal is applied to the trap circuit in a progression of successively different frequency increments. The frequency increments cover a frequency range including the desired frequency. The amplitude of the signal, as modified by the trap circuit is detected and stored at each of the different frequency increments. Successive ones of the stored amplitude values are compared until an amplitude difference is found which is greater than a predetermined minimum difference and is of a polarity indicative of an increase in amplitude with the progression, and is a successor of an amplitude difference which is greater than the predetermined minimum difference and of a polarity indicative of a decrease in amplitude with the progression. The frequency at which the inflection point occurs, as indicated by the two-named amplitude differences, represents the null frequency of the trap circuit. The trap circuit is then tuned to align the null frequency with the desired tuning frequency.

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Hightstown, NJ, United States of America

Robert M Evans