AET: Applied Electromagnetic Technology, LLC.

Control Unit

The control unit is a standard rack mount or bench top unit. All interfaces between the control unit and the radiating sphere are carried via a duplex optical fiber cable.

As a result, the radiating spherical antenna provides a uniform and mathematically predictable electric field with no external copper cables for interference or errors.

The monitored dipole voltage is adjustable over a wide range, enabling the output power of the sphere to be accurately set and maintained during testing.

(click on image for larger picture)

The PSDS Control Unit is driven by a RF signal generator and provides an isolated optical fiber up-link and down-link interface with the spherical dipole antenna, all user monitoring and control of the spherical dipole's gap voltage, and alarm indicators for battery power and under-voltage conditions.

The control unit receives operational status data from the sphere and provides all monitoring and alarm indications to the operator when specifications are not met. The control unit is designed to interface with customer RF signal generators which may be manually controlled or computer-controlled for automated testing.

There are two secondary subsystems; the battery low alarm and the sphere battery on/off control.

Since the power in the spherical dipole is only by battery, there is a sensor in the spherical dipole to sense when the battery power is low, and an audio alarm sounds in the control unit.

System Assembly Diagram
Detailed Block Diagram