Tonight the West Manchester Radio Club were delighted to welcome Dave Crowe G4MVU, the RSGB representative to speak to the club about active MIMO antennas used in mobile data communication on the 1.8GHz, 2.4GH and 3.4GHz bands.

Dave started by explaining what they are, why they are used, then built up a simple scenario of two, then four elements on order to electronically change the radiated “beam” pattern, the goal is to “steer” the beam towards a certain direction.  This coupled with a 64 way (or more) array of dipole elements allows for a very directional beam pattern to effectively track a mobile phone as the operator of the phone moves around in order to reduce the power required to establish a radio communication channel with that device.

Dave showed some types of equipment used, and in the questions, answered how modern 4G and 5G networks operate effectively in their allocated bands.

A very big thanks to Dave and the RSGB for arranging this very enlightening technical talk.

I really enjoyed listening to his talk and here are some pictures I took.