Antenna Azimuth and Elevation Calculator

This page provides information about the Antenna Azimuth and Elevation calculator. It’s part of a suite of converters and calculators designed for RF engineers and enthusiasts.

This calculator takes the Earth station’s longitude and latitude, along with the satellite’s longitude, as inputs. It then calculates and provides the antenna azimuth and elevation angles as outputs.

EXAMPLE:

INPUTS:

• Earth Station Latitude = 14 degrees North
• Earth Station Longitude = 77 degrees East
• Satellite Longitude = 84 degrees East

OUTPUTS:

• Antenna Elevation Angle = 71.65 degrees
• Antenna Azimuth Angle = 153 degrees

(In this example, the sub-satellite point, which is the satellite itself, is Southwest of the Earth station.)

Antenna Azimuth and Elevation Equation

Determining the Antenna Azimuth and Elevation is crucial for RF antenna installation engineers. Often, in the field, engineers adjust the antenna’s azimuth and elevation while monitoring the signal on a spectrum analyzer, aiming for the peak signal strength. However, this process can be quite cumbersome, especially with large-diameter antennas, remote locations, or when the satellite’s parameters are unknown to the engineer.

To streamline this process, calculating the antenna azimuth and elevation using a calculator, based on the Earth station’s location (latitude and longitude) and the satellite’s longitude, is highly desirable.

The following equation/formula is used for the Antenna Azimuth and Elevation calculation: