Beam tilt is used in radio to aim the main lobe of the vertical plane radiation pattern of an antenna below (or above) the horizontal plane.

The simplest way is mechanical beam tilt, where the antenna is physically mounted in such a manner as to lower the angle of the signal on one side. However, this also raises it on the other side, making it useful in only very limited situations.

More common is electrical beam tilt, where the phasing between antenna elements is tweaked to make the signal go down (usually) in all directions. This is extremely useful when the antenna is at a very high point, and the edge of the signal is likely to miss the target (broadcast audience, cellphone users, etc.) entirely.

With electrical tilting, front and back lobes tilt in same direction : for example, an electrical downtilt will make both front lobe and back lobe tilt down. This is the property used in the above example where the signal is pointed down in all directions. On the contrary, mechanical downtilting will make the front lobe tilt down and the back lobe tilt up. In almost all practical cases, antennas are only tilted down - though tilting up is technically possible.

Beam may refer to:

Tilt may refer to: