Chapter 2. Flashcards
At what speed does a radio wave travel per second?
300,000,000 m/sec
Refraction, what is it, and what causes it, and what environment is it most common -
The bending of an RF signal as it passes through a medium with a different density, thus causing the direction of the wave to change. Most common outdoors.
What actually happens to a wave that us suffering from attenuation?
Amplitude is lost, which defines the power an RF wave has.
What are skywave reflections -
This phenomenon occurs with very long RF signal wavelengths; usually below 1 GHz. This occurs when the signal bounces off of charged particles of the ionosphere in the earths atmosphere.
What are the 2 types of reflections?
Sky wave reflection and microwave reflection
What does a radio wave start as, as it begins its journey down a coaxial cable?
Alternating Current (AC)
What GHz range does microwave use?
1-300 GHz
What is an RF shadow?
Sitting directly behind the cause of diffraction. Directly behind a large column or pole. This could be an RF dead zone.
What is Aperture -
The effective area for receiving power from a transmitter.
What is data corruption in turns of multipath?
Because of the difference in time between the primary signal and the reflected signals known as the delay spread, along with the fact that there may be multiple reflected signals, the receiver can have problems demodulating the RF signal information.
What is delay spread?
The time differential between signals that are broken apart from the main principle wave on getting to the receivers appassure.
What is downfade?
This is decreased signal strength. When the multiple RF signals paths arrive at the receiver at the same time and are out of phase with the primary wave, the result is a decrease in signal strength.
What is free space path loss?
The loss of signal strength caused by the natural broadening of RF waves.
What is nulling?
This is signal cancellation. When the multiple RF signal paths arrive at the receiver at the same time and are 180 degrees out of phase with the primary avem resulting in a nulling, or cancellation.
What is oscillation?
The fluctuation of voltage in an AC current.