TV VHF and UHF Propagation

TV signals in the VHF and UHF bands propagate in basically the same manner as FM signals,
but UHF signals are even more directional and dependent on line-of-sight transmission.

Multipath

Multipath interference, discussed earlier with regard to FM signals, can also cause distortion in
the received audio signal from an NTSC TV station. Multipath will also cause the ghosting effect
that many people will have seen at some time with their received analog TV video. Ghosting
occurs when one or more video signals from the same NTSC transmitter arrive at the receiver at
slightly different times. This causes additional images (ghosts) to be painted on the screen, which
are displaced sideways because they are slightly delayed.

Antenna Height

An FM or TV signal is able to see further, and therefore propagate over longer distances, if its
antenna is raised up higher. Therefore, if an antenna is raised to a new location from its
originally authorized height, the ITU rules require the broadcaster to lower the stations
authorized transmitter power. Conversely, if the antenna is moved to a lower location, then the
transmitter power may be increased. Such an antenna rearrangement may occur, for example,
when a new DTV antenna is added to a tower, and the rules help ensure that moving the antenna
does not cause new interference to other authorized stations.

ATSC DTV Considerations

ATSC (digital) pictures never display ghosts because of the way the picture is carried as digital
data. The DTV receiver is able to cancel out the unwanted echoes using circuitry called an
equalizer, and the DTV signal contains special forward error correction codes that allow the
receiver to correct for errors in the received signal. However, under extreme conditions with low
signal strength and/or large echoes, the DTV receiver will no longer be able to correctly decode
the picture (and/or the sound), and reception will fail. Because DTV signals are more robust than
NTSC, they are usually transmitted at a much lower power level than an equivalent NTSC
transmission on the same channel. Although, for various reasons, replication may not occur
exactly, the aim is usually for the DTV service to replicate the service area of the existing NTSC
transmitter, and thus provide all viewers with the benefits of digital television.

Undesirable Effects on Signal Transmission:

Attenuation

Attenuation is undesirable because it reduces signal strength at the receiver. More serious,
however, is distortion interference, and noise, which appear as alternations of the signal shape.
Although such contaminations may occur at any point, the standard convention is to blame them
entirely on the channel. The transmitter and receiver are always treated as ideal.

Distortion

Distortion is waveform perturbation caused by imperfect response of the systems to the desired
signal itself. Unlike noise and interference, distortion disappears when the signal is turned off. If
the channel has a linear but distorting response, then distortion may be corrected, or at least
reduces, with the help of special filters called equalizers.

Interference

Interference is contamination by extraneous signals from human sources, other transmitters,

power lines and machinery, switching circuits, etc. Interference occurs most often in radio
systems whose receiving antennas usually intercept several signals at the same time. Radio-
frequency interference (RFI) also appears in cable systems if the transmission wires or receiver
circuitry picks up signals radiated from nearby sources. Appropriate filtering removes
interference to the extent that the interfacing signals occupy different frequency bands than the
desired signal.

Noise

Noise refers to random and unpredictable electrical signals produced by natural processes both
internal and external to the system. When such random variations are superimposed on an
information-bearing signal, the message may by partially corrupted or totally obliterated.
Filtering reduces noise contamination, but there inevitably remains some amount of noise that
cannot be eliminated.

Amplitude Modulation

When the amplitude of high frequency carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity
of the signal, it is called amplitude modulation. In amplitude modulation, only the amplitude of
the carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal. However, the
frequency of the modulated wave remains the same as the carrier frequency. The Below figure
shows the principle of amplitude modulation

(a) Shows the audio electrical signal,

(b) Shows the carrier wave of constant amplitude and (c) shows the amplitude-modulated wave.
Note that the amplitude of both positive and negative half cycles of carrier wave are changed in
accordance with the signal. For instance, when the signal is increasing in the positive sense, the
amplitude of carrier wave also increases. During negative half cycle of the signal, the amplitude
of carrier decreases. Amplitude modulation is done by an electronic circuit called modulator.

The following points are worth noting in amplitude modulation:

(i) The amplitude of the carrier wave changes according to the intensity of the signal.

(ii) The amplitude variation of the carrier wave is at the signal frequency fs.

(iii) The frequency of the amplitude modulated wave remains the same, i.e., carrier frequency, fc.
In amplitude modulation, the amplitude of the wave is varied duplicating faithfully the
fluctuations of the message. At the receiver these variations are detected or demodulated i.e., the
message is removed from the carrier. (Although the more precise terms are demodulation for the
process and demodulator for the device, the terms detection and detector are widely used.) After
reception and demodulation at the receiver, the carrier is of no further use and is discarded.

Modulation Factor

The ratio of change of amplitude of carrier wave to the amplitude of normal carrier wave is
called the modulation factor m.

The value of modulation factor depends upon the amplitudes of carrier and signal. The
modulation factor describes the depth of modulation i.e., the extent to which the amplitude of the
carrier wave is changed by the signal.

Importance of Modulation Factor

Modulation factor determines the strength and quality of the transmitted signal. In an AM wave,
the signal is contained in the variation of the carrier amplitude. When the carrier is modulated to
a small degree (i.e., small m) the amount of the carrier amplitude variation is small.
Consequently, the audio signal being transmitted will not be very strong. The greater the degree
of modulation (i.e., m) the stronger and clearer will be the audio signal. If the carrier is over-
modulated (i.e., m > 1), distortion will occur during reception.

Disadvantages of Amplitude Modulation

Low Efficiency

In amplitude modulation, the sidebands contain the signal. The power in the sidebands is the
only useful power. The power carrier by the side bands is only 33.3% even when there is 100%
modulation. If modulation is 50%, then power carried by the sidebands is 11.1%. Clearly, the
useful power is small. So, the amplitude modulation has low efficiency.

Noisy Reception

Different types of atmospheric and other electrical disturbance are reproduced in amplitude
modulation receivers. This makes the reception noisy.

Small Operating Range

Due to small useful power the messages cannot be transmitted over large distance. So, the
transmitter based on amplitude modulation has small range.
Reproduction is not of High Fidelity

For high fidelity reception, the audio frequencies from 20Hz to 20000Hz must be reproduced.
This requires a bandwidth + 20000Hz i.e., 40000Hz. (Note that both the sidebands must be
reproduced). The bandwidth actually assigned for AM transmission is 20000Hz. This is done to
keep the interference from adjacent broadcasting stations to a minimum. Thus, the highest
modulating frequency is 10000Hz. This is not sufficient to reproduce music properly. Thus, the
reproduction is not of high fidelity.

Applications

Amplitude modulation is utilized in many services such as television, standard broadcasting, aids
to navigation, telemetering, radar, facsimile etc. Although the message content may vary widely
for these, the mechanism of combining the message and the message carrier at the sending
terminal is basically the same.

Frequency Modulation

The amplitude of the carrier remains unchanged at all times. In other words, the amplitude of the
modulated wave remains the same as the amplitude of the carrier wave. The frequency of the
carrier is made to fluctuate symmetrically above and below its unmodulated frequency. As an
example, a carrier frequency, of 1000kHz may be caused to swing between 925kHz and
1075kHz or any other amount chosen in accordance with the signal voltage.
In frequency modulation, the deviation of the carrier frequency from its average value is
proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signals. When the signal voltage is
zero, the carrier frequency is unchanged. When the signal approaches its positive peaks, the
carrier frequency is increased to maximum as indicated by the closely spaced cycles. However,
during the negative peaks of signals, the carrier frequency is reduced to minimum.

Need for Frequency Modulation

(i) Various electrical machines and noises cause amplitude disturbance in the transmission of
amplitude-modulated wave. This makes the reception noisy. So, there is a need for different type
of modulation, which can reduce the noise factor. Frequency modulation (FM) was proposed as a
means of improving the signals-to-noise ratio of a radio system. The first practical system was
put forward in 1936 as an alternative to AM in an effort to make radio transmissions more
resistance to noise.

(ii) Fidelity or audio quality of amplitude-modulated transmission is poor. This types of

transmission is also not good for musical programmes. There is a need to eliminate amplitude-
sensitive noise. This is possible if we eliminate amplitude variations. In other words, there is a
need to keep the amplitude of the carrier constant. This is precisely what we do in frequency
modulation.