REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON

Paix - Travail - Patrie Peace - Work - Fatherland

MINISTERE DE L‟ENSEIGNMENT MINISTRY OF HIGHER

SUPERRIEUR EDUCATION

UNIVERSITE DE BUEA UNIVERSITY OF BUEA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING
INTERNSHIP REPORT ON

TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF RADIO WAVES

1.1
1.2 IN CRTV BUEA

Offered by

By : NESTOR ABIANGANG ABIAWUH

FE15A151
nestorabiawuh@gmail.com

Performed at: CAMEROON RADIO TELEVISION

P.O. Box …….. Buea - Bokwango
In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Engineering(B.Eng.) in
Computer Engineering(Option: Telecommunication Systems Engineering)
Report of Internship from the 4th November 2018 to the 26th Ferbuary 2019

Company Supervisor: Mr. Esappe Joseph

Academic Supervisor : Mr. Serge Nouadjep
Date submitted:……………………. March, 2019
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................................i

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................... iii
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................... v
LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................vi
List of abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND OF THE HOSTING COMPANY .......................................... 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1
1.2 VISION .............................................................................................................................. 1
1.3 MISSION ........................................................................................................................... 2
1.4 CORE VALUES ................................................................................................................ 2
1.5 QUALITY ASSURANCE ................................................................................................. 3
1.6 COMPANY STRUCTURE ............................................................................................... 3
1.7 CRTV BUEA ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT .............................................. 5
1.8 FIELD OF SPECIFICATION ........................................................................................... 5
1.9 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE ................................................................................. 6
1.10 REFERENCE PROJECTS AND SERVICES FURNISHED BY THE COMPANY ... 6
CHAPTER TWO: OVERALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE ....................................................... 7
2.1 JOINING OF THE COMPANY ............................................................................................ 7
2.2 SECTIONS OF CRTV BUEA I WORKED WITH ............................................................... 7
2.3 WORK PIECE OR TASK I HAVE BEEN EXECUTING .................................................... 8
2.3.1 Activities carried out with the various divisions ............................................................. 8
2.3.2 Main Task I carried out( TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF RADIO WAVES)
.................................................................................................................................................. 9
2.4 Procedure I have been used when I perform work tasks ...................................................... 14
2.4.1 Equipment and devices used ......................................................................................... 14
2.4.2 Controlling signals from the studio and relaying signals using the console ................. 27
2.4.3 Reception of these waves .............................................................................................. 28
2.5 My performance during accomplishing tasks ...................................................................... 31
2.6 Challenges I have faced........................................................................................................ 32
2.7 Measures I took for challenges............................................................................................. 32
i
CHAPTER 3: OVERALL BENEFITS OF THE INTERNSHIP ................................................... 33
3.1 IMPROVING PRATICAL SKILLS .................................................................................... 33
3.2 UPGRADING THE THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE ...................................................... 33
3.3 IMPROVING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS ................................... 33
3.4 IMPROVING TEAM PLAYING SKILLS .......................................................................... 34
3.5 IMPROVING LEADERSHIP SKILLS ............................................................................... 34
3.6 WORK ETHICS AND RELATED ISSUES ....................................................................... 34
3.7 ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS ........................................................................................ 34
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 35
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 36

ii
 DECLARATION
I, Nestor Abiangang Abiawuh hereby declares that this project work entitled “TRANSMISSION
AND RECEPTION OF RADIO WAVES” submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and
Technology is a record of the original work done by me under the supervision and guidance of
Mr. Esappe Joseph,director of the technical department in CRTV Buea and my academic
supervisor Mr. Serge Nouadjep. This project work is submitted as partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of a Bachelors Degree in Computer Engineering (Telecommunication
Systems Engineering). The results and discussions embodied in this report have not been
submitted to any university or institution for the award of any diploma or degree.

04-Mar-19

X N. A. A
Nestor Abiangang abiawuh

Signed by: Nestor A. A.

Company Supervisor: X
Esappe Joseph
Mr.

Academic Supervisor: X
Serge Nouadjep
Mr.

iii
 DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Buea
for providing this internship program in our curriculum in order to strengthen our theoretical and
practical knowledge in the field.

iv
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all I thank the dean of the faculty of engineering and technology, Prof. Tanyi in particular
and the faculty of engineering and technology in general who took confidence in me and gave me
the wonderful opportunity to come and study computer engineering in the University of Buea. I
had a great and valuable experience being part of this prestigious institution academically and in
other domains. I also appreciate Mr. Serge Nouadjep, my academic supervisor for his constant
guidance and support and encouragement throughout this period.

Having the opportunity to go out (given by the school) and do industrial training was a great
chance for learning in my professional development. The internship opportunity I had in CRTV
Buea opened my way into acquiring professional skills. I therefore consider myself lucky to be
part of this company during this time.

A very big thanks to Mr. Esappe Joseph, who not only serving as a technical supervisor in my
main project, was also as a mentor to me during my stay. Not forgetting the chief of technicians
Mr. Tejeu Moise and technicians Esofi Joseph, Timah Charles and Engomba Mark who made life
as easy as they made sure I acquired the technical knowledge through the answers to my
questions I always post. Also, thanks to Mr. Kangue Wiliam Wassaloko, the station manager for
accepting me into the facility for this internship to be carried out. To everyone I came accross in
CRTV Buea, in any department, who apart from their busy schedule assisted and facilitated my
learning in any way, I say a very big thank you. I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in
the best possible way.

To all my very Good friends either academic or otherwise, I say thanks, for you all are always a
part of my success. Also my deepest sense of gratitude goes to my colleagues, Ajong Akomo,
Ebune Ewane Ewang, Mofa Julius and Njiki Mckbryne interns for their assistance and
interactions in our various day to day activities which were extremely valuable to me.

In a most special way, my gratitude goes to my parents, Mr and Mr Abiawuh, brothers, sisters
and every other member of my family for their constant guidance, love and support. You all
made a very big contribution as you always do throughout my internship period.

Finally, giving thanks to the ultimate giver of life and success, the Almighty God for his spiritual
grace throughout this internship period.

v
 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1:Management and Organization of CRTV Buea .......................................... 5
Figure .0:An image of the transmission and reception of radio waves
process……………………………………………………………..…………...........9
Figure 2.1a:technical console division setup ........................................................... 10
Figure 2.1b:technical console ................................................................................... 10
Figure 2.2:typical radio transmitter block diagram[1] ............................................ 11
Figure 2.3:modulation of a sound signal with a carrie…………………………………13
Figure 2.4a:condenser microphone architecture ...................................................... 14
Figure 2.4b:Condenser microphone ......................................................................... 14
Figure 2.5:mixing consoles with control switches ................................................... 15
Figure 2.6a:94.5MHz transmitter components......................................................... 16
Figure 2.6b:94.5MHz transmitter ............................................................................. 16
Figure 2.7a:setting up and monitoring transmitter parameters ................................ 17
Figure 2.7b:107.3MHz transmitter ........................................................................... 17
Figure 2.8a:Dipole antenna radiation pattern in reference to an isotropic ............... 17
Figure 2.8b:Figure 2.8a:Dipole antenna mounted on tower .................................... 17
Figure 2.9:Yagi Uda antenna radiation pattern ........................................................ 18
Figure 2.10:Antennas mounted on tower ................................................................. 19
Figure 2.11:Table of VSWR with corresponding reflection coeficients and % power
reflected .................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 2.12:various propagation paths used by radio waves[3] .............................. 24
Figure 2.13:controlling signals using the console .................................................... 27
Figure 2.14: Block diagram of a typical FM receiver circuit[8]..............................28
Figure 2.15: generation of IF from two different frequencies…………………….29

Figure 2.16: Result of the mixing of two frequencies…………………………….30

Figure 2.17: RF mixing symbol…………………………………………………...30

vi
 List of abbreviations

CRTV Cameroon Radio Television

TV Television

FM Frequency Modulation

AM Amplitude Modulation

MHz Megahertz

VHF Very High Frequency

UHF Ultra High Frequency

EUTELSAT European Telecommunication Satellite

Tx Transmission

Rx Reception

SWR Standing Wave Ratio

VSWR Voltage standing Wave Ratio

LoS Line of Sight

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

RF Radio Frequency

IF Intermediate Frequency

AM Amplitude Modulation

CMCA CRTV Market Communication Agency

vii
 ABSTRACT
The creating and presentation of awareness of the latest happenings through the use of
audiovisual products or broadcasts having didactic, cultural, international or playful character to
the Cameroonian public has been greatly influenced by the Cameroon Radio Television. The
content of this project shows how CRTV radio section is able to convert the information to be
presented to the public into an audiovisual form which can then be broadcasted to the public
through the use of various equipment

As part of my assigned task, Transmission and Reception of radio waves entails the smooth
generation of audio frequency signals from the information, modulation of these signals to
produce radio waves which can then be radiated through the antennas over the air interface for
reception by receivers under coverage of the signals.

The objective of this task is very crucial as it determines not only the quality of the signals
received by the receivers but also determines the range over which these signals will go through
the use of devices having some technical characteristics that are taken into account during their
purchase. Such technical characteristics play a vital role in the device during operation to carry
out this task. The method used in carrying out this task is based on the careful monitoring and
use of these devices as the operate. These devices include a condenser microphone used as a
transducer to convert the acoustic voice signal to audio signals, the mixing console to do some
refinement to the signals, coaxial transmission line to transmit this signals to the other
components used in the process, transmitter which is the core equipment in the generation of
these waves and the antennas to propagate and receive these waves over the air interface. More
emphasis was placed on the transmitter division where much of the technical data was obtained
through the reading of the dash boards on the transmitters and also carefully read from the
technic data printed on the devices by the manufacturers for used on my case study problem in
the design and implantation of antenna turners.

This project was carried out based on help from my industrial supervisor and the other
technicians on duty who gave me some understanding of some of the processes involved in each
divisions involved in the department in case a problem arise. Emphasis was also laid on the
technical console division and as well as the transmitter division where the entire process of
generation of the audio frequency signals and the modulation/amplification of these signals
occurs. From using technical data from the dashboards on transmitters and cable characteristics, I
viii
found out that the transmitters were not operating normally as they should and so the initial range
of coverage as intended by the station is not met. As a solution I would recommend a change of
the transmitters with ones having a greater power rating and or replacing some of the components
in the transmitters and cables with lesser impedances with authentic ones in order to meet the
station‟s range of coverage objective.

This internship gave me the opportunity to work , learn and acquire a clear knowledge on the
transmission and reception of radio waves as well as some concepts in radio communication as a
whole. I think based on the problems identified and recommended solutions, the company is able
to solve this issue of range of coverage of their signals.

ix
 General Introduction

The transmission and reception of radio waves by radio broadcasting stations forms the backbone
of the entire radio broadcasting process. This transmission and reception of these
waves(information) by these stations must be done in such a way that the users(listeners) of their
programs may be satisfied under the area being broadcasted. So a lot of emphasis has to be taken
into account based on the technical specification of their equipment used to carry out the
transmission of these programs(waves). This document presents my entire internship and work
done in CRTV Buea.

Chapter 1 brings about a brief description of CRTV, the company structure, its missions and
visions as well as its organization and management.

Chapter 2 talks about my internship experience at CRTV Buea, the technical section I was
assigned with, the tasks given to me in the company, procedures implemented to accomplish
these tasks and the challenges faced in CRTV Buea not forgetting the measures I put in place to
overcome these challenges.

Chapter 3 explains my overall benefits in CRTV Buea, how the internship improved my practical

Skills on radio communication as well as telecommunication engineering, improving my team

working skills as well as improving leadership skills, entrepreneurial skills and work and ethics
related issues.

The document ends with a conclusion and some recommendations to CRTV Buea and to the
Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Buea(FET-UB).

x
 CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND OF THE HOSTING COMPANY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) is a public establishment of industrial and commercial
nature created in December 17, 1987 by law n°87/020 and the organization and working are fixed
by decree n° 88/126 of January 25 1988. Endowed with a legal personality and a financial
autonomy, the CRTV assures the Cameroonian public of the audiovisual service.The southwest
regional station was created in the year 1968 as a regional station for the then National Radio
Station.

1.2 VISION
Created by law n° 087/020 of December 17, 1987 and organized by decree n° 88/126 of January
25, 1988, the office of Broadcasting Cameroonian Television, named Cameroon Radio
Television in CRTV abstract, is a public establishment with industrial and commercial nature,
endowed with legal personality and financial autonomy.

Its goal is to put the audiovisual service to the service of the national boarders.

The vision of CRTV is summarized in this quote pronounced at the time of the 28th board of
directors of CRTV by Tinder VAMOULKE, General manager of the CRTV at that time. This
vision is distributed and suitable by the different branches through the nation.

The vision of CRTV articulates around fundamental principles that are;

 The radios and public televisions are an instrument of development and national
integration.
 The important role of the radios and public televisions in the construction of the Right
state and the funding of a real pluralistic democracy.
 The legitimate demand, constantly increasing, of the populations in favor of a public
service of the audiovisual really reflecting their values and their major preoccupations,
notably concerning information, education and entertainment.
 The promotion and the development of the public service for an elevation of the
conscience of the citizens.
 A public service of quality having its viewers at the center of its works and actions.
 The migration toward the digital technology and the development of the digital terrestrial
TV.
1
1.3 MISSION
The CRTV is also charged of numerous missions of which the main are:

 To conceive, to achieve alone or in the setting of the co-productions, and to distribute

broadcasts of information, the audiovisual products or broadcasts having didactic, cultural
or playful character;
 To acquire by purchases, exchanges, grants and bequests, of the audiovisual products or
the compliant broadcasts has its politics of program;
 To assure the conservation of the national audiovisual heritage;
 To lead research of audiovisual creation and to assure the professional formation to the
professions of audiovisuals;
 To exploit and to maintain the networks and facilities destined for the diffusion of
audiovisual broadcasts;
 To assure the protection of the broadcast and the reception of signals of the television by
the public;
 To put in renting of the antenna slices for the advertisement of marks;
 To assure the national and international coverage of the audiovisual signal;
 To orient its programs toward the education, the identity and the national cohesion;
 The apparition of the new means of dynamic communication in order to educate, to
inform, to reconcile and to entertain.

1.4 CORE VALUES

During my stay in CRTV Buea I saw some wonderful behaviors and values in decision making,
interaction with each other, planning strategies etc. displayed by both the local staffs and the
inspection teams from Yaoundé. Some of the values I observed were;

 Patriotism
 Optimism
 Commitment
 Loyalty
 Open-mindedness
 Respect
 Service to others

2
  Creativity

1.5 QUALITY ASSURANCE

Before the creation of CRTV, the nation saw a need to reach to the people, entertain and educate
them and bring them together. It is well known that people retain much when they hear and see so
the CRTV was created to serve these purposes and many others. Today CRTV has almost
become indispensable in the nation. Due to its quality core values, it has realized many of its
vision, missions and goals. So it is not ready to loss the trust it has earned over the years from the
public, so it has put in place measures to maintain it quality of service. Some of these measures
are:

 Recruitment of qualified and patriotic Cameroonians. Most recruits have done either
voluntary service or internship training at the CRTV Centers or one of its regions. This is
helps to ensure that they have confident in who they are taking in.
 Creation of an institution for training of audiovisual professionals. One cannot have a
better confidence in someone to do a job than the one he has trained and nurture.
 Creation of regional stations and broadcasting centers so that all the population may be
served and those for commercial purposes may have a wider audience.

1.6 COMPANY STRUCTURE

I did my internship at the southwest regional station of the CRTV, so I‟ll give here the regional
structure and not the national structure. I was not opportune to go to the main center in Yaoundé
to fully understand the national structure but I‟ll mention a few items about the national level that
I picked out.

The main production house of the CRTV national station is situated at Mballa II, Yaoundé. It has
regional stations at all the regional heads of the ten regions of the nation. I will focus on the
Southwest regional station.

The main production house of the station is located in a small village of the town of Buea called
Bokwango at the foot Mount Cameroon. Both the TV and Radio programs are produced in Buea
at the post production for radio and TV unit for TV programs.

It houses two centers in Buea. The main regional station for broadcasting national and regional
programs and informative talks at 94.5MHz and 107.3MHz for Buea and its environs. It also
houses another center called Mount Cameroon FM that is meant for entertainments, shows,
3
commercial purposes, music etc. It broadcast at a frequency of 98.6MHz for Buea and its
environs. Though the main production house of the station is located in Buea, there are relaying
centers in other towns in the region that broadcast the productions that are done in the main
center at Buea. So the station is indirectly represented in the different region even though
broadcasting at different frequencies. This is because of the short range of coverage of the FM
broadcasting technology.

Programs are produce both for TV and Radio locally by journalist of the regional station and the
FM. All the radio programs are broadcasted at the regional level excepts ones for national
correspondence. The TV programs are forwarded to Yaoundé (national station) through the
internet for TV broadcasting Via the satellite.

It has six broadcasting centers for other towns or locations in the region that the broadcasting at
the level of Buea does not cover. The radio programs produced at the level of Buea must reach all
the corners of the region but the transmitting power of the transmitter in Buea does not permit
that and also the hilly nature of the region. The following table shows the broadcasting or
rebroadcasting centers in other towns of the region.

Table : Broadcasting Frequencies of the various broadcasting centers

TOWN REGIONAL MOUNT NATIONAL TV

STATION CAMEROON STATION REBROADCASTING

CENTERS (MHz)

KUMBA 101.7MHz 104.9MHz 94.2MHz

MAMFE 96.5MHz VHF CHANNEL 8

NGUTI 102MHz

BIMBIA 101.6MHz 102.5MHz VHF CHANNEL

MUNDEMBA 93.7MHz UHF CHANNEL 22

482MHz

4
1.7 CRTV BUEA ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
CRTV Buea is headed by a station manager that oversees all production and the proper
functioning of the station. All the personnel report to him and he reports to the national station in
Yaoundé. All major decisions are made in Yaoundé by the central office and are just
implemented in the region. A team of personnel in the various department periodically pass for
checkup and inspection and report back to the central office in Yaoundé. Personnel are employed
and dismiss or sanction from Yaoundé. Equipment, working budget and other necessities are
supplied from Yaoundé usually on demand or rehabilitation.

The broadcasting centers are being controlled by technicians called chiefs of centers that report to
the regional technical director that oversees the proper functioning of all the equipment and
makes sure that whatever is produced, go on air.

Figure :Management and Organization of CRTV Buea

1.8 FIELD OF SPECIFICATION

Endowed with a legal personality and a financial autonomy, the CRTV assures the public service
of the audiovisual Cameroonian. It main field specifications are;

 Journalism and Mass communication using the audiovisual services.

 Entertainments

5
  Advertisement and marketing. It has the CRTV Marketing and Communication Agency
(CMCA).
 Training of audiovisual professionals

1.9 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

CRTV Buea is a regional station and receives all instructions from the center in Yaoundé. No
major decision can be taken at the level of the regions. Everything done in Yaoundé directly
affects all the regional stations. The CRTV been involved with a number of international
organizations for many different purposes, for exhibitions and program coverage, selling of
images from international events like football and other important gathering to other media
houses. It also pays for it satellite usage to it international partners like the company that owns
EUTELSAT. Some of these international experiences are;

 The signing of three partnership agreements with the international foundation Inter-
progress on the 26th of October 2017 in Yaoundé. The partnership conventions will enable
CRTV through its coverage give more visibility to the activities of the international
foundation.
 The sending of personnel to international events that involves Cameroon to act as
correspondents. This was the case during the under 20 international football competition
that held in Morocco

1.10 REFERENCE PROJECTS AND SERVICES FURNISHED BY THE COMPANY

Many projects of reference have and are being furnished by the CRTV in general. Some of the
projects are;

 Digitization of the broadcasting technology of the nation of Cameroon

 Development of the Digital Terrestrial TV

6
 CHAPTER TWO: OVERALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

2.1 JOINING OF THE COMPANY

Getting an internship placement was with ease and great joy as the application for me to the
internship in CRTV Buea was initiated and sent by our department, signed by the HOD and the
dean. This application was later approved by the station manager of CRTV Buea and the
technical director which gave me the chance to commence this internship which was like a dream
comes true for me because as telecoms engineering student, I have always been passionate to
know more about the generation, transmission and reception of radio waves as well as radio
communication as a whole. Working mostly with the transmission division at CRTV Buea
permitted me to see the practical implementation of modulation techniques(FM), antenna and
wave propagation phenomena and some concepts in transmission systems. This gave me the
opportunity to broaden my scope technically and have a mastery in the generation, modulation,
transmission and reception of radio waves of a radio communication organization as I pursue my
professionalization in this field. I had a great experience joining CRTV Buea for my industrial
training.

2.2 SECTIONS OF CRTV BUEA I WORKED WITH

The technical department of CRTV Buea is divided into 3 sub small divisions which include;
technical console division, transmitter division and the power division. Being a department
that is small in terms of it operations, the interns are given the opportunity to work in all the
various divisions when a situation arise that need technical hands on during my entire internship
period. The various divisions above can be further elaborated as follows;

 Technical console division: This division is responsible for the controlling(piloting) of

the programs on air and ensures that everything going on air
 Transmitter division: This division is responsible for the transmitters, antennas, cables
and feeders involve in all the structures. This division also monitors the operational state
of the transmitter and other devices found in the transmitter room during working
periods.
 Power division: This division is responsible for controlling the power system of the entire
station as well as the powering of the various devices during operation. It also provides
the backup power to the entire station in case of any power blackout.

7
2.3 WORK PIECE OR TASK I HAVE BEEN EXECUTING
Though I had my main internship project: Transmission and Reception of radio waves, I also
had the opportunity to work to do greater amount of work with the various divisions in the
department.

2.3.1 Activities carried out with the various divisions

Technical Console Division

 Introduction to the various console components/equipment.

 Main functions of the various console module equipment and their uses.
 Connecting all the modules that make up the console and testing for proper connection
 Troubleshooting for faults in the various modules and assigning maintenance to this fault.
 Installation of the telephone system as part of the console.
 Installation of the digital patch(computer system) of the console.
 Installation of the various software on the PC for use during broadcasting.
 Controlling and monitoring of programs on air during live broadcast and during relay to
another station using the RAMI console.

Transmitter Division
 Introduction to the various parts of the transmitter system on the rack.
 Connecting the various parts together.
 Introducing the properties to the various wave guides to be connected to the transmitter.
 How to manually setup the frequency modulation of the transmitter.
 Setting up the amplifier module of the transmitter for power used.
 Introduction to the various antennas and feeders used.
 Introduction to the antenna tower structure and basic installation procedures of this
antennas and their polarization.
 How to read the power rating of the transmitter during operation and tell if it is
functioning normally.

Power Division

 Here we were introduce to the generator room and how to power, refuel and monitor
the functioning of the generator in case of any blackout.

8
  Switching back to normal eneo power supply in case of the regain of blackout.
 Powering all the various components in case all the equipment are down(an example
in the morning during opening of the station and shutting down of the station at late
night).

2.3.2 Main Task I carried out( TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF RADIO WAVES)
For the Transmission(Tx) and Reception(Rx) of radio waves, a transmitter and a receiver is
employed. A radio wave acts as a carrier of information-bearing signals; the information may be
encoded directly on the wave by periodically interrupting its transmission (as in dot-and-dash
telegraphy) or impressed on it by a process called modulation which is then transmitted over the
air interface through a channel over a wide location to be picked up(Reception) by receivers at
various locations. This task can be broken down into generation , transmission and reception of
these waves as seen on the diagram below.

Figure .0:An image of the transmission and reception of radio waves process

2.3.2.1.Generation of these radio waves:

The generation of these waves begins in the studio where sound waves are produced by the
source(presenter), the studio microphone turns the sound waves into an electrical signal. the
sound waves cause an electric current that runs through the microphone to vary, these
variations form audio frequency waves which are then preamplified through the console.
Apart from preamplifying the signals to a certain level before modulation at the transmitter,
the console also carries out mixing of the signals, filtering to provide good quality of the
signals, equalization of these signals(that is by separately attenuating or boosting a range
of frequencies for proper sound quality), cueing of the signals(the cueing system allows the
operator to listen to one or more selected signals without affecting the console's audio outputs
9
such as listening from another station‟s channel for relay) and metering of the signals(this
enables the technician/sound engineer to monitor the signals for the master outputs and to
indicate whether the console levels are clipping the signal thereby enabling him to typically
adjusts the gain of the input signals to get the strongest signal that can be obtained without
causing "clipping" (unwanted distortion) or causing audio feedback "howls". Having the gain
set as high as possible improves the signal to noise ratio).These waves can also originate from
other stations which are then relayed to their channel with the help of the console before then
broadcasted over the station‟s antennas for reception in the south west region.

Control/console room

Studio room

Figure 2.1a:technical console division setup

Studio room

Figure2.1b:technical console

10
2.3.2.2.Transmission of the waves(message) :
After the signals leave the console after all the necessary modifications, it is then transmitted
through KEPU microphone cables characterized by a low noise ratio to reduce attenuation on the
signals as they travel to the transmitter room where modulation is done on the signals.

CRTV Buea consist of two transmitters each operating at its own channel (that is at 94.5MHz and
107.3MHz) with one serving as the main broadcast transmitter(94.5MHz) and the
other(107.3MHz) serving as a backup to the 94.5MHz transmitter.

A transmitter consist of three main sections; exciter, Frequency synthesizer(multiplier) and power
output section. Below shows a typical block diagram of an FM transmitter system[1].

Figure 2.2:typical radio transmitter block diagram[1]

 Exciter: This section of the transmitter contains the carrier oscillator, reactance
modulator and the buffer amplifier which has functions:
 The function of the carrier oscillator is to generate a stable sine wave signal at the
rest frequency, when no modulation is applied. It must be able to linearly change
frequency when fully modulated, with no measurable change in amplitude.
 The buffer amplifier acts as a constant high impedance load on the oscillator to
help stabilize the oscillator frequency. The buffer amplifier may have a small gain.
 The modulator acts to change the carrier oscillator frequency by application of the
message signal. The positive peak of the message signal generally lowers the
oscillator's frequency to a point below the rest frequency, and the negative

11
message peak raises the oscillator frequency to a value above the rest frequency.
The greater the peak-to-peak message signal, the larger the oscillator deviation.
Both transmitters used by CRTV Buea uses Frequency Modulation technique to
transmit the AF signal . A brief description of the basic parameters of frequency
modulation can be seen as follows.
Process of Frequency Modulation : Unlike amplitude modulation, in frequency
modulation the frequency of the carrier wave is varied in accordance with the
input AF signal. The frequency modulation is as shown in the figures below. The
process of frequency modulation could be summarized as
1. The amount of change in frequency is determined by the amplitude of
modulating AF signal.
2. The rate at which the deviation or change in frequency occurs depends on the
frequency of the modulating AF signal. Thus the information is carried as
variation in the frequency of the carrier. With reference to the figure 1 it can be
observed that frequency of the modulated carrier increases as signal amplitude
increases and the frequency of the modulated carrier decreases as the AF signal
amplitude decreases. The frequency of the modulated carrier is highest when the
amplitude of the modulating AF signal is positive maximum and the frequency of
the modulated carrier is lowest when the amplitude of the AF signal is negative
maximum. Thus the maximum and minimum frequency variation occurs in
accordance with the modulating AF signal and hence the rate of this change is
determined by the frequency of the modulating AF signal.
Frequency Deviation, Carrier Swing & Modulation Index : The frequency of
the unmodulated carrier used in frequency modulation is called Resting frequency
or Center frequency and is denoted by . When the AF signal is combined with
the RF carrier wave, the frequency of the carrier changes between maximum and
minimum from its resting frequency. The shift in the frequency in the higher or
lower side is called frequency deviation and is denoted by ∆f. The carrier swing is
defined in-terms of frequency deviation as below
Carrier Swing = 2 × ∆f
The modulation index in case of frequency modulation is defined as the ratio of
frequency deviation to modulating frequency.
12
 Figure 2.3:modulation of a sound signal with a carrier

The reactance modulator takes its name from the fact that the impedance of the
circuit acts as a reactance (capacitive or inductive) that is connected in parallel
with the resonant circuit of the Oscillator. The varicap can only appear as a
capacitance that becomes part of the frequency determining branch of the
oscillator circuit. However, other discrete devices can appear as a capacitor or as
an inductor to the oscillator, depending on how the circuit is arranged. A colpitts
oscillator uses a capacitive voltage divider as the phase-reversing feedback path
and would most likely tapped coil as the phase-reversing element in the feedback
loop and most commonly uses a modulator that appears inductive

 Frequency synthesizer(Multiplier): This section contains several frequency multiplier

circuits which has main function;
 Frequency multipliers are tuned-input, tuned-output RF amplifiers in which the
output resonant circuit is tuned to a multiple of the input frequency. Common
frequency multipliers are 2x, 3x and 4x multiplication. A 5x Frequency multiplier
is sometimes seen, but its extreme low efficiency forbids widespread usage. Note
that multiplication is by whole numbers only. There can not a 1.5x multiplier, for
instance.
 Power output: The power output section which includes a low-level power amplifier, the
final power and the impedance matching network to properly load the power section with
the antenna impedance. It has main function as follows:
 The final power section develops the carrier power, to be transmitted and often has
a low-power amplifier driving the final power amplifier. The impedance matching
13
 network is the same as for the AM transmitter and matches the antenna impedance
to the correct load on the final over amplifier[1].
After the waves have been modulated and amplified to a maximum power(150watts) for
propagation, it is then send through wave guides that originates from the back of the transmitter
to the antennas outside of the transmitter room .
The antennas are mounted on a 120meters mast tower for ease of propagation of the waves over
the air interface. The antenna system consist of three types of antenna which are Yagi Uda
array(5 element array), parabolic reflector and dipole antennas all mounted at different points on
the tower with each having its own polarization and orientation.

2.4 Procedure I have been used when I perform work tasks

2.4.1 Equipment and devices used
 Microphones: The microphones used here are the condenser type. A condenser
microphone operates on the principle of capacitance. It is similar in construction to a
capacitor, consisting of two plates separated by air. One plate is rigid while the other is
moveable. As sound waves strike the movable plate, the distance between the two plates
will vary, varying the capacitance of the microphone. The varying capacitance of the
microphone causes a reproduction of the audio signal similar in frequency and
amplitude. The condenser microphone is very sensitive when compared to other types of
microphones.

Figure 2.4a:Condenser Figure 2.4b::condenser microphone

microphone architecture

 Cables: There are two types of cables used here in the technical console and transmitter
division. The first used for connection of the microphones in the studio to the mixing
console and the connection from the mixing console to the transmitters at the transmitter
room. This has model KEPU microphone cables characterized by a low noise ratio to
minimized the effects of noise and interference on the signals travelling on the cables.

14
 The other type of cables used here are coaxial cables with a characteristic impedance of
75ohms to carry the amplified modulated signals to the antennas mounted on the tower
outside.
 Mixing Console: This device forms the link between the information source and the
transmitters. It offers some specific functions which helps to better the signals originating
from the source before modulation. This functions include pre-amplifying the signals,
mixing of the signals, filtering to provide good quality of the signals, equalization of these
signals(that is by separately attenuating or boosting a range of frequencies for proper
sound quality), cueing of the signals(the cueing system allows the operator to listen to one
or more selected signals without affecting the console's audio outputs such as listening
from another station‟s channel for relay) and metering of the signals(this enables the
technician/sound engineer to monitor the signals for the master outputs and to indicate
whether the console levels are clipping the signal thereby enabling him to typically
adjusts the gain of the input signals to get the strongest signal that can be obtained without
causing "clipping" (unwanted distortion) or causing audio feedback "howls".

Signal level meters

to control saturation

Capacitive switches to
control modulation of
the signals

Switches to control the relay of signals

and signals coming from the computer
system
Figure 2.5:mixing consoles with control switches

 Computer system and software: There is also a computer system which forms the
digital patch of the console division. This computer system plays a vital role during live
programs broadcast and is also used for programming(organizing programs to be
broadcast in chronological order) and recording of programs on air and editing for

15
 rebroadcasting later. This computer system is loaded with the BPM proprietary software
which has so many functions peculiar to the mixing console but has its main function here
for programming during live broadcasting and rebroadcasting of programs.
Another software is the Adobe Audition which is used for recording of live programs
from the studio through the studio microphones and also for editing of this recorded
programs before rebroadcasting at later times.
 Transmitters: CRTV Buea consist of two transmitters; a 94.5MHz transmitter and a
107.3MHz transmitter.
 94.5MHz transmitter: This transmitter serves as the main transmitter of the
station, having maximum output power of 200watts and 50ohms impedance is
made up of two separate components; the exciter component and the power
amplifier component. Signals from the technical console arrives this transmitter
through microphone cable and is fed to the exciter component where modulation
and frequency multiplication is done on the RF signals. These signals are then fed
to the power section which then amplifies the RF signals to a desired
power(150watts) for propagation over the air interface through coaxial cables to
the antennas.

Power amplifier
component
Exciter component

Figure 2.6a:94.5MHz transmitter Figure 2.6b:94.5MHz transmitter

components

 107.3MHz transmitter: This transmitter servers as a backup to the 94.5MHz

transmitter operating under maximum power of 200watts. It has an inbuilt exciter
and an amplifier component all coupled on the same device so the audio signals
arrive at the back of the device while the amplified modulated signals also leave at

16
 the back of the device through copper cables to the antennas for propagation.

Figure 2.7a:107.3MHz transmitter Figure 2.7b:setting up and monitoring

transmitter parameters
 Antenna tower and antennas: CRTV Buea has a 40meters mast(tower) where the
antennas are mounted to better propagate the signals into the atmosphere. There are three
types of antennas mounted on the tower which are a Dipole, Yagi Uda and microwave
antennas.
 Dipole Antenna : This is an omnidirectional antenna which has a radiation
resistance of 73ohms which is close to the characteristic impedance of the
75ohms coaxial transmission line coming from the 94.5MHz transmitter and is
mounted at approximately 39meters above the ground level on the tower. It is
orientated vertically to enable vertical polarization of the waves into the
atmosphere. The radiation pattern of the antenna is as shown below;

Dipole antenna

Figure 2.8a:Figure 2.8a:Dipole antenna Figure 2.8b:Dipole antenna radiation

mounted on tower pattern in reference to an isotropic
17
 Yagi Uda Antenna: This antenna is directional as opposed to the dipole antenna. It is
connected to the backup transmitter(107.3MHz) through a 75ohms coaxial transmission
line. This antenna is made up of 7 elements each consisting of dipoles of varying length.
As seen from the diagram below, the second dipole in the Yagi Uda array is the only
driven element with applied input/output source feed, all the others interact by mutual
coupling since receive and reradiate electromagnetic energy; they act as parasitic elements
by induced current. It is assumed that an antenna is a passive reciprocal device, then may
be use either for transmission or for reception of the electromagnetic energy: this well
applies to Yagi Uda also. Below are the technical characteristics of the 7 element Yagi
Uda array used here in CRTV Buea.
- Antenna description: 7 elements Yagi-Uda design for VHF spectrum;
- Boom length 1.5873 Wavelength; i.e. 3.30m@144.2MHz;
- Front/Rear ratio >= 23dB both E/H plane;
- Gain >= 12.8 dBi; i.e. >= 10.7 dBd;
- Impedance = 50.0 Ohm +/- j0.0 Ohm;
- (need 1:1 balun with 180° phase shifter);
- Bandwidth >= 0.3% (i.e. 400KHz@144.2MHz)
- SWR <= 1.4 : 1
This antenna has radiation partern as shown below;

Figure 2.9:Yagi Uda antenna radiation pattern

From the radiation pattern above, it shows that this antenna will provide a broader
coverage at the front side(main lobe) than at the rare side since the station as
almost found towards the forest with a small number of inhabitants. This
inhabitants will be covered then by the back lobes.

18
  Microwave Antenna: This is a dish antenna mounted on the tower at
approximately 38meters from the base of the tower and is the antenna used for
receiving the waves coming from the national station at Yaoundé using Douala
as a relay point(Reception). At the Douala tower, there is also a microwave
antenna of similar type orientated in such a way that they can communicate
using line of sight(that is no object need to be obstructing the focal point of the
two antennas at both ends). Douala has a transmitter that propagate waves
originating from Yaoundé at a frequency of 89.20MHz then propagate this
waves to Buea using the microwave dish antennas through line of sight which
can then be relayed at the technical console for broadcasting over the southwest
region. Below are the technical specifications of this antenna.

Microwave dish Dipole antenna

antenna

Yagi Uda antenna

Figure 2.10:Antennas mounted on tower

Note that apart from the transmitters, transmission lines and antennas that are involve in the
transmission process, there is supposed to be a special device call Antenna Turner(also called a
balun[balance/unbalance] transformer) which is absent in the setup. Antenna tuners are
particularly important for use with transmitters. Transmitters are designed to feed power into a
resistive load of a specific value. If the impedance seen by the transmitter departs from this
design value due to improper tuning of the combined feed line and antenna, overheating of the
transmitter final stage, distortion and loss of output power may occur. This turners are also

19
regarded as “matching circuits” which helps in the analysis and correction of antenna load
mismatch and reflection coefficient using the voltage standing wave ratio(VSWR) principle.
The following example below utilizes some of the technical parameters of the transmitter,
transmission line and antenna to solve for a matching impedance(used by the antenna turner) and
VSWR that in terns plays a vital role in the final power delivered to the antennas for propagation.
Case Study problem:

Let‟s consider the transmitter as a circuit with internal impedance of 50Ω connected to an
antenna via a transmission line and matching circuit(antenna turner) as shown below. Taking the
practical impedance of the transmission line as resistive with resistance of 75Ω and antenna of
load 50Ω. Determine the VSWR without any matching element(antenna turner). Determine the
load impedance of the matching circuit to obtain a VSWR of 1.2:1, 1.4:1 for the 94.5MHz and
107.3MHz transmitters respectively. Note that is not a realistic scenario, however it will serve to
illustrate the matching of the antennas and transmitters used here at CRTV Buea.

Rs = 50Ω RTL = 75Ω Rm

Rant

Where Rs is the internal resistance of the transmitter.

RTL is the resistance of the transmission line

Rm is the resistance of the antenna matching circuit.

Rant is the resistance of the antenna

Note we considering resistances rather than impedances because the reactive components of the
impedances are all equated to zero that is Zchar = (Rload + j0) Ω and the values are all taken from
the equipment readings.

20
Solution to case study problem:

First in order to obtain the VSWR of the circuit, we must determine the reflection coefficient of
the circuit.

From theory, the ( )

And consequently, the VSWR is;

Obviously, a VSWR of 1.5 is somehow different from the indicated value of the VSWR of booth
transmitters 1.2 and 1.4 . Therefore we can determine the required reflection coefficient from the
VSWR, that is

For the 94.5MHz transmitter:

For the 107.3MHz transmitter:

Now let‟s determine the required load that needs to be added in the case of both transmitters ;

According to

Using and be the required load impedance for both transmitters;

21
From the calculations above, in terms of power consumption, choosing and
=53.5 makes more sense in applying to the antenna tuner(balun) for efficient delivery of
power from the transmitters to the antennas.

Figure 2.11:Table of VSWR with corresponding reflection coefficients and % power reflected[5]
From the antennas, the waves are then propagated into the atmosphere using one of the following
means;

 Ground waves: A ground wave follows the surface of the earth to the radio receiver. The
ground wave has three parts:
1. The surface wave.
2. The direct wave, which follows a direct path from the transmitter to the receiver.
3. The ground-reflected a wave, which strikes the ground and is then reflected the receiver.
The last two waves are combined and called a space wave. The waves that make up the space
wave may or may not arrive at the receiver in proper order. They may join together or cancel
each other, depending on distances traveled by each wave.

22
Broadcast stations depend on the surface wave for reliable communications. As the surface wave
travels along the surface of the earth, it induces currents in the earth‟s surface. These currents use
up the energy contained in the wave. The wave becomes weaker as the distance it travels
increases. An interesting side note is that salt water conducts surface waves about 5000 times
better than the land. Overseas communication is very reliable when transmitters are near the
coastline. These stations use high power and operate at lower frequencies than the normal
broadcast band. The surface waves dies more quickly as the frequency increases as shown on the
illustration below with respect to the transmitters here on CRTV Buea;
Case study calculation:

Surface waves has range given by the formula:

( ) √ ( )

f = frequency of the waves(MHz)

For example CRTV Buea has two transmitters operating under frequencies of 94.5MHz and
107.3MHz respectively, the maximum range in kilometers of the waves undergoing surface
waves propagation will be;

Range(km) = 200/√ = 20.5740 km ≈ 20.5km

Range(km) = 200/√ = 19.30km.

From the calculations above, it shows that the 94.5MHz transmitter will provide coverage for a
wider range(20.5km) as compared to the 107.3MHz transmitter of 19.30km range using surface
wave propagation. This is the reason why the 94.5MHz transmitter is been considered as the
main transmitter since most of the receivers will receive this waves at a farther range than those
of the 107.3MHz transmitter.

 Sky waves : The second type of radiated wave is a sky wave. Sky waves use the ionized
layer of the earth‟s atmosphere for transmission. This layer is called the ionosphere. It is
located from 40 to 300 miles above the earth‟s surface. It is believed to consist of large
numbers of positive and negative ions. As the sky wave radiates, it strikes the ionosphere.
Some of the waves can be absorbed into the ionosphere. But some will bounce off the

23
 layer and be sent back to the earth‟s surface for receivers within range to receive the
waves.
 Line of Sight(LoS) : This is a form of ground wave propagation that allows for both
antennas to be placed at a distance separation d such that both antennas are not obstructed
by any object for reception of the waves. The antennas must be of the same type and
similar characteristics. This propagation means is used to receive waves coming from
Yaoundé through the Douala transmitter. At the Douala station, a similar microwave
antenna is mounted on their tower to propagate these waves towards the direction of
Buea making sure that no obstructing object is found in the path of the waves. Below
shows some equations peculiar to LoS propagation[6].

√
 d = distance between antenna and horizon (km)
 h = antenna height(m)
 K = adjustment factor to account for refraction of the waves, rule of thumb K =
¾

 ((√ ) (√ ))
 in meters
 in meters

Figure 2.12:various propagation paths used by radio waves[3]

24
Despite the power used by the transmitters to propagate these waves into the atmosphere, these
waves do undergo some challenges which prevents them from reaching their desired maximum
ranges. Some of these challenges are seen below;
 Attenuation: Strength of the signals falls off as the waves travel over the air medium.
Attenuation factors for unguided media such as air include;
1. Received signal must have sufficient strength so that circuitry in the receiver can interpret
the signal
2. Signal must maintain a level sufficiently higher than noise to be received without error.
3. Attenuation is greater at higher frequencies causing, causing distortion.
 Free Space Loss: Radio waves travel from a source into the surrounding space at the
speed of light when in free space(in vacuum), but clear air is a good approximation to
this. Free space path loss can be approximated using the formula below[6];

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ) ( ) ( )

where

 is the free space path loss in decibels

 is the power of the transmitter in watt
 is the power of the radio receiver in watt
 is frequency in Hertz
 is wavelength of the waves in meters
 is the distance of receiver from the transmitter in meters
Note the equation for free space path loss and link loss can be used between two antennas
only for distances greater than the near-field distance of each antenna where the near-field
is seen here as either the reactive near-field or the Fresnel region.

 Reactive near field region is the region within the immediate vicinity of the antenna
where the distance R is such that √ . in this region the electric and
magnetic fields are 9 out of phase unlike the far field region where both fields are
orthogonal but in phase.
 Fresnel region or radiating near field region is typically defined within the distance R
from the antenna and is expressed as;
√
In this region the shape of the radiating fields varies with distance. As the distance
increases, the shape of the fields becomes more like far field waves and less like

25
 reactive near field waves.

 Atmospheric absorption: the atmosphere due to the many different gases, water and
particles contained therein, absorbs and transmits many different wavelengths of
electromagnetic radiation. The wavelengths that pass through the atmosphere unabsorbed
constitute the „atmospheric windows‟.
 Scattering: scattering occurs when incoming signal hits an object whose size is in the
order of the wavelength of the signal or less. The topography over which this wave is
being propagated has so many objects(hills, mountains , buildings) that may cause the
scattering of these waves thereby reducing their strength as they travel.
 Reflection: There is reflection of the radio waves as a result of the signals getting into
contact with surfaces that is large relative to the wavelength of the signals. Radio waves
may be reflected from various substances or objects they meet during travel between the
transmitting and receiving sites. when radio waves are reflected on flat surfaces, a phase
shift in the alternations of the waves occurs. The shifting in the phase relationships of
reflected radio waves is one of the major reasons for fading where signals degrade as they
travel over time and distance.
 Diffraction: This is the mechanism that arise on radio waves where waves enter into the
shadow of an obstacle. This phenomenon usually occurs at the edge of an impenetrable
body that is large compared to the wavelength of the radio waves. The ratio of the signal
strengths without and with the obstacle obstacle is referred to as the diffraction loss which
is affected by the path geometry and the frequency of operation.
 Multipath : This is a term use to describe the multiple paths a radio wave may follow
between a transmitter and receiver. Such propagation paths include the ground wave,
ionospheric refraction, reradiation by the ionospheric layers, reflection from the earth‟s
surface or from more than one ionospheric layer, etc. If the two signals from two different
paths reach the receiver in-phase(both signals are at the same point in the wave cycle
when they reach the receiver), then the signal is amplified. This is known as “up-fade”. If
the two signals reach the receiver out-of-phase(both signals are at opposite points in the
wave cycle when they reach the receiver), they weaken the overall received signal. If the
two signals 180 degrees apart when they reach the receiver, they can completely cancel

26
 each other out so that a radio does not receive a signal at all. A location that a signal is
canceled out by multipath is called a “null” or “down-fade”.
2.4.2 Controlling signals from the studio and relaying signals using the console
During the presentation of a live program, the acoustic voice signals from the presenter is been
converted by the condenser microphone(transducer) in the studio to a high quality electrical
signals which travel through microphone cables with low noise ratio to the console where it is
modified. The modification of the signals on the console can be either pre-
amplification(boosting) to certain required level, mixing of the signals with signals originating
the computer system(music), equalization , cueing to listen for other signals on air without
obstructing the current program on air and metering(that is monitor the signals for saturation or
over modulation). The technical console is also use to control the studio microphones to go on air
through a switch on the board and also provides a potentiometer switch to also control the
amplification of the signals coming from the microphone in the studio. The technical console also
has switches to control signals originating from the computer system, relay to a different channel,
cueing to listen for another programs and also switches to control volumes at the studio and talk
back to the presenter at the studio.

Computer
system
studio
running the
BPM
mixing
software

Switches on
console to
con to control
relay of
channel
Switch to control
studio microphones

Figure 2.13:controlling signals using the console

27
2.4.3 Reception of these waves
A radio receiver capable of carrying out FM demodulation within range(either far or near) of the
station‟s transmission frequencies(that is 94.5MHz or 107.3MHz) generated by the transmitters
will be able to use the various components involved in a radio receiver to receive the message in
the waves. The FM receiver is the whole unit which takes the modulated signal as input and
produces the original audio signal as an output. Radio amateurs are the initial radio receivers.
However, they have drawbacks such as poor sensitivity and selectivity.

Selectivity is the selection of a particular signal while rejecting the others. Sensitivity is the
capacity of detecting a RF signal and demodulating it, while at the lowest power level.

To overcome these drawbacks, super heterodyne receiver was invented. This FM receiver
consists of 5 main stages. They are as shown in the following figure.

Figure 2.14: Block diagram of a typical FM receiver circuit[8]

 RF Tuner Section
The modulated signal received by the antenna is first passed to the tuner circuit through a
transformer. The tuner circuit is nothing but a LC circuit, which is also called
as resonant or tank circuit. It selects the frequency, desired by the radio receiver. It also tunes
the local oscillator and the RF filter at the same time.

 RF Mixer
The signal from the tuner output is given to the RF-IF converter, which acts as a mixer. It has a
local oscillator, which produces a constant frequency. The mixing process is done here, having
the received signal as one input and the local oscillator frequency as the other input. The
resultant output is a mixture of two frequencies [(f1 + f2),(f1 − f2)] produced by the mixer, which
is called as the Intermediate Frequency (IF).
28
The production of IF helps in the demodulation of any station signal having any carrier
frequency. Hence, all signals are translated to a fixed carrier frequency for adequate selectivity.
The operations of the RF mixer can be illustrated on the example below;

Two signals of different frequencies are taken where one signal level affects the level of the
other signal, to produce the resultant mixed output. The input signals and the resultant mixer
output is illustrated in the following figures.

Figure 2.15: generation of IF from two different frequencies

29
 Figure 2.16: Result of the mixing of two different frequencies[8]

The symbol of a RF mixer looks like the following figure.

Figure 2.17: RF mixing symbol

The two signals are mixed to produce a resultant signal, where the effect of one signal, affects
the other signal and both produce a different pattern as seen previously.

When two signals enter the RF mixer,

 The first signal frequency = F1

 The second signal frequency = F2

Then, the resultant signal frequencies = (F1 + F2) and (F1 - F2)

A mixer of two signals of different frequencies are produced at the output.

If this is observed in frequency domain, the pattern looks like the following figure.

30
 IF Filter
Intermediate frequency filter is a bandpass filter, which passes the desired frequency. It
eliminates any unwanted higher frequency components present in it as well as the noise. IF filter
helps in improving the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

 Demodulator
The received modulated signal is now demodulated with the same process used at the transmitter
side. The frequency discrimination is generally used for FM detection.

 Audio Amplifier
This is the power amplifier stage which is used to amplify the detected audio signal. The
processed signal is given strength to be effective. This signal is passed on to the loudspeaker to
get the original sound signal.

This super heterodyne receiver is well used because of its advantages such as better SNR,
sensitivity and selectivity.

 Noise in FM
The presence of noise is a problem in FM as well. Whenever a strong interference signal with
closer frequency to the desired signal arrives, the receiver locks that interference signal. Such a
phenomenon is called as the Capture effect.

To increase the SNR at higher modulation frequencies, a high pass circuit called pre-emphasis,
is used at the transmitter. Another circuit called de-emphasis, the inverse process of pre-
emphasis is used at the receiver, which is a low pass circuit. The preemphasis and de-emphasis
circuits are widely used in FM transmitter and receiver to effectively increase the output
SNR[8].

2.5 My performance during accomplishing tasks

With regards to my main task(transmission and reception of radio waves in CRTV Buea), I was
up to speed with respect to delivery of certain assigned tasks to my supervisor and the entire
technical crew. Though I was not too vest with the equipment at first when I began the internship,
I was given some assistance and words of encouragement by the technicians to take time in better
understand equipment and do some research online about the equipment and how they operate so
that I can easily identify solutions peculiar to my tasks given. Later as the days passes by, I was

31
able to better understand in operation most of the equipment that are used in carrying out my
tasks.

2.6 Challenges I have faced

Throughout my internship period, I faced a lot of challenges one way or the other in carrying out
my tasks which are listed as follows;

- The problem of familiarization and get use to the people around and adapt to their
working condition and pace.
- Most of the equipment and devices I met were strange and new to me so I had this
problem of using them effectively.
- Also there was a lot of pressure mounted on us the interns by the presenters at the studio
during a fault.
- Also the problem of communication since most of the workers are French speaking and
often most at times communicate with us but in French.

2.7 Measures I took for challenges

- I had to in most occasions create a scene to interact with the people around to find how
they really work and become familiar with them. This made me learn faster from them
most especially their working environment.
- On the equipment I found strange, I always ask questions on how it was used, watch
videos on YouTube and try to practice many times so as to get familiar and learn how to
use it efficiently.
- Faults were always detected and corrected immediately it was reported by the listeners at
reception, we even went ahead to correct some faults before the client could notice.
- I always tried to listen and understand, at times speak the French and ask for translation
from my colleagues for the words I couldn‟t understand. With time I could communicate
with them with no problem.

32
 CHAPTER 3: OVERALL BENEFITS OF THE INTERNSHIP
3.1 IMPROVING PRATICAL SKILLS
Being a telecommunication engineering student this internship was satisfactory as it improved
my practical knowledge and scope in this field. Improved practical experiences are listed below

- Going through the various divisions made me learn in how each of them function and the
part they play in the department as well as the company as a whole.
- I saw physically the implementation of radio wave transmission.
- I learned the use and function of each equipment in the transmission room when
necessary.
- Working with all the divisions in the department, I was able to know how to control and
monitor the transmission of programs on air .
- While with the transmitter division, I was able to see the implementation of FM
modulation technique which improve my radio communication technical skills.
- I learnt a lot working with the console, monitoring signals, controlling signals going on
air and reducing the fading of the signals.
- I was able to learned and use the Adobe audition software to do recordings from the
studio/programs on air, edit it and able rebroadcast it at later periods.

3.2 UPGRADING THE THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE

- Understood telecom transmission of RF and its origin.
- Had a clear understanding of the technical console and its uses, read and did some
research on the theories, design and background knowledge related to it.
- Understood the importance of modulation, signal amplification and types of antennas
used for transmission of this radio waves as well as their setbacks.
- Learned some theories behind the implementation of radio networking equipment

3.3 IMPROVING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS

This was improved in the sense that I could easily exchange information, ideas, feelings, thoughts
and meanings through verbal and nonverbal messages with the people I was working with and
my colleagues. We could understand each other‟s situation, communicate in the right manner,
influence people to listen and take actions as needed. This enabled us to work together in teams
and groups, master the working concept and always led us to success.

33
3.4 IMPROVING TEAM PLAYING SKILLS
Getting to CRTV Buea, I understood that working is mostly in teams and groups which is a key
fact in engineering. So I had to get acquainted working as a team; communicate with one another,
come up with great and constructive ideas, get familiar with one another, knowing one another‟s
capabilities, divide the task, work into small task to be executed by some groups of people.

3.5 IMPROVING LEADERSHIP SKILLS

- Was able set daily goals and take responsibility of the success and failure of every
activity, and show good attitude.
- Also, the attitude of being in the office on time and meeting to the deadline for the
execution of each task was exhibited
- Was able to communicate and learn from others as I could do perfectly

3.6 WORK ETHICS AND RELATED ISSUES

Doing my industrial training with CRTV Buea opened me up to the ethics and related issues of
my profession.

- Appropriate dressing
- Being available and reliable always
- Have the zeal to work and embrace change
- Keeping company‟s equipment intact and not disclosing some insights of the company to
outsiders and competitors

3.7 ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS

- Gained some skills on how to manage the activities of a technical department in a radio
communication company.
- Made me develop the zeal to do more research in the design of smart and good radio
equipment.

34
 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This brings about the conclusion of my internship in CRTV Buea and also the recommendations
to CRTV Buea and to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of
Buea(FET-UB).

 Conclusion:
My internship carried out in CRTV Buea was a good one with respect to my day to day
activities which increased my practical knowledge in radio communication as well as
telecommunication engineering is involved and to the proposition of a great solution to
the problem of transmission of radio waves inefficiency as a result of transmission power
instability in CRTV Buea.
 Recommendations:
To CRTV Buea, Based on my theoretical calculations carried out on the equipment
technical values under operation(that is values such as transmitter power, VSWR,
impedances of the cables and antenna impedances), i have two propositions to make;
1. The purchase of transmitters with higher operational powers since the power of
the transmitter plays a big role in the range of propagation of the waves.
2. The purchase and installation of an antenna turner(balun) to match the antennas
impedances to the transmitters and transmission lines. Based on the characteristics
impedances of the transmitters and antennas used on my calculations, I will
suggest the ones having characteristic impedances of 68.6ohms and 53.5ohms for
the dipole and yagi antennas respectively.

To the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Buea, I plea for the creation
of relationships through partnership with companies so that students from the faculty can be
easily recognized and accepted during the search for an internship position into these companies
as well as during the search for jobs after our graduation from the faculty.

35
 REFERENCES
[1] COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS A LECTURE NOTES BY Mahesh Lohith K. S.

[2] https://www.ramiaudio.com/img/rp2000/RP2000-catalogue.pdf

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsSTgjXPD2M

[4] Wireless Receiver Architectures and Design "Antennas, RF, Synthesizers, Mixed Signal,
and Digital Signal Processing" By Tony J. Rouphael(04-12)

[5] http://www.antenna-theory.com/definitions/vswr.php

[6] Mobile Radio Networks, Networking, Protocol and Traffic Performance Second Edition By
Bernhard H. Walke Aachen University of Technology(RWTH), Germany

[7] https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/engineering/electrical/radio/transmission-
and-reception-of-radio-waves.

[8]https://www.tutorialspoint.com/principles_of_communication/principles_of_communication_f
m_radio.htm

36
37