EEC 224 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING II

FOR NATIONAL DIPLOMA SECOND YEAR

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Know the principles of Black and White Television Transmission

2. Know the various frequency bands within the radio spectrum
3. Understand the principles of Electromagnetic Wave radiation
4. Understand the principles of wave propagation.

PREPARED BY ENGR OJO OLUMAYOWA AYOTUNDE

COURSE CONTENT
CHAPTER ONEPRINCIPLES OF BLACK AND WHITE TELEVISION
TRANSMISSION

1.0 General Introduction

1.1 Amplitude Modulated Radio Transmitter
1.2 Frequency Modulated Radio Transmitter
1.3 Television Transmitter
1.4 Vision and Sound Signals - how vision and sound signals are generated & transmitted.

CHAPTER TWO FREQUENCY BANDS WITHIN THE RADIO SPECTRUM

2.0 Electromagnetic spectrum
2.1 Radio spectrum
2.2 Frequency bands within the spectrum
2.3 Frequency Bands, Frequencies allocated and their applications.

CHAPTER THREE PRINCIPLES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE RADIATION

3.0 Antennas and Electromagnetic Wave theory
3.2 Parameters of an Antenna
3.3 Classifications of Antennas
3.4 Polar Diagram and Radiation patterns
3.5 Yaggi and Rhombic Antennas

CHAPTER FOUR PRINCIPLES OF RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION

4.0 Radio Wave propagation : Ground waves, Sky waves and Space waves
4.1 Existence , usefulness and effects of the Troposphere on propagation below 30MHz.
4.2 Layers of the ionosphere such as (a) D-layer (b) E- layer (c) F-layer
4.3 Critical frequency, maximum frequency and optimum working frequency
4.4 Problems involving wave propagation.

CHAPTER ONE PRINCIPLES OF BLACK AND WHITE TELEVISION

1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Television is an amazing window on the world. At the flick of a button, you can travel from the
North Pole to the Serengeti, watch men walking on the Moon, see athletes breaking records, or
listen to world leaders making historic speeches. Television has transformed entertainment and
education.The word Television has its origin in two Greek words ‘tele’ and ‘vision’. Tele means
‘at distance’ and vision means ‘seeing’. The basic idea of television is "radio with pictures." In
other words, where radio transmits a sound signal (the information being broadcast) through the
air, television sends a picture signal as well. Television is really a three-part invention: the
TV camera that turns a picture and sound into a signal; the TV transmitter that sends the signal
through the air; and the TV receiver (the TV set in your home) that captures the signal and turns
it back into picture and sound.When TV was first developed, all it could handle was black-and-
white pictures; engineers struggled to figure out how to cope with color as well, which was a
much more complex problem. Now the science of light tells us that any color can be made by
combining a mixture of the three primary colors, red, green, and blue. So the secret of making
color TV was to develop cameras that could capture separate red, green, and blue signals,
transmission systems that could beam color signals through the air, and TV sets that could turn
them back into a moving, multicolored image.There are two types of Television broadcast
systems (1) Colour TV(2). Monochrome (Black and white)

Black and White TV

In a black-and-white TV, the screen is coated with white phosphor and the electron beam
"paints" an image onto the screen by moving the electron beam across the phosphor a line at a
time. To "paint" the entire screen, electronic circuits inside the TV use the magnetic coils to
move the electron beam in a "raster scan" pattern across and down the screen The beam paints
one line across the screen from left to right. It then quickly flies back to the left side, moves
down slightly and paints another horizontal line, and so on down the screen like this
The blue lines represent lines that the electron beam is "painting" on the screen from left to right,
while the red dashed lines represent the beam flying back to the left. When the beam reaches the
right side of the bottom line, it has to move back to the upper left corner of the screen, as
represented by the green line in the figure. When the beam is "painting," it is on, and when it is
flying back, it is off so that it does not leave a trail on the screen. As the beam paints each line
from left to right, the intensity of the beam is changed to create different shades of black, gray
and white across the screen. Because the lines are spaced very closely together, your brain
integrates them into a single image. A TV screen normally has about 480 lines visible from top
to bottom.
A color TV screen differs from a black-and-white screen in three ways:
1. Three electron beams (Red, Green, Blue) that move simultaneously across the screen.
2. The screen is coated with red, green and blue phosphors arranged in dots or stripes.
3. On the inside of the tube, very close to the phosphor coating, there is a thin metal screen
called a shadow mask. This mask is perforated with very small holes that are aligned with the
phosphor dots (or stripes) on the screen. To create a white dot, red, green and blue beams are
fired simultaneously the three colors mix together to create white. The absence of signal is black.
All other colors on a TV screen are combinations of red, green and blue .

1.1 AMPLITUDE MODULATED RADIO TRANSMITTER

Amplitude Modulation – is a process of changing the amplitude of a relatively high frequency
carrier signal with the instantaneous value of the modulating signal. Amplitude modulation is the
modulation of the amplitude of the wave.AM transmitter takes the audio signal as an input and
delivers amplitude modulated wave to the antenna as an output to be transmitted. The block
diagram of AM transmitter is shown in the following figure.

Block Diagram of AM Radio Transmitter

The working of AM transmitter can be explained as follows.

Pre Amplifier - The audio signal from the output of the microphone is sent to the pre-amplifier,
which boosts the level of the modulating signal.

RF oscillator - it generates the carrier signal.

AM Modulator - . A modulator is an electronic circuit with transistor, and passive components,

which performs the process of modulation. Both the modulating and the carrier signal is sent to
AM modulator. In the modulator, the RF wave and modulating AF signal are mixed to produce the
amplitude modulated wave. Power amplifier is used to increase the power levels of AM wave.
This wave is finally passed to the antenna to be transmitted. The output of this section is fed to the
antenna for transmission

1.2 Frequency Modulated Radio Transmitter

Frequency Modulation – This is varying the frequency while the amplitude is kept constant.FM
transmitter is the whole unit, which takes the audio signal as an input and delivers FM wave to
the antenna as an output to be transmitted. The block diagram of FM transmitter is shown in the
following figure.

Block Diagram of FM Transmitter

The working of FM transmitter can be explained as follows.
Pre Amplifier - The audio signal from the output of the microphone is sent to the pre-amplifier,
which boosts the level of the modulating signal.
High Pass Filter -This signal is then passed to high pass filter, which acts as a pre-emphasis
network to filter out the noise and improve the signal to noise ratio.
RF Oscillator - The oscillator circuit generates a high frequency carrier signal, which is sent to
the modulator along with the modulating signal.
FM Modulator - This signal is further passed to the FM modulator circuit. The FM modulator
combines Audio frequency signal and RF signal to produce a modulated signal.
Frequency Multiplier - The frequency multiplier is used to increase the frequency deviation and
carrier signal frequency to a desired level. Several stages of frequency multiplier are used to
increase the operating frequency.
Power Amplifier - Even then, the power of the signal is not enough to transmit. Hence, a RF
power amplifier is used at the end to increase the power of the modulated signal. The power
amplifier gives the required power level to the signal which passes through the antenna.

This FM modulated output is finally passed to the antenna to be transmitted.

1.3 TELEVISION TRANSMITTER

Television is radio communication with both pictures and sound. In addition to standard audio
transmission, TV systems use a camera to convert a visual scene to a voltage known as the video
signal. This signal represents the picture information and modulates a transmitter. The picture
and the sound signals are transmitted to the receiver. The receiver demodulates the signals and
presents the information to the user.

Block diagram of a Television Transmitter.

Television Camera: Its function is to convert optical image of television scene into electrical
signal by the scanning process.
Video Amplifier:Video amplifier amplifies the video signal. The video signals obtained from
camera tube are applied to a number of video amplifier stages. .
Am Modulating Amplifier :The video signals are amplified by the modulating amplifier to get
the modulated signal.
Audio Amplifier- Audio amplifier amplifies the electrical form of audio signal from the
microphone.
Fm Modulating Amplifier: Sound signal from audio amplifier is frequency modulated by FM
Modulating amplifier.
Fm Sound Transmitter: FM transmitter is used for the purpose of audio signal transmission.
The carrier frequency used in audio modulation is 5.5 MHz above that which is used,FM
modulated amplified signal is transmitted through this FM sound transmitter to transmitting
antenna through the combining network.
Crystal Oscillator - Crystal Oscillator generates the allotted picture carrier frequency. The
carrier frequency generated from a crystal controlled oscillator is passed through a number of
frequency multiplier and amplifier stages. This results in a production of a carrier wave of
desired frequency and energy content
Rf Amplifier: RF amplifier amplifies the picture carrier frequency generated by crystal oscillator
to required level.
Power Amplifier:
Power amplifier varies according to the modulating signal from AM modulating amplifier.
Scanning And Synchronizing Circuits : Scanning is the process where picture elements are
converted into corresponding varying electrical signal. Synchronizing generator produces sets of
pulses to operate the system at appropriate timings.The horizontal synchronizing pulses are
applied to horizontal saw-tooth generator; vertical synchronizing pulses are applied to vertical
deflection saw-tooth generator; two sets of blanking pulses are applied to control grid of camera
tube to blank it during vertical and horizontal retrace; and a pulse train consisting all above pulse
groups is applied to video-amplifier channel for transmission to receiver.
Combining Network
Combining network is used to isolate the AM picture and FM sound signal during transmission.
Transmitting antenna - receives the AM picture signal and FM sound signal from combining
network for radiation as electromagnetic waves. Both, sound and picture signals are transmitted
by the same antenna by using a diplexer called picture – sound.
Microphone:
Converts sound associated with picture being televised into proportionate electrical signal.

1.4 VISION AND SOUND SIGNALS

A considerable amount of intelligence is contained in a complete TV signal. As a result, the
signal occupies a significant amount of spectrum space. As indicated earlier, the TV signal
consists of two main parts: the sound and the picture(vision and sound signal)
The video signal is most often generated by a TV camera, a very sophisticated electronic device
that incorporates lenses and light-sensitive transducers to convert the scene or object to be
viewed to an electric signal that can be used to modulate a carrier. All visible scenes and objects
are simply light that has been reflected and absorbed and thentransmitted to our eyes. It is the
purpose of the camera to take the light intensity and color details in a scene and convert them to
an electric signal.An electron beam is used to pick up the picture information now available on
the target plate in terms of varying resistance at each point. The beam is informed by an electron
gun in the TV camera tube. On its way to the inner side of the glass face plate it is deflected by a
pair of deflecting coils mounted on the glass envelope and kept mutually perpendicular to each
other to achieve scanning of the entire target area. To achieve scanning the deflecting coils are
fed separately from two sweep oscillators which continuously generate sawtooth waveforms,
each operating at a different desired frequency.Two simultaneous motion are thus given to the
beam,one from left to right across the target plate and the other from top to bottom thereby
covering the entire area on which the electrical image of the picture is available. Scanning is the
process of extracting signals pertaining to the individual elements of a picture(pixels) in quick
succession one after the other .Values of light (intensity and colour) in a scene are functions of
space.Scanning of the charge image converts the surface of the target into electrical signal
varying in time frame, called the video signal.
To do this, the scene to be transmitted is collected and focused by a lens upon a light-sensitive
imaging device. Both vacuum tube and semiconductor devices are usedfor converting the light
information in the scene to an electric signal. Some examples are the vidicon tube and the
charge-coupled device (CCD) so widely used in camcorders and all modern TV cameras.
The scene is divided into smaller segments that can be transmitted serially over a period of time.
Again, it is the job of the camera to subdivide the scene in an orderly manner so that an
acceptable signal is developed. This process is known as scanning .The electrical information
obtained from the TV camera tube is generally referred to as video signal. This signal is
amplified and then amplitude modulated with the channel picture carrier frequency. The
modulated output is fed to the transmitter antenna for radiation along with the sound signal.
SOUND SIGNAL
The microphone converts the sound associated with the picture being televised into proportionate
electrical signal, which is normally a voltage. This electrical output, regardless of the complexity
of its waveform, is a single valued function of time and so needs a single channel for its
transmission. The audio signal from the microphone after amplification is frequency modulated,
employing the assigned carrier frequency. In FM, the amplitude of the carrier signal is held
constant, whereas its frequency is varied in accordance with amplitude variations of the
modulating signal. As shown in Fig. 1.1 (a), output of the sound FM transmitter is finally
combined with the AM picture transmitter output, through a combining network,
and fed to a common antenna for radiation of energy in the

CHAPTER TWO FREQUENCY BANDS WITHIN THE RADIO SPECTRUM

2.0 ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation frequencies,
and extends from frequencies used for modern radio at the long wavelength end to gamma
radiation at the short-wavelength end covering wavelengths from thousand of kilometres down to
a fraction the size of an atom. In between, we find radio waves, infra-red, visible light, ultra
violet and X-rays used in medical diagnostics. In principle, the spectrum is claimed to be the size
of the universe itself but its different parts are limited to certain ranges of electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves are defined by their special characteristics, such as frequency,
wavelength and amplitude. The frequency refers to the number of waves generated in a set
period of time and is measured in hertz(Hz). 1 Hz means one wave per second, 1 kHz (kilohertz)
means one thousand waves per second, 1 MHz (megahertz) means one million waves per second,
1GHz (gigahertz) means one billion waves per second and so on. The electromagnetic spectrum
is divided according to the frequency of those waves which are measured in hertz.

2.1 Radio Frequency Spectrum

The radio frequency spectrum (which is simply referred to as spectrum) is only a comparatively
small part of the electromagnetic spectrum, covering the range from 3 Hz to 300 GHz. It includes
a range of a certain type of electromagnetic waves, called the radio waves, generated by
transmitters and received by antennas. The radio spectrum is the home of communication
technologies such as mobile phones, radio and television broadcasting, two-way radios,
broadband services, radar, fixed links, satellite communications, etc. due to its excellent ability to
carry codified information (signals). It is relatively cheap to build the infrastructure which can
also provide mobility and portability.
In theory, different communication technologies could exist in any part of the radio spectrum,
but the more information a signal is to carry, the more bandwidth it needs.In simple terms,
bandwidth is the range of frequencies that a signal occupies in spectrum. For example, an FM
radio station might broadcast on the 92.9 MHz frequency, but requires 0.3 MHz (equivalent of
300 kHz) bandwidth – the spectrum between the frequencies 92.8 and 93.0 MHz inclusive. Other
stations cannot broadcast on these frequencies within the same area without causing or receiving
interference.
For planning purposes, the spectrum bands are divided into channels.The bandwidth of spectrum
channels can vary band by band. VHF Band II, the home of FM radio, for instance, is sliced up
in 100 kHz-wide channels. An FM station requires 300 kHz bandwidth, therefore each FM radio
station takes up three spectrum channels. In the case of television broadcasting, the agreed
bandwidth of a channel is 8 MHz in UHF Band IV/V. The bandwidth requirement of an
analogue TV programme channel happens to be the same as the bandwidth of one spectrum TV
channel, i.e. 8MHz. Lower frequencies have less bandwidth capacity than higher frequencies. It
means that signals that carry a lot of information (such as television, broadband or mobile
phones) are better placed in the higher frequency bands while simple radio (audio) signals can be
carried by the low frequency waves. Since low frequencies travel long distances but have less
bandwidth capacity, placing one television channel (which uses a lot of bandwidth) in the UK in
the lower frequency bands would mean that most ofthe Long Wave and Medium Wave radio
services from Northern Europe to Sub-Saharan Africa would be squeezed out.
Once a radio signal has been transmitted, it has certain propagation characteristics associated
with its frequency. Propagation describes the behaviour of a radio wave in spectrum. In different
bands, waves have distinct abilities to hop, spread and penetrate. Certain waves can go through
or bounce off walls or curve around corners better than others. Your mobile phone will probably
work inside a building because its signal goes through windows, but you will generally need a
rooftop aerial for your TV set to achieve good reception.
In order to understand how radio spectrum works, one more buzzword has to be remembered:
modulation. Modulation is the actual process of encoding information in a radio signal by
varying the characteristics (the amplitude, the frequency or the phase) of the radio wave.
Amplitude modulation (AM) has been used to generate carrier waves for AM radio stations
which cover large areas. Radio 4 on long wave (LW), for instance, is carried by an amplitude
modulated signal. Frequency modulation(FM) is used for FM broadcasting which provides better
sound quality .Depending on the frequency range, the radio spectrum is divided into frequency
bands and sub-bands
2.2 Frequency Bands Within The Radio Spectrum

Extremely Low Frequency

Super Low Frequency
Ultra Low Frequency
Very Low Frequency
Low Frequency
Medium Frequency
High Frequency
Very High Frequency
Ultra High Frequency
Super High Frequency
Extra High Frequency

2.3 Frequency Bands, Frequencies Allocated and their uses

CHAPTER THREE PRINCIPLES OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE RADIATION

3.0 ANTENNA FUNDAMENTALS

Definitions of Antenna :

 An antenna is an electrical conductor (transducer) or system of conductors that carry

time varying currentsand, consequently, acceleratingelectrons.
 An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric power into radio waves,
and vice versa.
 An Antenna is a device for radiating or receiving electromagnetic waves in free
space.
 Typically an antenna consists of an arrangement of metallic conductors ("elements"),
electrically connected (often through a transmission line) to the receiver or transmitter
 An antenna is a device that provides a transition between guided electromagnetic
waves in wires and electromagnetic waves in free space

An antenna is a structure or a device that is used to couple the radio system to space; that is it
provides means for radiating or receiving radio waves. During transmission, the antenna radiates
the modulated signal produced by the transmitter, in other words, the antenna converts the
modulated electrical signal from the transmitter into electromagnetic waves that are propagated
using space. In radio receivers, the antenna is used to intercept the electromagnetic radio waves
in space and convert them into electric signal that will be further processed by the receiver to
recreate the original information. Except for their different functions, transmitting and receiving
antennas have identical behavior characteristic that is they possess a property called reciprocity,
which makes the same antenna to be interchangeable between transmitting and receiving
functions.
An antenna that radiates equally in all directions is called an isotropic radiator or antenna.
Isotropic antenna is a hypothetical radiator with a spherical radiation pattern and 100 percent
efficiency; that is it does not have losses so all the power fed to it is radiated. However, on a
more practical level, all real antennas radiate better in some directions than others and can not be
isotropic. Though an isotropic antenna is a hypothetical antenna, its concept is a very useful one
and provides as a standard to which real antennas can be compared. The other standard is the half
wave dipole which has in its own right a directional pattern compared to an isotropic. Unlike
isotropic antenna, the half wave dipole is a practical antenna which can be built and is therefore
more realistic basis for comparison. So it is important therefore that whenever a comparison is
done it is shown clearly whether it is reference to isotropic or half wave dipole; for example
when expressing the gain,’dBi’ must be used when isotropic is a reference and ‘dBd’ must be
used when the gain is expressed relative to a half wave dipole. The dipole antenna is the basis
for most antenna design.

3.1 PARAMETERS OF ANTENNA

Before will design an antenna, we must understand the fundamental parameters that characterize
it. To describe the performance of an antenna, definitions of various parameters are necessary.
Some of the parameters are interrelated and not all of them need be specified for complete
description of the antenna performance.

RADIATION PATTERN - An antenna radiation pattern or antenna pattern is defined as a

mathematical function or a graphical representation of the radiation properties of the antenna as a
function of space coordinates .If the radiation is expressed in terms of field strength (E), it is
known as ‘field pattern’. If it is given in power, then it is denoted as ‘power pattern’.
The radiation pattern of an antenna is a plot of the relative field strength of the radio waves
emitted by the antenna at different angles. It is typically represented by a three dimensional
graph, or polar plots of the horizontal and vertical cross sections. It is a plot of field strength in
V/m versus the angle in degrees. It includes plots of radiation density. phase and polarization.
Certain methods are followed to represent radiation pattern into two dimensional patterns. Two
dimensional patterns are drawn as elevation and azimuthal patterns, vertical and horizontal
patterns, ‘E’ plane and ‘H’ plane patterns The radiation pattern of an antenna is the important
characteristic of antenna because it indicates the distribution of energy radiated by an antenna in
the space.
.
ANTENNA GAIN
Gain is a parameter which measures the degree of directivity of the antenna's radiation pattern.
Specifically, the antenna gain, or power gain of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the intensity
(power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in the direction of its maximum output, at an
arbitrary distance, divided by the intensity radiated at the same distance by a hypothetical
isotropic antenna
High-gain antennas have the advantage of longer range and better signal quality, but must be
aimed carefully in a particular direction. Low-gain antennas have shorter range, but the
orientation of the antenna is relatively inconsequential. For example, a dish antenna on a
spacecraft is a high gain device that must be pointed at the planet to be effective, whereas a
typical Wi-Fi antenna in a laptop computer is low-gain, and as long as the base station
is within range, the antenna can be in any orientation in space.
Gain as a parameter measures the efficiency of a given antenna. Gain and directivity of an
antenna are related with antenna efficiency factor
G = KD
Where G is the gain of the antenna, K is the antenna efficiency and D is the Directivity.

DIRECTIVITY
The DIRECTIVITY of an antenna i s a measure of the antenna‘s ability to focus the energy in
one or more specific directions(focus its energy in a particular direction when it is transmitting
and to receive energy better from a particular direction when it is receiving
The directivity of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the maximum radiation intensity to the
average radiation intensity)

Radiation resistance:
Radiation resistance is the amount of opposition offered by an antenna to radiate the energy to
free space. It is the ratio of the power radiated by an antenna to the square of rms current flow in
that antenna. That is
Antenna Bandwidth: The Bandwidth of an antenna is the band of frequencies over which it is
considered to perform acceptably or the frequency range over which the operation of the antenna
is satisfactory.The wider the range of frequencies a band encompasses,the wider the bandwidth
of the antenna. For VHFand UHF bands the antenna bandwidths are either written on the antenna
boom or colour coding.The tradeoff in designing an antenna for a wider bandwidth is that it
would generally not have as good of performance in comparison to a similar antenna that is
optimized for a narrower bandwidth.. The bandwidth of an antenna may be increased by several
techniques, including using thicker wires, replacing wires with cages to simulate a thicker wire,
tapering antenna components and combining multiple antennas into a single assembly.
Antenna Beamwidth – This is the angular separation between the two half power points on the
power density radiation pattern and it is expressed in degrees or the angular separation between
two 3dB down points on the field strength of radiation pattern It is expressed in degrees
Antenna Efficiency

This is the ratio of power radiated to total power input to the antenna and is denoted by
Power losses maybe dissipated as the result of the antenna and ground resistance losses in
imperfect dielectric very near to antenna and eddy currents. All of these are usually represented
by a lumped resistance which is the total loss resistance of an antenna. If the radiation resistance
is represented by the sum of the loss resistance and radiation resistance will constitute the

total resistance of the antenna. That is

Antenna Efficiency = Power radiated by the Antenna

Power input to the Antenna

Polarization
The polarization of an antenna is defined as the orientation of the electric field (E-plane)
of the EM wave with respect to the direction of EM wave. Polarization may be classified as
linear, circular, or elliptical. If the vector that describes the electric field at a point in space as a
function of time is always directed along a line, the field is said to be linearly polarized. In
general, however, the electric field traces is an ellipse, and the field is said to be elliptically
polarized
A special case of elliptical polarization is known as circular polarization. Elliptical polarization
has its sense as‘right handed’ and ‘left handed’. To communicate signal effectively, both
transmitter and receiver should have the same polarization.

3.2 CLASSIFICATIONS OF ANTENNAS

There are many ways in which antennas can be classified: firstly ,they can be classified
according to the way they radiate for example omnidirectional, sectorial and directional
antennas: secondly they can be classified according to the range of frequencies of which they
operate; for example, there are antennas which are classified as broadband antennas because they
can operate over a wide range of frequencies; thirdly they can be classified according to the band
on which they can operate; for example you will hear people talking about LF,MF,HF,VHF,UHF
antennas, and fourthly; they can be classified according to the way they are made or their
structure; for example, there are wire antennas like loop, helix; aperture antennas like the horn:
antenna arrays like Yaggi-Uda, Log-periodic; lens antenna; patch antennas like microstrip
antennas; reflector antennas like parabolic and corner reflector antennas. Antennas can also be
classified according to length of transmission lines available, as resonant and non-resonant
antennas.
Classification according to Radiation pattern
Omnidirectional, Sectorial and Directional Antennas
Omni directional antennas radiate RF energy equally in all horizontal directions which covers
360 degrees. It is also called ‘Non-Directional’ as it does not prefer any direction. They are
employed when the relative position of the other station is unknown or arbitrary. They are also
used at lower frequencies where a directional antenna would be too large, or simply to cut costs
in applications where a directional antenna isn't required.

Directional or beam antennas which are intended to preferentially radiate or receive in a

particular direction or directional pattern. Dipole is one of the simplest examples of directional
antennas.

Broadband and Band Antennas -

Wire Antennas - like whip antennas, dipole and monopole antennas, loop antennas and helix
antennas. They are usually used in personal applications, automobiles, buildings, ships, aircrafts
and spacecrafts
Dipole and Monopole Antennas
Loop antenna – Is a radio antenna consisting of a loop of wire with its ends connected to a
balanced transmission line. A technically small loop, also known as a magnetic loop, should
have a circumference of one tenth of a wavelength or less. This is necessary to ensure a
constant current distribution round the loop. Radiation pattern of loop antenna is a doughnut
pattern. Loop antennas have the same desirable characteristics as dipoles and monopoles in that
they are inexpensive and simple to construct. Loop antennas are usually classified as either
electrically small or electrically large based on the circumference of the loop
.

There are three types of horn antennas: 1) E-plane sectoral horn, 2) H-plane sectoral horn, and
3) pyramidal horn . H-Plane sectoral horn has a wider width to of the aperture while E-Plane
sectoral horn has a wider height. The pyramidal horn has approximately equal width and height.

Reflector Antennas - Reflector antennas redirect electromagnetics and refocus it in a certain direction.
This type of antenna is commonly used for space crafts for long distance communication. Several
common types of reflector antennas are the plane reflector, the corner reflector, and the parabolic
reflector. A plane reflector is flat reflector made of a conductor. The electromagnetic waves redirects
concept can be compared to sunlight hitting a mirror.
A corner reflector usually consists of two plane reflectors joined together at an angle. Typically
these two plane reflector joins together to form a 90 degree angle. Figure 16 shows the concept of a 90
degree corner reflector.
Parabolic reflectors are shaped like a parabola. Electromagnetic waves can be focused into a
beam and aimed at locations with accuracies. Because of this characteristic, parabolic are commonly
used by dish TV companies, and satellite communication.

Microstrip Antennas - Microstrip antenna, sometimes called a patch antenna, is defined as an

antenna which consists of a thin metallic conductor bonded to a thin grounded dielectric
substrate . Microstrip antennas are low profile, small in volume, and have low production cost.
The feed can be connected directly to the conductor on the same substrate. The antenna
design can be printed onto ceramic substrate which eliminates the need for an adhesive to
bond the conductor to the substrate. The patch antenna can operate from the ranges from
1GHz to 6GHz. At lower frequency the antenna can be large in size and may not be practical.

CHAPTER FOUR PRINCIPLES OF WAVE PROPAGATION

4.0 WAVE PROPAGATION
Radio waves are electromagnetic waves, which when radiated from transmitting antennas, travel
through space to distant places, where they are picked up by receiving antennas. Although space
is the medium through which electromagnetic waves are propagated, but depending on their
wavelengths, there are three distinctive methods by which propagation takes place
These are: (a) ground wave or surface wave propagation, (b) sky wave propagation, and (c)
space wave propagation
Ground Wave or Surface Wave propagation
Vertically polarized electromagnetic waves radiated at zero or small angles with ground, are
guided by the conducting surface of the ground, along which they are propagated Such waves
are called ground or surface waves. The attenuation of ground waves, as they travel along the
surface of the earth is proportional to frequency, and is reasonably low below 1500 kHz.
(b) Sky Wave Propagation:
Most radio communication in short wave bands up to 30 MHz (11 meters) is carried out by sky
waves. When such waves are transmitted high up in the sky, they travel in a straight line until the
ionosphere is reached. This region which begins about 120 km above the surface of the earth,
contains large concentrations of charged gaseous ions, free electrons and neutral molecules. The
ions and free electrons tend to bend all passing electromagnetic waves.
The angle by which the wave deviates from its straight path depends on
(i) frequency of the radio wave
(ii) angle of incidence at which the wave enters the ionosphere
(iii) density of the charged particles in the ionosphere at the particular moment
(iv) thickness of the ionosphere at the point
(c) Space Wave Propagation
The only alternative for transmission in the VHF and UHF bands, despite large attenuation, is by
radio waves which travel in a straight line from transmitter or receiver. This is known as space
wave propagation .For not too large distances, the surface of the earth can be assumed to be flat
and different rays of wave propagation can reach the receiver from transmitter.

TROPOSPHERIC PROPAGATION:
The lowest part of the earth‘s atmosphere is called the troposphere. Typically, the
troposphere extends from the surface of the earth to an altitude of approximately 9km at the
poles and 17km at the equator. This upper boundary is referred to as the tropo pause and is
defined as the point at which the temperature in the atmosphere begins to increase with
height. With in the troposphere, the temperature is found to decrease with altitude at a rate of
approximately 7oCperkm. The earth‘s weather system is confined to the troposphere and the
fluctuations in weather parameters like temperature, pressure and humidity cause the
refractive index of the air in this layer to vary from one point to another. It is in this context
that the troposphere assumes a vital role in the propagation of radio waves at VHF (30-
300MHz)and UHF (300-3000MHz)frequencies. The meteorological conditions therefore
influence the manner in which radio wave propagation occurs in the troposphere both on
a spatial and temporal scale
Depending on the existing conditions in the troposphere, a radio wave will undergo any of
the types of refraction: sub refraction, standard refraction.

STRUCTURE OF THE IONOSPHERE

As we stated earlier, the ionosphere is the region of the atmosphere that extends from about
30 miles above the surface of the Earth to about 250 miles. It is appropriately named the
ionosphere because it consists of several layers of electrically charged gas atoms called
ions. The ions are formed by a process called ionization.
Ionization occurs when high energy ultraviolet light waves from the sun enter the ionospheric
region of the atmosphere, strike a gas atom, and literally knock an electron free
from its parent atom

Four Distinct Layers

The ionosphere is composed of three layers designated D, E, and F, from lowest level to
highest level as shown in figure, The F layer is further divided into two layers designated
F1 (the lower layer) and F2 (the higher layer). The presence or absence of these layers in
the ionosphere and their height above the Earth varies with the position of the sun. At high
noon, radiation in the ionosphere directly above a given point is greatest. At night it is
minimum. When the radiation is removed, many of the particles that were ionized
recombine. The time interval between these conditions finds the position and number of the
ionized layers within the ionosphere changing..
Since the position of the sun varies daily, monthly, and yearly, with respect to a specified point
on Earth, the exact position and number of layers present are extremely difficult to determine.
However, the following general statements can be made:
The D layer ranges from about 30 to 55 miles. Ionization in the D layer is low because it is the
lowest region of the ionosphere. This layer has the ability to refract signals of low frequencies.
High frequencies pass right through it and are attenuated. After sunset, the D layer disappears
because of the rapid recombination of ions.
The E layer limits are from about 55 to 90 miles. This layer is also known as the Kennelly-
Heaviside layer, because these two men were the first to propose its existence. The rate of
ionic recombination in this layer is rather rapid after sunset and the layer is almost gone
by midnight. This layer has the ability to refract signals as high as 20 megahertz. For this
reason, it is valuable for communications in ranges up to about 1500 miles.
The F layer exists from about 90 to 240 miles. During the daylight hours, the F layer separates
into two layers, the F1 and F2 layers. The ionization level in these layers is quite high and varies
widely during the day. At noon, this portion of the atmosphere is closest to the sun and the
degree of ionization is maximum. Since the atmosphere is rarefied at these heights,recombination
occurs slowly after sunset. Therefore, a fairly constant ionized layer is always present. The F
layers are responsible for high-frequency, long distance transmission.
Critical Frequency
For any given time, each ionospheric layer has a maximum frequency at which radio waves can
be transmitted vertically and refracted back to Earth. This frequency is known as the CRITICAL
FREQUENCY. It is a term that you will hear frequently in any discussion of radio wave
propagation.
Radio waves transmitted at frequencies higher than the critical frequency of a given layer will
pass through the layer and be lost in space; but if these same waves enter an upper layer with a
higher critical frequency, they will be refracted back to Earth. Radio waves of frequencies lower
than the critical frequency will also be refracted back to Earth unless they are absorbed or have
been refracted from a lower layer. The lower the frequency of a radio wave, the more rapidly the
wave is refracted by a given degree of ionization.
Notice that the 5-megahertz wave is refracted quite sharply. The 20-megahertz wave is refracted
less sharply and returned to Earth at a greater distance. The 100-megahertz wave is obviously
greater than the critical frequency for that ionized layer and, therefore, is not refracted but is
passed into space
Maximum Usable Frequency
As we discussed earlier, the higher the frequency of a radio wave, the lower the rate of refraction
by an ionized layer. Therefore, for a given angle of incidence and time of day, there is a
maximum frequency that can be used for communications between two givenlocations.
This frequency is known as the MAXIMUM USABLE FREQUENCY (muf).
Waves at frequencies above the muf are normally refracted so slowly that they return to
Earth beyond the desired location, or pass on through the ionosphere and are lost. You
should understand, however, that use of an established muf certainly does not guarantee
successful communications between a transmitting site and a receiving site. Variations in
the ionosphere may occur at any time and consequently raise or lower the predetermined
muf. This is particularly true for radio waves being refracted by the highly variable F2
layer. The muf is highest around noon when ultraviolet light waves from the sun are the
most intense. It then drops rather sharply as recombination begins to take place.

Lowest Usable Frequency

As there is a maximum operating frequency that can be used for communications
between two points, there is also a minimum operating frequency. This is known as the
LOWEST USABLE FREQUENCY (luf). As the frequency of a radio wave is lowered,
the rate of refraction increases. So a wave whose frequency is below the established luf is
refracted back to Earth at a shorter distance than desired, as shown in figure
The transmission path that results from the rate of refraction is not the only factor
that determines the luf. As a frequency is lowered, absorption of the radio wave increases.
A wave whose frequency is too low is absorbed to such an extent that it is too weak for
reception. Likewise, atmospheric noise is greater at lower frequencies; thus, a low frequency
radio wave may have an unacceptable signal-to-noise ratio. For a given angle
of incidence and set of ionospheric conditions, the luf for successful communications
between two locations depends on the refraction properties of the ionosphere, absorption
considerations, and the amount of atmospheric noise present.
Optimum Working Frequency
Neither the muf nor the luf is a practical operating frequency. While radio waves at the luf
can be refracted back to Earth at the desired location, the signal-to-noise ratio is still much
lower than at the higher frequencies, and the probability of multipath propagation is much
greater. Operating at or near the muf can result in frequent signal fading and dropouts when
ionospheric variations alter the length of the transmission path. The most practical
operating frequency is one that you can rely on with the least amount of problems. It
should be high enough to avoid the problems of multipath, absorption, and noise
encountered at the lower frequencies; but not so high as to result in the adverse effects of
rapid changes in the ionosphere. A frequency that meets the above criteria has been
established and is known as the OPTIMUM WORKING FREQUENCY. It is abbreviated
"fot" from the initial letters of the French words for optimum working frequency,
"frequence optimum de travail." The fot is roughly about 85 percent of the muf but the
actual percentage varies and may be either considerably more or less than 85 percent.