Electronic Communication Systems (2nd Edition) by Roy Blake

Questions
1. What are the similarities between radio waves and light waves?

2. What is meant by the characteristic impedance of a medium? What is the characteristic

impedance of free space?

3. State the difference between power and power density. Explain why power density
decreases with the square of the distance from the source.

4. A radio wave propagates in such a way that its magnetic field is parallel with the horizon.
What is its polarization?

5. What is an isotropic radiator? Could such a radiator be built? Explain your answer.

6. State the three factors that determine the amount of power extracted from a wave by a
receiving antenna.

7. Distinguish between specular and diffuse reflection. For wavelengths on the order of 1 m,
state which type is more likely from:
a.) A calm lake
b.) A field strewn with large boulders

8. For waves passing from one medium to another, what is meant by the critical angle of
incidence? What happens when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical value?

9. What phenomenon accounts for the fact that radio waves from a transmitter on one side
of a mountain can sometimes be received on the other side?

10. Why do stations in the AM standard broadcast band alaways use vertically polarized
antenna?

11. Why do ionosphere more highly ionized during the daylight hours than it is at night?

12. When the critical frequency is 12 MHz, what will happen to a 16 MHz signal that is
radiated straight up? What will happen to a 10 MHz signal?

13. Sometimes an HF radio transmission can be heard at a distance of 1000 km from the
transmitter but cant be heard 100 km away. Explain why.

14. Why is antenna height much more important for an FM broadcast-band antenna than for
one designed for the AM broadcast band?

15. State two undesirable effects that can be caused by reflections in line-of-sight
communications, and explain how they arise.

16. How can multipath interference can be reduced?

17. Explain what is meant by diversity, and describe the various types of diversity.

18. Why are AM broadcast stations often received at greater distances during the night than
during the day? Is this always an advantage?

19. Why does tropospheric scatter require high-powered transmitters?

20. Explain how tropospheric ducting works and why it can cause problems.

21. State which mode of propagation is normally used for each of the following services and
explain why
a.) FM radio broadcasting

b.) Shortwave radio broadcasting

c.) Cellular telephones (frequency of about 800 MHz)

d.) LORAN-C navigation beacons (frequency 100 kHz)

22. At noon a station can transmit from New York City to Miami at a frequency of 20 MHz
but not at 5 MHz. At midnight the situation is reversed. Explain why.

23. Why is the attenuation greater for mobile communication than for free space?

24. Explain how spread-spectrum systems automatically take advantage of frequency

diversity.

25. What is a rake receiver? How does it reduce the effects of multipath propagation?

26. What is fast fading and how is it caused?

27. Explain how cellular systems allow for the frequency reuse.

28. What is meant by cell splitting, and why is it done?

Problems
29. Find the propagation velocity of radio waves in glass, which has a relative permittivity of
7.8.

30. Find the wavelength, in free space, of radio waves at each of the following frequencies:
a.) 50 kHz b.) 1 MHz c.) 23 MHz d.) 300 MHz e.) 450 MHz f.) 12 GHz

31. Find the characteristic impedance of glass, which has a relative permittivity of 7.8.

32. An isotropic source radiates 100 W of power in free space. Calculate the power density
and the electric field density at a distance of 15 km from the source.

33. What power density is required to produce an electric field strength of 100 volts per
meter in air?

34. A signal has a power density of 50 mW/m 2 in free space. Calculate its electric and
magnetic field strength.

35. A certain antenna has a gain of 7 dB with respect to an isotropic radiator.

a.) What is its effective area if it operates at 200 MHz?

b.) How much power would it absorb from a signal with a field strength of 50 V/m?

36. A transmitter has an output power of 50 W. It is connected to its antenna by a feedline

that is 25 m long and properly matched. The loss in the feedline is 5 dB/100 m. The
antenna has a gain of 8.5 dBi.

a.) How much power reaches the antenna?

b.) What is the EIRP in the direction of maximum antenna gain?

c.) What is the power density 1 km from the antenna, in the direction of maximum gain,
assuming free space propagation?

d.) What is the electric field strength at the location in part (c)?

37. A satellite transmitter operates at 4 GHz with an antenna gain of 40 dBi. The receiver 40
000 km away has an antenna gain of 50 dBi. If the transmitter has a power of 8 W, find
(ignoring feedline losses and mismatch):

a.) The EIRP in dBW

b.) The power delivered to the reciever

38. What would be the effect on the received signal level of making each of the following
changes (separately)? Give your answers in decibels.
a.) Double the transmitter power

b.) Reduce the distance by half

c.) Increase the gain of the receiving antenna by 10 dB.

39. A cellular radio transmitter has a power output of 3 W at 800 MHz. It uses an antenna
with a gain of 3 dBi. The receiver is 5 km away, with an antenna gain of 12 dBi.
Calculate the received signal strength in dBm, ignoring any losses in transmission lines.

40. Suppose that the situation is the same in Problem 39 except that the transmission line
losses are 1 dB at the transmitter abd 2 db at the reciever. What is the received power in
dBm under these conditions?

41. Suppose the situation is the same as in Problem 39 except that the transmitter power is
reduced to mW. What is the received power in the dBm under these conditions?

42. Sketch the path of the reflected waves in each of the diagrams in Figure 15.36.

43. Find the critical angle when a wave passes from glass, with r = 7.8, into air.

44. Sketch the path of the refracted waves in each of the diagrams in Figure 15.37.

45. A radio signal moves from air to glass. The angle incidence is 20 0. Calculate the angle of
the refraction and sketch the situation. The relative permittivity of the glass is 7.8.

46. If the critical frequency is 10MHz, what is the OWF at an angle of incidence of 600?

47. At a certain time, the MUF for transmission at an angle of incidence of 75 0 is 17 MHz.
what is the critical frequency?

48. If the critical frequency is 12 MHz, what is the critical angle at 15 MHz?

49. An FM broadcast station has a transmitting antenna located 50 m above average terrain.
How far away could the signal be received:
(a) by a car radio with an antenna 1.5 m above the ground?

(b) by a rooftop antenna 12 m above the ground?

50. A boat is equipped with a VHF marine radio, which it uses to communicate with other
nearby boats and shore stations.
(a) Name the mode of propagation.

(b) If the antenna on the boat is 2.3 m above the water, calculate the maximum distance
for communication with:
(i)
another similar boat

(ii)

a shore station with an antenna on a tower 22 m above the water level

(iii)

another similar boat, using the shore station as a repeater

51. An FM broadcast signal arrives at an antenna via two paths, as shown in the Figure
15.38. Calculate the difference in arrival time for the two paths.

52. A transmitter and receiver are separated by water. If the dofference in the lengths of the
direct and the reflected paths is 2m, calculate the phase difference at 400 MHz.

53. A PCS signal at 1.9 GHz arrives at antenna via two paths differing in length by 19 m.
(a) Calculate the difference in arrival time for the two paths.

(b) Calculate the phase difference between the two signals. (Hints: 360 0 is the same as 00
as far as phase is concerned, so multiples of 3600- can be ignored.)

54. Use the mobile-propagation model given in Equation (15.33) to calculate the loss over a
path of 5 km, with a base antenna 25 m above the ground, for a:
(a) cellular telephone at 800 MHz

(b) PCS at 1900 MHz

55. How rapidly would the signal fade if a cell phone (at 800 MHz) is in a car moving at 100
km/h?

56. Suppose that cells have a 3 km radius and that the vehicle in the previous problem is
moving directly across a cell. How long it will remain in that cell before it has to be
handed off to the next cell?

57. How many hexagonal cells with a 3 km radius would be needed to cover an area of 600
km2?

SYSTEMS
58. Explain each of the following:
(a) AM radio broadcast stations must often reduce power at night to avoid interference.

(b) CB radio at 27 MHz is intended for local communication but can often communicate for
hundreds of kilometers.

(c) HF communications are often severely disrupted when the aurora borealis (northern
lights) is visible.

(d) Sometimes VHF signals appear and cause interference hundreds of kilometers away from
their intended route.

(e) It is possible to communicate somewhat further than the visible horizon using UHF
signals.

59. Construct a table showing all the propagation methods discussed in this chapter, with the
frequency ranges and distances for which they are useful. Include comments concerning
economy and reliability of operation.