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How Radio Waves Act

How Radio Waves Act. Similar to Book Chapter 2 – sections 2.4 and 2.6. Lets Start with. Radio Waves are fast They go 300,000,000 meters every second – (The Speed of Light) (T4B05) A meter is a little more than 3 feet – its about 39 inches

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How Radio Waves Act

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  1. How Radio Waves Act Similar to Book Chapter 2 – sections 2.4 and 2.6

  2. Lets Start with • Radio Waves are fast • They go 300,000,000 meters every second – (The Speed of Light) (T4B05) • A meter is a little more than 3 feet – its about 39 inches • Geeky science type people usually like using the metric system with meters instead of feet to measure distance

  3. Electro-Magnetic Waves • Sort of like invisible ripples on a pond of water • The number of times the wave (or electricity) goes up and down in a second is the frequency (T4B02) • If the wave goes up and down (oscillates) more than 20,000 times a second it is called a Radio Wave (T4B04) • We call an up and down a hertz – so we measure frequency in hertz (T4A05) • Electricity in your wall plug goes up and down 60 times a second or 60 hertz – 60 Hertz means 60 cycles per second (T4B03) • Sound Waves go up and down – 300 to 3000 Hertz is called Voice Frequencies (T4B08) • Radio waves that Amateurs use to send messages go up and down millions of times every second • We add Mega in front of hertz to mean a million

  4. The String Analogy • Suppose you have a long piece of string – 300,000,000 meters long • If you cut the string into a whole bunch of little pieces how long will they be? • They would be short • If you cut the string into just a few pieces – how long will the pieces be? • They will be long

  5. Applied to Radio Waves • The length a radio wave travels while going up and down is called the wavelength • If the wavelength gets shorter then there must be more pieces of our string • As the wavelength get shorter the frequency increases (T4B06) • There is even a formula Wavelength = 300/ Frequency (T4B07)

  6. We Can Describe a Radio Wave by it’s Frequency or Wavelength • We often describe the different “bands” that Amateur Radio uses by The Physical Length of the Wave (T4B09) • Three Most Popular Amateur Radio Waves for sending messages are • 6 meters (50 to 54 megahertz – means the wave goes up and down 50 million to 54 million times every second • 2 meters [the one we use for the church] (144 to 148 megahertz – means the wave goes up and down 144 million to 148 million times every second) • 70 centimeters {centi means we chop one meter up into 100 little pieces} (420 to 450 megahertz – means the wave goes up and down 420 million to 450 million times every second)

  7. The Frequencies We Use Most • Over 30,000,000 Hertz (30 Megahertz) called VHF (Very High Frequency) • Yes this is also frequency range for TV signals – your VHF channels • Over 300,000,000 Hertz (300 Megahertz) called UHF (Ultra High Frequency) • These signals travel fairly straight line (line of sight) • Radio Horizon is where curvature of Earth Blocks the signals (T9B04) • Usually about 1/3rd further than you can see because VHF/UHF bend a little and earth seems less curved(T9B11)

  8. Long Distance Radio Waves • Radio waves that go around the world bounce of ionized layers in the atmosphere (ionosphere) • VHF and UHF don’t bounce – (can be nice to talk to satellites or space stations) • 50 to 60 miles easy – taller tower I have got to Southern Tennessee • VHF and UHF not usually heard for very long distances because they don’t bounce off the ionosphere (T9B01) • Sometimes VHF (especially 6 meters) go long distances • Around here especially common to go to South America • Get sporadic E reflection (T9B02) • E layer is the lowest ionized layer in the Ionosphere

  9. Dealing With Signal Blocks • Trees and Buildings can block signals – VHF/UHF travel bent lines of sight • When traveling signal may flutter clear and faded – called Picket Fencing (T9B10) • If someone tells you you were clear a minute ago and now they can hardly hear you try moving a few feet (T9B05) • Random reflections off of objects can do things • With our practice radio sessions we have had people move the car in the driveway and be heard or not heard

  10. Blasting Radio Waves Through Buildings • Shorter wavelengths cut through things better than longer waves • Example X-rays are very very short electromagnetic waves • We can’t X-ray into buildings but UHF will often work better in buildings • Common doing hospital emergency communications with 70 centimeters instead of 2 meters • Shorter wavelength of UHF allows the waves to more easily penetrate urban areas and buildings (T9B06) • The trade off is they are don’t have as much long range

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