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Short-wave Radio

Short-wave radio

Shortwave radio operates between the frequencies of 3,000 kHz and 30 MHz (30,000 kHz) and came to be referred to as such in the early days of radio because the wavelengths associated with this frequency range were shorter than those commonly in use at that time. An alternate name is HF, or high frequency. Short wavelengths are associated with high frequencies because there is an inverse relationship between frequency and wavelength.

FAQ : HF Propagation

Shortwave frequencies are capable of reaching the other side of the planet because they can be refracted by the ionosphere. The selection of a frequency to use to reach a target area depends on several factors:
- The distance from the transmitter to the target receiver
- Time of day. During the day, higher shortwave frequencies (> 10 MHz) can travel longer distances than lower; at night, this property is reversed.
- Season of the year.
- Solar conditions, including the number of sunspots, solar flares, and overall solar activity. Solar flares can prevent the ionosphere from reflecting or refracting radio waves.
- Type of modulation. Independent from the frequency, the receiver must be capable to receive the same modulation type of the transmitter

Modulation formats used

Types of modulation frequently used in the shortwave frequency range are:
- AM: amplitude modulation. Usually used for shortwave broadcasting, and some aeronautical communications.
- NFM: Narrow-band Frequency Modulation. Normally used for VHF communication, but some NFM transmissions occur in the higher HF frequencies.
- SSB: Single sideband(USB/LSB): This is used for long-range communications by ships and aircraft, for voice transmissions by amateur radio operators, and for broadcasting.
- CW: Continuous/Carrier wave, which is used for Morse code communications.
- DRM: Digital Radio Mondiale: digital modulation for use on bands below 30 MHz.
- Various radioteletype, fax, or other systems, which require special equipment to decode.

User base

Some major users of the shortwave radio band include
- Domestic broadcasting in countries with a widely dispersed population with few longwave, mediumwave, or FM stations serving them
- International broadcasting to foreign audiences (which explains why shortwave is also known as "world band radio")
- Utility stations transmitting messages not intended for a general public, such as aircraft flying between continents, encoded or ciphered diplomatic messages, weather reporting, or ships at sea
- Numbers Stations
- Amateur radio operators
- Time signal stations The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity estimates that there are approximately 600,000,000 shortwave radio receivers in use in 2002.

ITU Frequency allocation

The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), organized under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, allocates bands for various services in conferences every few years. The next WRC is scheduled to take place in 2007. At the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) in 1997, the following bands were allocated to international broadcasters (listed in the table):

Shortwave broadcasting channels are allocated with a 5 kHz separation. International broadcasters, however, may operate outside the normal WARC-allocated bands or use off-channel frequencies to attract attention in crowded bands. The new digital audio broadcasting format for shortwave DRM operates in 5khz, 10khz or 20 khz channels -- so there are some ongoing discussions with respect to specific band allocation for DRM. The power used by shortwave transmitters ranges from less than one watt for some experimental transmissions to 500 kilowatts and higher for intercontinental broadcasters. Shortwave transmitting centers often use specialized antenna designs to concentrate radio energy on a bearing aimed at the target area.

Shortwave propagation

Shortwave propagation software can be modeled by:
- Ioncap (for point to point calculations)
- VOACAP (for area coverage calcuations) Ioncap is propagation prediction software is available for free from the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTIA/ITS) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences [High Frequency Propagation Models]. VOACAP, an improved version of IONCAP, is a free professional HF propagation prediction program from NTIA/ITS, originally developed for Voice of America (VOA). VOACAP retains all of the theory as put forth by John Lloyd, George Haydon, Donald Lucas and Larry Teters in the 1975–1985 time-frame. Major improvements in the IONCAP program were made by Franklin Rhoads of the U.S. Navy Research Laboratory under the sponsorship of the Voice of America (1985–1996). Many of the newer features in VOACAP and VOAAREA were designed and implemented by Gregory Hand at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences who created VOAAREA.
- VOACAP is the result of 50+ years HF research and development
- VOACAP is considered to be the most professional HF system performance prediction tool
- VOACAP is currently used for HF frequency planning by Voice of America and a number of other international HF broadcasters Software: http://elbert.its.bldrdoc.gov/hf.html User guides: http://www.voacap.com/

International broadcasting

See International broadcasting for details on the history and practice of broadcasting to foreign audiences.

Amateur radio

The privilege of operating shortwave radio transmitters for non-commercial purposes is open to licensed amateurs in amateur radio. In the USA, they are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In the U.S., no license is required to own or operate shortwave receivers. Recently the FCC has added an amateur radio license which requires no knowledge of Morse code, making it easier for beginners to get involved; however, a working knowledge of Morse code is required to operate on shortwave bands. Amateur radio operators have made numerous technical advancements in the field of radio and make themselves available to transmit emergency communications when normal communications channels fail. Some amateurs practice operating off the power grid so as to be prepared for power loss. The 2003 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) removed the global requirement for Morse code proficiency needed to access most of the frequencies, BUT left the decision to each administrative body (e.g. Federal Communications Commission in the United States; Industry Canada in Canada). 20 countries (largely Western Europe, Canada & Australia) have phased out this requirement from their licenses and giving access to operators who previously couldn't operate in HF. On the other hand, this trend is not global. Over 200 countries (e.g. Russia, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, South America & Asia) have decided to keep the Morse Code requirement for the foreseeable future. The Federal Communications Commission is considering removal of the Morse Code requirement for the United States, but a decision is not expected until late 2006.

Shortwave listening

Many hobbyists listen to shortwave broadcasters without operating transmitters. In some cases, the goal is to obtain as many stations from as many countries as possible (DXing); others listen to specialized shortwave utility, or "ute", transmissions such as maritime, naval, aviation, or military signals. Others focus on intelligence signals. Many though tune the shortwave bands for the programmes of stations broadcasting to a general audience (such as the Voice of America, BBC World Service, Radio Australia, etc.). Nowadays, as the Internet evolves, the hobbyist can listen to shortwave signals via remotely controlled shortwave receivers around the world, even without owning a shortwave radio. See for example http://www.dxtuners.com Shortwave listeners, or SWLs, can obtain "QSL" cards from broadcasters or utility stations as trophies of the hobby.

Unusual signals

Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin that broadcast streams of numbers, words, or phonetic sounds. Although officially there is no indication of their origin, radio hobbyists have determined that many of them are used by intelligence services as one-way communication to agents in other countries. From 1976 to 1989, the Russian Woodpecker blotted out countless shortwave broadcasts daily; at first it was thought to be a secret submarine communication system, but it was quickly found to be an early-warning over the horizon radar system.

Shortwave's future

The development of direct broadcasts from satellites has reduced the demand for shortwave receivers, but there are still a great number of shortwave broadcasters. A new digital radio technology, Digital Radio Mondiale, is expected to improve the quality of shortwave audio from very poor to standards comparable to the FM broadcast band. The future of shortwave radio is threatened by the uprise of power line communication (PLC), also known as Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), where a data stream is transmitted over unshielded power lines. As the frequencies used overlap with the shortwave bands severe distortions make listening to shortwave radio near power lines difficult or impossible.

Shortwave broadcasts and music

Some musicians have been attracted to the unique aural qualities of shortwave radio. John Cage employed shortwave radios as live instruments in a number of pieces, and other musicians have sampled broadcasts, used tape loops of broadcasts, or drawn inspiration from the unusual sounds on some frequencies. Karlheinz Stockhausen used shortwave radio in works including Telemusik (1966), Hymnen (1966-67) and Spiral (1968), and Holger Czukay, Pat Metheny, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada,Rush, Meat Beat Manifesto, Daybrokenroses, and Wilco have also used or been inspired by broadcasts.

External links

- [http://www.anarc.org/naswa/swlguide/ Shortwave Listening Guide]
Category:Radio spectrum category:International broadcasting Category:Radio ko:단파

Radio

Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light.

Radio waves

Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, created whenever a charged object (e.g. an electron) accelerates with a frequency that lies in the radio frequency (RF) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. In radio, this acceleration is caused by an alternating current in an antenna. Radio frequencies occupy the range from a few tens of hertz to a few hundred gigahertz. Other types of electromagnetic radiation, with frequencies above the RF range are infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. Since the energy of an individual photon of radio frequency is too low to remove an electron from an atom, radio waves are classified as non-ionizing radiation.

non-ionizing radiation
Radio transmission diagram and electromagnetic waves.

Electromagnetic radiation travels (propagates) by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space equally well, and does not require a medium of transport (such as the aether). When radio waves pass an electrical conductor, the oscillating electric or magnetic field (depending on the shape of the conductor) induces an alternating current and voltage in the conductor. This can be transformed into audio or other signals that carry information. Although the word 'radio' is used to describe this phenomenon, the transmissions which we know as television, radio, radar, and cell phone are all classed as radio frequency emissions.

History and invention

The identity of the original inventor of radio, at the time called wireless telegraphy, is contentious. The controversy over who invented the radio, with the benefit of hindsight, can be broken down as follows: :Q1: Who invented 'wireless transmission of data' (spark-gap radio)? :A1: Alexander Popov, Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla (possibly in that order). :Q2: Who invented amplitude-modulated (AM) radio, so that more than one station can send signals (as opposed to spark-gap radio, where one transmitter covers the entire bandwidth of the spectrum)? :A2: Reginald Fessenden _{[http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/59.html]} and Lee de Forest. :Q3: Who invented frequency-modulated (FM) radio, so that an audio signal can avoid "static," that is, interference from electrical equipment and atmospherics? :A3: Edwin H. Armstrong and Lee de Forest. Early radios ran the entire power of the transmitter through a carbon microphone. While some early radios used some type of amplification through electric current or battery, through the mid 1920s the most common type of receiver was the crystal set. In the 1920s, amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized both radio receivers and transmitters.

Discovery and development

The theoretical basis of the propagation of electromagnetic waves was first described in 1873 by James Clerk Maxwell in his paper to the Royal Society A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field, which followed his work between 1861 and 1865. In 1878 David E. Hughes was the first to transmit and receive radio waves when he noticed that his induction balance caused noise in the receiver of his homemade telephone. He demonstrated his discovery to the Royal Society in 1880 but was told it was merely induction. It was Heinrich Rudolf Hertz who, between 1886 and 1888, first validated Maxwell's theory through experiment, demonstrating that radio radiation had all the properties of waves (now called Hertzian waves), and discovering that the electromagnetic equations could be reformulated into a partial differential equation called the wave equation. William Henry Ward was issued on April 30, 1872. Mahlon Loomis was issued on July 30, 1872. Landell de Moura, a Brazilian priest and scientist, conducted experiments after 1893 (but at least by 1894). He did not publicize his achievement until 1900. Claims have been made that Nathan Stubblefield invented radio before either Tesla or Marconi, but his device seems to have worked by induction transmission rather than radio transmission.

Wireless age

In 1893 in St. Louis, Missouri, Tesla made devices for his experiments with the electricity. Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the National Electric Light Association, he described and demonstrated in detail the principles of their work. [http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/people.php?taid=&id=1234597&lid=1] They contained all the elements that were later incorporated into radio systems before the development of the vacuum tube. He initially experimented with magnetic receivers, unlike the coherers used by Marconi and other early experimenters. [http://www.teslasociety.com/teslarec.pdf]. Tesla is usually considered the first to apply the mechanism of electrical conduction to wireless practices. On 19 August 1894, British physicist Sir Oliver Lodge demonstrated the reception of Morse code signalling using radio waves using a detecting device called a coherer, a tube filled with iron filings which had been invented by Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti at Fermo in Italy in 1884. Edouard Branly of France and Popov of Russia later produced improved versions of the coherer. Alexander Popov, who was the first to develop a practical communication system based on the coherer, is usually considered to have been the inventor of radio. In 1894 he built a coherer and presented it to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society on May 7 1895 [http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/milestones_photos/popov.html]. In March 1896, he effected transmission of radio waves between different campus buildings in Saint Petersburg, but didn't care to apply for a patent. The Indian physicist, Jagdish Chandra Bose, during the years 1894-1900, performed pioneering research on radio waves and created waves as short as 5 mm. [http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/people.php?taid=&id=1234735&lid=1] In November 1894 J.C. Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using electromagnetic waves, confirming that communication signals can be sent without using wires. But he was not interested in patenting his work too. In 1896 Marconi was awarded what is sometimes recognised as the world's first patent for radio with British Patent 12039, Improvements in transmitting electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus there-for. In 1897 he established the world's first radio station on the Isle of Wight, England. The same year in the U.S., some key developments in radio's early history were created and patented by Tesla. The U.S. Patent Office reversed its decision in 1904, awarding Marconi a patent for the invention of radio, possibly influenced by Marconi's financial backers in the States, who included Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie. Some believe this was made for financial reasons, allowing the U.S. government to avoid having to pay the royalties that were being claimed by Tesla for use of his patents. In 1909, Marconi, with Karl Ferdinand Braun, was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for "contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy". However, Tesla's patent (number 645576) was reinstated in 1943 by the U.S. Supreme Court, shortly after his death. This decision was based on the fact that prior art existed before the establishment of Marconi's patent. Some believe the decision was also made for financial reasons, to allow the U.S. government to avoid having to pay damages that were being claimed by the Marconi Company for use of its patents during World War I.

"Wireless" factories and vacuum tubes

Marconi opened the world's first "wireless" factory in Hall Street, Chelmsford, England in 1898, employing around 50 people. Around 1900, Tesla opened the Wardenclyffe Tower facility and advertised services. By 1903, the tower structure neared completion. Various theories exist on how Tesla intended to achieve the goals of this wireless system (reportedly, a 200 kW system). Tesla claimed that Wardenclyffe, as part of a World System of transmitters, would have allowed secure multichannel transceiving of information, universal navigation, time synchronization, and a global location system. The next great invention was the vacuum tube detector, invented by a team of Westinghouse engineers. On Christmas Eve, 1906, Reginald Fessenden (using his heterodyne principle) transmitted the first radio audio broadcast in history from Brant Rock, Massachusetts. Ships at sea heard a broadcast that included Fessenden playing O Holy Night on the violin and reading a passage from the Bible. The world's first radio news program was broadcast August 31, 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan. The world's first regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment commenced in 1922 from the Marconi Research Centre at Writtle near Chelmsford, England.

20th century

Developments in the early 20th century (1900-1959):
- Aircraft used commercial AM radio stations for navigation. This continued through the early 1960s when VOR systems finally became widespread (though AM stations are still marked on U.S. aviation charts).
- In the early 1930s, single sideband and frequency modulation were invented by amateur radio operators. By the end of the decade, they were established commercial modes.
- Radio was used to transmit pictures visible as television as early as the 1920s. Standard analog transmissions started in North America and Europe in the 1940s.
- In 1954, Regency introduced a pocket transistor radio, the TR-1, powered by a "standard 22.5V Battery". Developments in the latter half of the 20th century (1960-1999):
- In 1960, Sony introduced their first transistorized radio, small enough to fit in a vest pocket, and able to be powered by a small battery. It was durable, because there were no tubes to burn out. Over the next twenty years, transistors displaced tubes almost completely except for very high power, or very high frequency, uses.
- In 1963 color television was commercially transmitted, and the first (radio) communication satellite, TELSTAR, was launched.
- In the late 1960s, the U.S. long-distance telephone network began to convert to a digital network, employing digital radios for many of its links.
- In the 1970s, LORAN became the premier radio navigation system. Soon, the U.S. Navy experimented with satellite navigation, culminating in the invention and launch of the GPS constellation in 1987.
- In the early 1990s, amateur radio experimenters began to use personal computers with audio cards to process radio signals. In 1994, the U.S. Army and DARPA launched an aggressive, successful project to construct a software radio that could become a different radio on the fly by changing software.
- Digital transmissions began to be applied to broadcasting in the late 1990s.

Uses of radio

software radio software radio Many of radio's early uses were maritime, for sending telegraphic messages using Morse code between ships and land. One of the earliest users included the Japanese Navy scouting the Russian fleet during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. One of the most memorable uses of marine telegraphy was during the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, including communications between operators on the sinking ship and nearby vessels, and communications to shore stations listing the survivors. Radio was used to pass on orders and communications between armies and navies on both sides in World War I; Germany used radio communications for diplomatic messages once its submarine cables were cut by the British. The United States passed on President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points to Germany via radio during the war. Broadcasting began to become feasible in the 1920s, with the widespread introduction of radio receivers, particularly in Europe and the United States. Besides broadcasting, point-to-point broadcasting, including telephone messages and relays of radio programs, became widespread in the 1920s and 1930s. Another use of radio in the pre-war years was the development of detecting and locating aircraft and ships by the use of radar (RAdio Detecting And Ranging). Today, radio takes many forms, including wireless networks, mobile communications of all types, as well as radio broadcasting. Read more about radio's history. Before the advent of television, commercial radio broadcasts included not only news and music, but dramas, comedies, variety shows, and many other forms of entertainment. Radio was unique among dramatic presentation that it used only sound. For more, see radio programming. There are a number of uses of radio:

Audio

- AM broadcast radio sends music and voice in the Medium Frequency (MF—0.300 MHz to 3 MHz) radio spectrum. AM radio uses amplitude modulation, in which louder sounds at the microphone causes wider fluctuations in the transmitter power while the transmitter frequency remains unchanged. Transmissions are affected by static because lightning and other sources of radio add their radio waves to the ones from the transmitter.
- FM broadcast radio sends music and voice, with higher fidelity than AM radio. In frequency modulation, louder sounds at the microphone cause the transmitter frequency to fluctuate farther, the transmitter power stays constant. FM is transmitted in the Very High Frequency (VHF—30 MHz to 300 MHz) radio spectrum. FM requires more radio frequency space than AM and there are more frequencies available at higher frequencies, so there can be more stations, each sending more information. Another effect is that shorter VHF radio waves act more like light, travelling in straight lines, hence the reception range is generally limited to about 50-100 miles. During unusual upper atmospheric conditions, FM signals are occasionally reflected back towards the Earth by the ionosphere, resulting in Long distance FM reception. FM receivers are subject to the capture effect, which causes the radio to only receive the strongest signal when multiple signals appear on the same frequency. FM receivers are relatively immune to lightning and spark interference.
- FM Subcarrier services are secondary signals transmitted "piggyback" along with the main program. Special receivers are required to utilize these services. Analog channels may contain alternative programming, such as reading services for the blind, background music or stereo sound signals. In some extremely crowded metropolitan areas, the subchannel program might be an alternate foreign language radio program for various ethnic groups. Subcarriers can also transmit digital data, such as station identification, the current song's name, web addresses, or stock quotes. In some countries, FM radios automatically retune themselves to the same channel in a different district by using sub-bands.
- Aviation voice radios use VHF AM. AM is used so that multiple stations on the same channel can be received. (Use of FM would result in stronger stations blocking out reception of weaker stations due to FM's capture effect). Aircraft fly high enough that their transmitters can be received hundreds of miles (kilometres) away, even though they are using VHF.
- Marine voice radios can use AM in the shortwave High Frequency (HF—3 MHz to 30 MHz) radio spectrum for very long ranges or narrowband FM in the VHF spectrum for much shorter ranges.
- Government, police, fire and commercial voice services use narrowband FM on special frequencies. Fidelity is sacrificed to use a smaller range of radio frequencies, usually five kilohertz of deviation (5 thousand cycles per second), rather than the 75 used by FM broadcasts and 25 used by TV sound.
- Civil and military HF (high frequency) voice services use shortwave radio to contact ships at sea, aircraft and isolated settlements. Most use single sideband voice (SSB), which uses less bandwidth than AM. SSB sounds like ducks quacking on an AM radio. Viewed as a graph of frequency versus power, an AM signal shows power where the frequencies of the voice add and subtract with the main radio frequency. SSB cuts the bandwidth in half by suppressing the carrier and (usually) lower sideband. This also makes the transmitter about three times more powerful, because it doesn't need to transmit the unused carrier and sideband.
- TETRA, Terrestrial Trunked Radio is a digital cell phone system for military, police and ambulances.
- Commercial services such as XM and Sirius offer digital Satellite radio.

Telephony

- Cell phones transmit to a local cell transmitter/receiver site, which connects to the public service telephone network through an optic fiber or microwave radio. When the phone leaves the cell radio's area, the central computer switches the phone to a new cell. Cell phones originally used FM, but now most use various digital encodings.
- Satellite phones come in two types: INMARSAT and Iridium. Both types provide world-wide coverage. INMARSAT uses geosynchronous satellites, with aimed high-gain antennas on the vehicles. Iridium provides cell phones, except the cells are satellites in orbit.

Video

- Television sends the picture as AM, and the sound as FM, on the same radio signal.
- Digital television encodes three bits as eight strengths of AM signal. The bits are sent out-of-order to reduce the effect of bursts of radio noise. A Reed-Solomon error correction code lets the receiver detect and correct errors in the data. Although any data could be sent, the standard is to use MPEG-2 for video, and five CD-quality (44.1 kHz) audio channels (center, left, right, left-back and right back). With all this, it takes only half the bandwidth of an analog TV signal because the video data is compressed.

Navigation

- All satellite navigation systems use satellites with precision clocks. The satellite transmits its position, and the time of the transmission. The receiver listens to four satellites, and can figure its position as being on a line that is tangent to a spherical shell around each satellite, determined by the time-of-flight of the radio signals from the satellite. A computer in the receiver does the math.
- Loran systems also used time-of-flight radio signals, but from radio stations on the ground.
- VOR systems (used by aircraft), have a antenna array that transmits two signals simultaneously. A directional signal rotates like a lighthouse at a fixed rate. When the directional signal is facing north, an omnidirectional signal pulses. By measuring the difference in phase of these two signals, an aircraft can determine its bearing from the station. An aircraft can get readings from two VORs, and locate its position at the intersection of the two beams.
- Radio direction-finding is the oldest form of radio navigation. Before 1960 navigators used movable loop antennas to locate commercial AM stations near cities. In some cases they used marine radiolocation beacons, which share a range of frequencies just above AM radio with amateur radio operators.

Radar

- Radar detects things at a distance by bouncing radio waves off them. The delay caused by the echo measures the distance. The direction of the beam determines the direction of the reflection. The polarization and frequency of the return can sense the type of surface.
- Navigational radars scan a wide area two to four times per minute. They use very short waves that reflect from earth and stone. They are common on commercial ships and long-distance commercial aircraft
- General purpose radars generally use navigational radar frequencies, but modulate and polarize the pulse so the receiver can determine the type of surface of the reflector. The best general-purpose radars distinguish the rain of heavy storms, as well as land and vehicles. Some can superimpose sonar data and map data from GPS position.
- Search radars scan a wide area with pulses of short radio waves. They usually scan the area two to four times a minute. Sometimes search radars use the doppler effect to separate moving vehicles from clutter.
- Targeting radars use the same principle as search radar but scan a much smaller area far more often, usually several times a second or more.
- Weather radars resemble search radars, but use radio waves with circular polarization and a wavelength to reflect from water droplets. Some weather radar use the doppler to measure wind speeds.

Emergency services

- emergency position-indicating rescue beacons (EPIRBs), emergency locating transmitters or personal locator beacons are small radio transmitters that satellites can use to locate a person or vehicle needing rescue. Their purpose is to help rescue people in the first day, when survival is most likely. There are several types, with widely-varying performance.

Data (digital radio)

- The oldest form of digital broadcast was spark gap telegraphy, used by pioneers such as Marconi. By pressing the key, the operator could send messages in Morse code by energizing a rotating commutating spark gap. The rotating commutator produced a tone in the receiver, where a simple spark gap would produce a hiss, indistinguishable from static. Spark gap transmitters are now illegal, because their transmissions span several hundred megahertz. This is very wasteful of both radio frequencies and power.
- The next advance was continuous wave telegraphy, or CW, in which a pure radio frequency, produced by a vacuum tube electronic oscillator was switched on and off by a key. A receiver with a local oscillator would "heterodyne" with the pure radio frequency, creating a whistle-like audio tone. CW uses less than 100Hz of bandwidth. CW is still used, these days primarily by amateur radio operators (hams). Strictly, on-off keying of a carrier should be known as "Interrupted Continuous Wave" or ICW.
- Radio teletypes usually operate on short-wave (HF) and are much loved by the military because they create written information without a skilled operator. They send a bit as one of two tones. Groups of five or seven bits become a character printed by a teletype. From about 1925 to 1975, radio teletype was how most commercial messages were sent to less developed countries. These are still used by the military and weather services.
- Aircraft use a 1200 Baud radioteletype service over VHF to send their ID, altitude and position, and get gate and connecting-flight data.
- Microwave dishes on satellites, telephone exchanges and TV stations usually use quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). QAM sends data by changing both the phase and the amplitude of the radio signal. Engineers like QAM because it packs the most bits into a radio signal. Usually the bits are sent in "frames" that repeat. A special bit pattern is used to locate the beginning of a frame.
- Systems that need reliability, or that share their frequency with other services may use "corrected orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing" or COFDM. COFDM breaks a digital signal into as many as several hundred slower subchannels. The digital signal is often sent as QAM on the subchannels. Modern COFDM systems use a small computer to make and decode the signal with digital signal processing, which is more flexible and far less expensive than older systems that implemented separate electronic channels. COFDM resists fading and ghosting because the narrow-channel QAM signals can be sent slowly. An adaptive system, or one that sends error-correction codes can also resist interference, because most interference can affect only a few of the QAM channels. COFDM is used for WiFi, some cell phones, Digital Radio Mondiale, Eureka 147, and many other local area network, digital TV and radio standards.
- Most new radio systems are digital, see also:Digital TV, Satellite Radio, Digital Audio Broadcasting.

Heating

Radio-frequency energy generated for heating of objects is generally not intended to radiate outside of the generating equipment, to prevent interferance with other radio signals.
- Microwave ovens use intense radio waves to heat food. (Note: It is a common misconception that the radio waves are tuned to the resonant frequency of water molecules. The microwave frequencies used are actually about a factor of 10 below the resonant frequency.)
- Diathermy equipment is used in surgery for sealing of blood vessels.
- Induction furnaces are used for melting metal for casting.

Mechanical Force

- Tractor beams: Radio waves exert small electrostatic and magnetic forces. These are enough to perform station-keeping in microgravity environments.
- Conceptually, Spacecraft propulsion: Radiation pressure from intense radio waves has been proposed as a propulsion method for an interstellar probe called Starwisp. Since the waves are long, the probe could be a very light-weight metal mesh, and thus achieve higher accelerations than if it were a solar sail.

Other

solar sail
- Amateur radio is a hobby where enthusiasts who purchase or build their own equipment and use radio for their own enjoyment. They may also provide an emergency and public-service radio service. This has been of great use, saving lives in many instances. Radio amateurs are able to use frequencies in a large number of narrow bands throughout the radio spectrum. Radio amateurs use all forms of encoding, including obsolete and experimental ones. Several forms of radio were pioneered by radio amateurs and later became commercially important, including FM, single-sideband AM, digital packet radio and satellite repeaters.
- Personal radio services such as Citizens' Band Radio, Family Radio Service, Multi-Use Radio Service and others exist in North America to provide simple, (usually) short range communication for individuals and small groups, without the overhead of licensing. Similar services exist in other parts of the world.
- Wireless energy transfer: A number of schemes have been proposed that transmit power using microwaves, and the technique has been demonstrated. (See Microwave power transmission). These schemes include, for example, solar power stations in orbit beaming energy down to terrestrial users.
- Radio remote control: Use of radio waves to transmit control data to a remote object as in some early forms of guided missile, some early TV remotes and a range of model boats, cars and aeroplanes. Large industrial remote-controlled equipment such as cranes and switching locomotives now usually use digital radio techniques to ensure safety and reliability.

External links

- [http://www.satelliteradionews.net/ Satellite Radio News.Net] Everything you need to know about Satellite Radio.
- Horzepa, Stan, "[http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2003/10/10/1/ Surfin': Who Invented Radio]?". Arrl.org. 10 October 2003.
- IAteacher: [http://www.iateacher.com/Lesson%206/L6P1-Title.htm Interactive Explanation of Radio Receiver Construction]
- U.S. Supreme Court, "[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=320&invol=1 Marconi Wireless Telegraph co. of America v. United States]". 320 U.S. 1. Nos. 369, 373. Argued 9 April-12, 1943. Decided 21 June 1943.
- Radio Locator: [http://www.radio-locator.com/ Find a radio station in your area]
- On The Radio.Net: [http://www.ontheradio.net/ Find phone numbers and websites for commercials you heard on the radio!]
- [http://www.ovrc.org/ Ottawa Vintage Radio Club of Canada]
- [http://www.xmradio.com XM Satellite Radio]
- [http://www.oldradio.com The Broadcast Archive - Radio History on the Web!]
- [http://ndaeuro.online.fr/gargot/index.htm Radiozone]
- Directories
- [http://www.looksmart.com/eus1/eus317828/eus317855/eus52445/ LookSmart - Radio]
- [http://dmoz.org/Arts/Radio/ Open Directory Project - Radio]
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/ Yahoo! - Radio] Category:Radio Category:Sound ja:放送 simple:Radio th:วิทยุ

Frequency

: Frequency is the measurement of the number of times that a repeated event occurs per unit time. It is also defined as the rate of change of phase of a sinusoidal waveform.

Measurement

To calculate the frequency of an event, the number of occurrences of the event within a fixed time interval are counted, and then divided by the length of the time interval. In SI units, the result is measured in hertz (Hz), named after the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. 1 Hz means that an event repeats once per second, 2 Hz is twice per second, and so on. This unit was originally called a cycle per second (cps), which is still used sometimes. Other units that are used to measure frequency include revolutions per minute (rpm) and radians per second (rad/s). Heart rate and musical tempo are measured in beats per minute (BPM). An alternative method to calculate frequency is to measure the time between two consecutive occurrences of the event (the period) and then compute the frequency as the reciprocal of this time: :

f = \frac

where T is the period. A more accurate measurement takes many cycles into account and averages the period between each.

Frequency of waves

Measuring the frequency of sound, electromagnetic waves (such as radio or light), electrical signals, or other waves, the frequency in hertz is the number of cycles of the repetitive waveform per second. If the wave is a sound, frequency is what mainly characterizes its pitch. Frequency has an inverse relationship to the concept of wavelength. The frequency f is equal to the speed v of the wave divided by the wavelength λ (lambda) of the wave: :

f = \frac

In the special case of electromagnetic waves moving through a vacuum, then v = c, where c is the speed of light in a vacuum, and this expression becomes: :

f = \frac

NOTE: When waves travel from one medium to another, their frequency remains exactly the same - only their wavelength and/or speed changes.

Invariance

Apart from its being modified by Doppler effect, frequency is an invariant quantity in the universe. That is, it cannot be changed by any physical process unlike velocity of propagation or wavelength.

Examples

- The frequency of the standard pitch A above middle C is usually defined as 440 Hz, that is, 440 cycles per second () and known as concert pitch, to which an orchestra tunes.
- A baby can hear tones with oscillations up to approximately 20,000 Hz, but these frequencies become more difficult to hear as people age.
- In Europe, the frequency of the alternating current in mains is 50 Hz (close to the tone G).
- In North America, the frequency of the alternating current is 60 Hz (close to the tone B flat — that is, a minor third above the European frequency). The frequency of the 'hum' in an audio recording can show where the recording was made — in Europe or in America.

External links

- [http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-wavelength.htm Conversion: frequency to wavelength and back]
- [http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-period.htm Conversion: period, cycle duration, periodic time to frequency] Category:Physical quantity Category:Sound Category:Wave mechanics ko:진동수 ja:周波数 th:ความถี่

Hertz

:See also the car rental company, The Hertz Corporation, and Hertz (disambiguation). ---- The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the SI unit of frequency. It is named in honor of the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz who made important scientific contributions to electromagnetism.

Definition

One hertz is defined as one cycle per second. :1 Hz = 1 s⁻¹

SI multiples

Explanation

One hertz simply means "one per second" (1 / s); 100 Hz means "one hundred per second", and so on. The unit may be applied to any periodic event – for example, a clock might be said to tick at 1 Hz, or a human heart might be said to beat at 1.2 Hz. Frequency of random events, such as radioactive decays, is expressed in becquerels. The name hertz was adopted by the CGPM (Conférence générale des poids et mesures) in 1960, replacing the previous name for the unit, cycles per second (cps), along with its related multiples, primarily kilocycles (kc) and megacycles (Mc). Hertz largely replaced cycles in common use by 1970.

Wavelength

:For the album by Van Morrison, see Wavelength (album). The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. It is commonly designated by the Greek letter lambda (λ). In a sine wave, the wavelength is the distance between the midpoints of the wave: Image:Wavelength.png The x axis represents distance, and I would be some varying quantity at a given point in time as a function of x, for instance air pressure for a sound wave or strength of the electric or magnetic field for light. Wavelength λ has an inverse relationship to frequency f, the number of peaks to pass a point in a given time. The wavelength is equal to the speed of the wave type divided by the frequency of the wave. When dealing with electromagnetic radiation in a vacuum, this speed is the speed of light c, for signals (waves) in air, this is the speed of sound in air. The relationship is given by: :

\lambda = \frac

where: :λ = wavelength of a sound wave or electromagnetic wave :c = speed of light in vacuum = 299,792.458 km/s ~ 300,000 km/s = 300,000,000 m/s or :c = speed of sound in air = 343 m/s at 20 °C (68 °F) :f = frequency of the wave in 1/s = Hz For radio waves this relationship is approximated with the formula: wavelength λ (in metres) = 300 / frequency (in megahertz).
For sound waves this relationship is approximated with the formula: wavelength λ (in metres) = 333 / frequency (in hertz). When light waves (and other electromagnetic waves) enter a medium, their wavelength is reduced by a factor equal to the refractive index n of the medium but the frequency of the wave is unchanged. The wavelength of the wave in the medium, λ' is given by: :

\lambda^\prime = \frac

where: :λ₀ is the vacuum wavelength of the wave Wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, no matter what medium they are travelling through, are usually quoted in terms of the vacuum wavelength, although this is not always explicitly stated. Louis de Broglie discovered that all particles with momentum have a wavelength associated with their quantum mechanical wavefunction, called the de Broglie wavelength.

External link

- [http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-wavelength.htm Conversion: Wavelength to frequency and vice versa - The calculator] Category:Length Category:Wave mechanics ko:파장 ja:波長 th:ความยาวคลื่น

Ionosphere

The Ionosphere is the part of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. It forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere and has practical importance because it influences high-frequency (HF) (3–30 MHz) radio propagation to distant places on the Earth.

Geophysics

The lowest part of the Earth's atmosphere is called the troposphere and it extends from the surface up to about 10 km (6 miles). The atmosphere above 10 km is called the stratosphere, followed by the mesosphere. It is in the stratosphere that incoming solar radiation creates the ozone layer. At heights of above 80 km (50 miles), in the thermosphere, the atmosphere is so thin that free electrons can exist for short periods of time before they are captured by a nearby positive ion. The number of these free electrons is sufficient to affect radio propagation. This portion of the atmosphere is ionized and contains a plasma which is referred to as the ionosphere. In a plasma, the negative free electrons and the positive ions are attracted to each other by the electromagnetic force, but they are too energetic to stay fixed together in an electrically neutral molecule.
plasma
Solar radiation at ultraviolet (UV) and shorter X-Ray wavelengths is considered to be ionizing since photons of energy at these frequencies are capable of dislodging an electron from a neutral gas atom or molecule during a collision. At the same time, however, an opposing process called recombination begins to take place in which a free electron is "captured" by a positive ion if it moves close enough to it. As the gas density increases at lower altitudes, the recombination process accelerates since the gas molecules and ions are closer together. The point of balance between these two processes determines the degree of ionization present at any given time. The ionization depends primarily on the Sun and its activity. The amount of ionization in the ionosphere varies greatly with the amount of radiation received from the sun. Thus there is a diurnal (time of day) effect time and a seasonal effect. The local winter hemisphere is tipped away from the Sun, thus there is less received solar radiation. The activity of the sun is associated with the sunspot cycle, with more radiation occurring with more sunspots. Radiation received also varies with geographical location (polar, auroral zones, mid-latitudes, and equatorial regions). There are also mechanisms that disturb the ionosphere and decrease the ionization. There are disturbances such as solar flares and the associated release of charged particles into the solar wind which reaches the Earth and interacts with its geomagnetic field.

The Ionospheric Layers

geomagnetic
Solar radiation, acting on the different compositions of the atmosphere with height, generates layers of ionization:

D Layer

The D layer is the innermost layer, 50 km to 90 km above the surface of the Earth. Ionization here is due to Lyman series-alpha hydrogen radiation at a wavelength of 121.5 nanometre (nm) ionizing nitric oxide (NO). In addition, when the sun is active with 50 or more sunspots, Hard X-rays (wavelength < 1 nm) ionize the air (N₂, O₂). During the night cosmic rays produce a residual amount of ionization. Recombination is high in this layer, thus the net ionization effect is very low and as a result the high-frequency (HF) radio waves aren't reflected by the D layer. The frequency of collision between electrons and other particles in this region during the day is about 10 million collisions per second. The D layer is mainly responsible for absorption of HF radio waves, particularly at 10 MHz and below, with progressively smaller absorption as the frequency gets higher. The absorption is small at night and greatest about midday. The layer reduces greatly after sunset, but remains due to galactic cosmic rays. A common example of the D layer in action is the disappearance of distant AM broadcast band stations in the daytime.

E Layer

The E layer is the middle layer, 90km to 120km above the surface of the Earth. Ionization is due to Soft X-Ray (1-10 nm) and far ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation ionization of molecular oxygen (O₂). This layer can only reflect radio waves having frequencies less than 10 MHz. It has a negative effect on frequencies above 10 MHz due to its partial absorption of these waves. During the daytime the solar wind presses this layer closer to the Earth, thereby limiting how far it can reflect radio waves. On the night side of the Earth, the solar wind drags the ionosphere further away, thereby greatly increasing the range which radio waves can travel by reflection.

E_S

The E_s layer or sporadic E-layer. Sporadic E propagation is characterized by small clouds of intense ionization, which can support radio wave reflections from 25 – 225 MHz. Sporadic-E events may last for just a few minutes to several hours. There are multiple causes of sporadic-E that are still being pursued by researchers. This propagation occurs most frequently during the summer months with major occurrences during the summer, and minor occurrences during the winter. During the summer, this mode is popular due to its high signal levels. The skip distances are generally around 1000km (620 miles).

F Layer

The F layer or region, also known as the Appleton layer, is 120km to 400km above the surface of the Earth. Here extreme ultraviolet (UV) (10-100 nm) solar radiation ionizes molecular oxygen (O₂). The F region is the most important part of the ionosphere in terms of HF communications. The F layer combines into one layer at night, and in the presence of sunlight (during daytime), it divides into two layers, the F₁ and F₂. The F layers are responsible for most skywave propagation of radio waves, and are thickest and most reflective of radio on the side of the Earth facing the sun.

Anomalies to the Ideal Model

The statements above assumed that each layer was smooth and uniform. In reality the ionosphere is a lumpy, cloudy layer with irregular patches of ionization.

Winter Anomaly

At mid-latitudes, the F₂ layer daytime ion production is higher in the summer, as expected, since the sun shines more directly on the earth. However, there are seasonal changes in the molecular-to-atomic ratio of the neutral atmosphere that cause the summer ion loss rate to be even higher. The result is that the increase in the summertime loss overwhelms the increase in summertime production, and total F₂ ionization is actually lower, not higher, in the local summer months. This effect is known as the winter anomaly. The anomaly is always present in the northern hemisphere, but is usually absent in the southern hemisphere during periods of low solar activity.

Equatorial Anomaly

radio
Within approximately ± 20 degrees of the magnetic equator, is the Equatorial Anomaly. It is the occurrence of a trough of concentrated ionization in the F₂ layer. The Earth's magnetic field lines are horizontal at the equator. Solar heating and tidal oscillations in the lower ionosphere move plasma up and across the magnetic field lines. This sets up a sheet of electric current in the E region which, with the horizontal magnetic field, forces ionization up into the F layer, concentrating at ± 20 degrees from the magnetic equator. This phenomenon is known as the equatorial fountain.

Ionospheric Perturbations

X-rays: Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID)

When the sun is active, strong solar flares can occur that will hit the Earth with hard X-rays on the sunlit side of the Earth. They will penetrate to the D-region, release electrons which will rapidly increase absorption causing a High Frequency (3-30 MHz) radio blackout. During this time Very Low Frequency (3 - 30 kHz) signals will become reflected by the D layer instead of the E layer, avoiding the signal loss through the D layer. As soon as the X-rays end, the sudden ionospheric disturbance (SID) or radio black-out ends as the electrons in the D-region recombine rapidly and signal strengths return to normal.

Protons: Polar Cap Absorption (PCA)

Associated with solar flares is a release of high-energy protons. These particles can hit the earth within 15 minutes to 2 hours of the solar flare. The protons spiral around and down the magnetic field lines of the Earth and penetrate into the atmosphere near the magnetic poles increasing the ionization of the D and E layers. PCA's typically last anywhere from about an hour to several days, with an average of around 24 to 36 hours.

Geomagnetic Storms

A geomagnetic storm is a temporary intense disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere.
- During a geomagnetic storm the F₂ layer will become unstable, fragment, and may even disappear completely.
- In the Northern and Southern pole regions of the Earth aurora will be observable in the sky.

Radio Application

DX communication, popular among amateur radio enthusiasts, is a term given to communication over great distances. When using High-Frequency bands, the ionosphere is utilized to reflect the transmitted radio beam. The beam returns to the Earth's surface, and may then be reflected back into the ionosphere for a second bounce. Radio waves "hop" from the Earth to the ionosphere and back to the Earth. When a radio wave reaches the ionosphere, the electric field in the wave forces the electrons in the ionosphere into oscillation at the same frequency as the radio wave. Some of the radio wave energy is given up to this mechanical oscillation. The oscillating electron will then either be lost to recombination or will re-radiate the original wave energy back downward again. Total reflection can occur when the collision frequency of the ionosphere is less than the radio frequency, and if the electron density in the ionosphere is great enough. The critical frequency is the limiting frequency at or below which a radio wave is reflected by an ionospheric layer at vertical incidence. If the transmitted frequency is higher than the plasma frequency of the ionosphere, then the electrons cannot respond fast enough, and they are not able to re-radiate the signal. It is calculated as shown below: :

f = 9 \times 10^ \sqrt

where N = electron density per cm³ and f_critical is in MHz. The Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) is defined as the upper frequency limit that can be used for transmission between two points at a specified time. :

f = \frac

where I = angle of attack, the angle of the wave relative to the horizon, and sin is the sine function. The cutoff frequency is the frequency below which a radio wave fails to penetrate a layer of the ionosphere at the incidence angle required for transmission between two specified points by reflection from the layer.

Other Applications

The open system space tether, which uses the ionosphere, is being researched. The space tether uses plasma contactors and the ionosphere as parts of a circuit to extract energy from the Earth's magnetic field by electromagnetic induction.

Measurements

Ionograms

Ionograms show the virtual heights and critical frequencies of the ionospheric layers and which are measured by an ionosonde. An ionosonde sweeps a range of frequencies, usually from 0.1 to 30 MHz, transmitting at vertical incidence to the ionosphere. As the frequency increases, each wave is refracted less by the ionization in the layer, and so each penetrates further before it is reflected. Eventually, a frequency is reached that enables the wave to penetrate the layer without being reflected. For ordinary mode waves, this occurs when the transmitted frequency just exceeds the peak plasma, or critical, frequency of the layer. Tracings of the reflected high frequency radio pulses are known as ionograms.

Solar Flux

Solar Flux is a measurement of the intensity of solar radio emissions at a frequency of 2800 MHz made using a radio telescope located in Ottawa, Canada. Known also as the 10.7 cm flux (the wavelength of the radio signals at 2800 MHz), this solar radio emission has been shown to be proportional to sunspot activity. However, the level of the sun's ultraviolet and X-ray emissions is primarily responsible for causing ionization in the earth's upper atmosphere. We now have data from the GOES spacecraft that measures the background X-Ray flux from the sun, a parameter more closely related to the ionization levels in the ionosphere.
- The A and K indices are a measurement of the behavior of the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field. The K index uses a scale from 0 to 9 to measure the change in the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field. A new K index is determined at the Table Mountain Observatory, north of Boulder, Colorado.
- The geomagnetic activity levels of the earth are measured by the fluctuation of the Earth's magnetic field in a unit called Gauss. The earth's magnetic field is measured around the planet by many observatories. The data retrieved is processed and turned into measurement indices. Daily measurements for the entire planet are made available through an estimate of the ap index, called the planetary A-index (PAI).

Scientific research on Ionspheric propagation

Scientists also are exploring the structure of the ionosphere by bouncing radio waves of different frequencies from it, and using special receivers to detect how the reflected waves have changed from the transmitted waves. Project HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) investigations focus on studying the properties and behavior of ionospheric plasma, with particular emphasis on being able to understand and use it to enhance communications and surveillance systems for both civilian and defense purposes. It started in 1993 for a proposed twenty year experiment. CUTLASS (Co-operative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System) researches the high latitude ionosphere using radar. Scientists are also examining the ionosphere by the changes to radio waves from satellites and stars passing through it. The Arecibo radio telescope located in Puerto Rico, was originally intended to study Earth's ionosphere.

History

In 1899, Nikola Tesla researched ways to utilize the ionosphere to transmit energy wirelessly over long distances. In his experiments, he transmitted extremely low frequencies between the earth and ionosphere, up to what is called the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer (Grotz, 1997). Tesla made mathematical calculations and computations based on his experiments. He predicted the resonant frequency of this area within 15% of modern accepted experimental value. (Corum, 1986) In the 1950s, researchers confirmed the resonant frequency was at the low range 6.8 Hz. Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal on December 12, 1901, in St. John's, Newfoundland (now in Canada) using a 400-foot kite-supported antenna for reception. The transmitting station in Poldhu, Cornwall used a spark-gap transmitter to produce a signal with a frequency of approximately 500 kHz and a power of 100 times more than any radio signal previously produced. The message received was three dots, the Morse code for the letter S. To reach Newfoundland the signal would have to bounce off the ionosphere twice. Dr. Jack Belrose has recently contested this, however, based on theoretical work as well as an actual experiments. However, Marconi did achieve transatlantic wireless communications beyond a shadow of doubt in Glace Bay one year later. In 1902, Oliver Heaviside proposed the existence of the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer of the ionosphere which bears his name. Heaviside's proposal included means by which radio signals are transmitted around the Earth's curvature. Heaviside's proposal, coupled with Planck's law of black body radiation, may have hampered the growth of radio astronomy for the detection of electromagnetic waves from celestial bodies until 1932 (and the development of high frequency radio transceivers). Also in 1902, Arthur Edwin Kennelly discovered some of the ionosphere's radio-electrical properties. In 1912, the U.S. Congress imposed the Radio Act of 1912 on amateur radio operators, limiting their operations to frequencies above 1.5 MHz (wavelength 200 meters or smaller). The government thought those frequencies were useless. This led to the discovery of HF radio propagation via the ionosphere in 1923. Edward V. Appleton was awarded in 1947 a Nobel Prize for his confirmation of the existence of the ionosphere in 1927. Lloyd Berkner first measured the height and density of the ionosphere. This permitted the first complete theory of short wave radio propagation. Maurice V. Wilkes and J. A. Ratcliffe researched the topic of radio propagation of very long radio waves in the ionosphere. Vitaly Ginzburg has developed a theory of electromagnetic wave propagation in plasmas such as the ionosphere. In 1962 the Canadian satellite Alouette 1 was launched to study the ionosphere. Following its success were Alouette 2 in 1965 and the two ISIS satellites in 1969 and 1971, all for measuring the ionosphere.

References

- Corum, J. F., and Corum, K. L., "A Physical Interpertation of the Colorado Springs Data". Proceedings of the Second International Tesla Symposium. Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1986.
- Grotz, Toby, "The True Meaing of Wireless Transmission of power". Tesla : A Journal of Modern Science, 1997.
- Leo F. McNamara. (1994) ISBN 0-89464-807-7 Radio Amateurs Guide to the Ionosphere.
- Davies, K., 1990. Peter Peregrinus Ltd, London. ISBN 0-86341-186-X Ionospheric Radio.

External links

- Gehred, Paul, and Norm Cohen, [http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio/radio.html SEC's Radio User's Page].
- [http://geomag.usgs.gov USGS Geomagnetism Program]
- [http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SWN/ Current Space Weather Conditions]
- [http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/xray_1m.html Current Solar X-Ray Flux] Category:Radio frequency propagation Category:Nikola Tesla Category:Atmosphere Category:Space plasmas Category:Plasma physics ko:전리층 ja:電離層

Sunspots

:For the comic book superhero published by Marvel Comics, see Sunspot.
A sunspot is a region on the Sun's surface (photosphere) that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings, and intense magnetic activity. Although they are blindingly bright, at temperatures of roughly 5000 K, the contrast with the surrounding material at some 6000 K leaves them clearly visible as dark spots. If they were isolated from the surrounding photosphere they would be brighter than an electric arc. electric arc, the sunspot area within the group spanned an area more than 13 times the entire surface of the Earth. It was the source of numerous flares and coronal mass ejections, including one of the largest flares recorded in 25 years on 2 April 2001. Caused by intense magnetic fields emerging from the interior, a sunspot appears to be dark only when contrasted against the rest of the solar surface, because it is slightly cooler than the unmarked regions.]]

Sunspot variation

magnetic field magnetic field Sunspot numbers have been measured since 1700 AD and estimated back to 11,000 BP. The recent trend is upward from 1900 to 1960s then somewhat downward [http://sidc.oma.be/html/wolfaml.html]. The Sun was last similarly active over 8,000 years ago. The number of sunspots correlates with the intensity of solar radiation. Since sunspots are dark it is natural to assume that more sunspots means less solar radiation. However the surrounding areas are brighter and the overall effect is that more sunspots means a brighter sun. The variation is small (of the order of 0.1%) and was only established once satellite measurements of solar variation became available in the 1980s. During the Maunder Minimum there were hardly any sunspots at all and the earth may have cooled by up to 1°C.

History

Apparent references to sunspots were made by Chinese astronomers in 28 BC, who probably could see the largest spot groups when the sun's glare was filtered by wind-borne dust from the various central Asian deserts. They were first observed telescopically in late 1610 by Frisian astronomers Johannes and David Fabricius, who published a description in June 1611. At the latter time Galileo had been showing sunspots to astronomers in Rome, and Christoph Scheiner had probably been observing the spots for two or three months. The ensuing priority dispute between Galileo and Scheiner, neither of whom knew of the Fabricius' work, was thus as pointless as it was bitter. Sunspots had some importance in the debate over the nature of the solar system. They showed that the Sun rotated, and their comings and goings showed that the Sun changed, contrary to the teaching of Aristotle. The details of their apparent motion could not be readily explained except in the heliocentric system of Copernicus. The cyclic variation of the number of sunspots was first observed by Heinrich Schwabe between 1826 and 1843 and led Rudolf Wolf to make systematic observations starting in 1848. The Wolfer number is an expression of individual spots and spot groupings, which has demonstrated success in its correlation to a number of solar observables. Wolf also studied the historical record in an attempt to establish a database on cyclic variations of the past. He established a cycle database to only 1700, although the technology and techniques for careful solar observations were first available in 1610. Gustav Spörer later suggested a 70-year period before 1716 in which sunspots were rarely observed as the reason for Wolf's inability to extend the cycles into the seventeenth century. Edward Maunder would later suggest a period over which the Sun had changed modality from a period in which sunspots all but disappeared from the solar surface, followed by the appearance of sunspot cycles starting in 1700. Careful studies revealed the problem not to be a lack of observational data but included references to negative observations. Adding to this understanding of the absence of solar activity cycles were observations of aurorae, which were also absent at the same time. Even the lack of a solar corona during lunar eclipses was noted prior to 1715. Sunspot research was dormant for much of the 17th and early 18th centuries because of the Maunder Minimum, during which no sunspots were visible for some years; but after the resumption of sunspot activity, Heinrich Schwabe in 1843 reported a periodic change in the number of sunspots.

Significant events

An extremely powerful flare was emitted toward Earth on 1 September 1859. It interrupted telegraph service and caused visible Aurora Borealis as far south as Havana, Hawaii, and Rome with similar activity in the southern hemisphere. The most powerful flare observed by satellite instrumentation began on 4 November 2003 at 19:29 UTC, and saturated instruments for 11 minutes. Region 486 has been estimated to have produced an X-ray flux of X28. Holographic and visual observations indicate significant activity continued on the far side of the Sun.

Physics

2003 spacecraft.]] Although the details of sunspot generation are still somewhat a matter of research, it is quite clear that sunspots are the visible counterparts of magnetic flux tubes in the convective zone of the sun that get "wound up" by differential rotation. If the stress on the flux tubes reaches a certain limit, they curl up quite like a rubber band and puncture the sun's surface. At the puncture points convection is inhibited, the energy flux from the sun's interior decreases, and with it the surface temperature. The Wilson effect tells us that sunspots are actually depressions on the sun's surface. This model is supported by observations using the Zeeman effect that show that prototypical sunspots come in pairs with opposite magnetic polarity. From cycle to cycle, the polarities of leading and trailing (with respect to the solar rotation) sunspots change from north/south to south/north and back. Sunspots usually appear in groups. The sunspot itself can be divided into two parts :
- umbra (temperatures around 2200°C)
- penumbra (temperatures around 3000°C) Magnetic field lines would ordinarily repel each other, causing sunspots to disperse rapidly, but sunspot lifetime is about two weeks. Recent observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) using sound waves travelling through the Sun's photosphere to develop a detailed image of the internal structure below sunspots show that there is a powerful downdraft underneath each sunspot, forming a rotating vortex that concentrates magnetic field lines. Sunspots are self-perpetuating storms, similar in some ways to terrestrial hurricanes. hurricane Sunspot activity cycles about every eleven years. The point of highest sunspot activity during this cycle is known as Solar Maximum (Solar Max for short), and the point of lowest activity is Solar Minimum (Solar Min). At the start of a cycle, sunspots tend to appear in the higher latitudes and then move towards the equator as the cycle approaches maximum: this is called Spörer's law. Today it is known that there are various periods in the Wolfer number sunspot index, the most prominent of which is at about 11 years in the mean. This period is also observed in most other expressions of solar activity and is deeply linked to a variation in the solar magnetic field that changes polarity with this period, too. A modern understanding of sunspots starts with George Ellery Hale, in which magnetic fields and sunspots are linked. Hale suggested that the sunspot cycle period is 22 years, covering two polar reversals of the solar magnetic dipole field. Horace W. Babcock later proposed a qualitative model for the dynamics of the solar outer layers. The Babcock Model explains the behavior described by Spörer's law, as well as other effects, as being due to magnetic fields which are twisted by the Sun's rotation.

Application

Babcock Model Babcock Model Sunspots are relatively easily observed -- a small telescope with a projection facility suffices. In some circumstances (low sunsets) sunspots can be observed with the naked eye. Note of Caution: Never look directly into the Sun; it can cause permanent, incurable damage to the eye – especially the retina – before you know that it is happening. Due to their link to other kinds of solar activity, they can be used to predict the space weather and with it the state of the ionosphere. Thus, sunspots can help predict conditions of short-wave propagation or satellite communications.

References

External links

- [http://sidc.oma.be/index.php3 Belgium World Data Center for the sunspot index]
- [http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/sharpest_image_sunspot.html?6102005 High resolution sunspot image]
- http://www.tvweather.com/awpage/history_of_the_atmosphere.htm
- Current conditions: See Space weather
- [http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/ NOAA Solar Cycle Progression]: Current solar cycle.
- [http://www.lmsal.com Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab]

Sunspot data

-
-
-
-
- International Sunspot Number -- sunspot maximum and minimum 1610-present; annual numbers 1700-present; monthly numbers 1749-present; daily values 1818-present; and sunspot numbers by north and south hemisphere. The McNish-Lincoln sunspot prediction is also included.
- American sunspot numbers 1944-present
- Ancient sunspot data 165 BC to 1684 AD
- Group Sunspot Numbers (Doug Hoyt re-evaluation) 1610-1995 Category:Stellar phenomena Category:Solar phenomena Category:Climate change ja:太陽黒点 th:จุดมืดดวงอาทิตย์

Solar flare

] A solar flare is a violent explosion in the Sun's atmosphere with an energy equivalent to tens of millions of hydrogen bombs. Solar flares take place in the solar corona and chromosphere, heating plasma to tens of millions of kelvins and accelerating the resulting electrons, protons and heavier ions to near the speed of light. They produce electromagnetic radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all wavelengths from long-wave radio to the shortest wavelength gamma rays. Solar flares were first observed on the Sun in 1859 by English astronomer Richard Carrington. Similar stellar flares have also been observed to varying degrees on other stars in modern times. The frequency of solar flares varies, from several per day when the Sun is particularly "active" to less than one each week when the Sun is "quiet". Solar flares may take several hours or even days to build up, but the actual flare takes only a matter of minutes to release its energy.

Classification of flares

Solar activity is classified as A, B, C, M or X according to the irradiance of its X-rays near Earth as measured on the GOES spacecraft in watts per square meter (W/m²). Each class is ten times more powerful than the preceding one, with X at 10⁴ W/m²). Within a class there is a linear scale from 1 to 9, so an X2 flare (twice as powerful as an X1 flare) is four times more powerful than an M5 flare (five times as powerful as an M1 flare). Solar activity is normally within the A to C range. Class C flares have little effect on Earth, while the more powerful M and X flares can cause disruption and damage. X flares are the most powerful, displaying the highest level of strength. Flares generally stay below X10, but infrequently X designations run 'off the charts'. X20 events (2 mW/m²) that were recorded on August 16, 1989 and April 2, 2001 were outshone by a flare on November 4, 2003 that was the most powerful X-ray flare ever recorded, which was originally thought to be an X28 (2.8 mW/m²). The data is unclear because the detection stystems were overloaded with all kinds of electromagnetic radiation prior to the peak, but it is now thought that the flare was between an X40 (4.0 mW/m²) and an X45 (4.5 mW/m²). The scientists report can be found here http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2005/2004JA010960.shtml. Sunspot Region 486, where this flare originated (shown in the illustration above several days before the eruption), was the most turbulently active sunspot ever recorded. The most powerful flare of the last 500 years was believed to have occurred in September 1859: it was seen by British astronomer Richard Carrington and left a trace in Greenland ice in the form of nitrates and beryllium-10, which allow its strength to be measured today. (New Scientist, 2005)

Hazards

beryllium throughout the Solar System. Over 99.999% of the interplanetary medium by volume is plasma. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020516.html Ref & Credit ]] It was long thought that solar flares send out streams of highly energetic solar wind that can present a radiation hazard to spacecraft outside of a planetary magnetosphere and can disrupt radio signals on Earth. They were also thought to be a primary contributor to the aurora borealis and aurora australis and to Solar proton events. However, it is now thought that Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), which frequently accompany flares, are the main cause of such effects on and around the Earth. Solar flares release a cascade of high energy particles known as a proton storm. Protons can pass through the human body, doing biochemical damage. Most proton storms take two or more hours from the time of visual detection to reach Earth. A solar flare on January 20, 2005 released the highest concentration of protons ever directly measured, taking only 15 minutes after observation to reach Earth. [http://www.example.com link title] The radiation risk posed by solar flares and CMEs is one of the major concerns in discussions of manned missions to Mars or to the moon. Some kind of physical or magnetic shielding would be required to protect the astronauts. Originally it was thought that astronauts would have two hours time to get into shelter. Based on the January 20 event, they may have as little as 15 minutes to do so.

References

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- Mewaldt, R.A., et al. 2005. Space weather implications of the 20 January 2005 solar energetic particle event. Joint meeting of the American Geophysical Union and the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society. May 23-27. New Orleans. [http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/SFgate/SFgate?language=English&verbose=0&listenv=table&application=sm05&convert=&converthl=&refinequery=&formintern=&formextern=&transquery=an%3d%22SH32A-05%22&_lines=&multiple=0&descriptor=%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2fsm05%2fsm05%7c999%7c4995%7cSpace%20Weather%20Implications%20of%20the%2020%20January%202005%20Solar%20Energetic%20Particle%20Event%7cHTML%7clocalhost:0%7c%2fdata%2fepubs%2fwais%2findexes%2fsm05%2fsm05%7c7840533%207845528%20%2fdata2%2fepubs%2fwais%2fdata%2fsm05%2fsm05.txt Abstract].
- [http://www.solcomhouse.com/solar.htm The Sun]

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3251481.stm BBC report on the November 4, 2003 flare]
- [http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/ NASA SOHO observations of flares]
- [http://www.ucm.es/info/Astrof/invest/actividad/flares.html Stellar Flares] - D. Montes, UCM.
- [http://www.ucm.es/info/Astrof/obs_ucm/sol/sol.html The Sun] - D. Montes, UCM. ja:太陽フレア Flare Category:Stellar phenomena Category:Space plasmas Category:Plasma physics

Frequency modulation

Frequency modulation (FM) is a form of modulation which represents information as variations in the instantaneous frequency of a carrier wave. (Contrast this with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant.) In analog applications, the carrier frequency is varied in direct proportion to changes in the amplitude of an input signal. Digital data can be represented by shifting the carrier frequency among a set of discrete values, a technique known as frequency-shift keying. FM is commonly used at VHF radio frequencies for high-fidelity broadcasts of music and speech (see FM broadcasting). Normal (analog) TV sound is also broadcast using FM. A narrowband form is used for voice communications in commercial and amateur radio settings. The type of FM used in broadcast is generally called wide-FM, or W-FM. In two-way radio, narrowband narrow-fm (N-FM) is used to conserve bandwidth. In addition, it is used to send signals into space. FM is also used at intermediate frequencies by most analog VCR systems, including VHS, to record the luminance (black and white) portion of the video signal. FM is the only feasible method of recording to and retrieving from magnetic tape without extreme distortion, as video signals have a very large range of frequency components -- from a few hertz