On Wed, 04 Nov 2015 22:14:15 +0000, Stephen wrote:

>> Could be - generally a harmonic frequency can cause weirdness as well -
>> I
>> was more talking about why it's lines and not just snow.  The proximity
>> of the transmitter to the "receiver" is what causes that.
>>
>>
>  From the little I know only having worked, with Comms guys. You are
> right but then you could tell me anything. It is all magic to me.
> They even told me that our phone calls were bounced off the sky and the
> sea. And I believed them.

Well, I do have a radio license. ;)

Radio signal strength is a factor of power - with a falloff of 1/r^2 
(when an antenna is in use, this can vary somewhat depending on the type 
of antenna, but that's beyond my knowledge; I've read, for example, that 
a dipole antenna ends up being somewhere between 1/r^2 and 1/r).

But that's the reason that proximity to the transmission point for the EM 
waves matters - and a closer but power power (at transmission point) 
overpower a signal that's farther away but stronger.  With a 5W 
transmitter that's not well filtered, an amateur radio operator can 
disrupt commercial radio (AM/FM) and TV (VHF/UHF) transmissions quite 
significantly.  Every amateur radio operator has to learn at least a 
little about this in the US, because we're responsible for dealing with 
harmful interference we might cause with our gear.

Even with well-filtered equipment, though, if I put the transmission 
source for my radio right next to a computer monitor or CRT display, I 
can cause some interference.

Jim

-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message