BASIC RADIO THEORY

INTRODUCTION
1. All communications are carried out using the radio waves. These waves are elementary in nature and often misunderstood. There is a need to establish a strong base for Electronics and Communications. 2. As aviators, we communicate using radio sets. Also for tactical as well as weather warning, Radar are used which again use the radio principle. t is imperative that each one of us in the aviation world familiari!es ourselves with the basics of radio theory.

BASIC RADIO THEORY

". #tructure of an atom . $atter is electrical in nature. All materials are composed of small particles called atoms. These atoms are the building bric%s of all matter. An atom consists of a central nucleus, which has a positive charge, around which negatively charged particles called electrons revolve in different paths or orbits. &a' (ucleus. t is the central part of an atom and contains protons and neutrons. A proton is a positively charged particle while the neutrons have no charge but same mass. )ence the (ucleus of an atom has a positive charge. The sum of protons and neutrons constitute the entire weight of the atom and is called Atomic *eight. This is so because the particles in the e+tra nucleus &the orbits' have negligible weight as compared to protons and neutrons. &b' E+tra (ucleus. This is the outer part of the atom which is also called the orbits and contains the electrons only. An electron is a negatively charged particle having negligible mass. The charge of an electron is e,ual but opposite to that of a proton. -nder ordinary

conditions the number of electrons is e,ual to the number of protons. The atom as a whole is neutral. The number of electrons or protons is called the Atomic (umber. The electrons revolve around the nucleus in different paths or orbits. The number of electrons in any path is given by the formula (o. of electrons . 2 n2 /. #tructure of an element. All atoms are made up of protons and electrons. The difference between various types of elements is due to the different number and arrangement of these particles within their atoms. 0. Energy of an electron. The electrons moving around the nucleus posses two types of energies1 2inetic energy due to its motion and potential energy due to its charge. The total energy of the electron is the sum of these two energies. The energy of an electron increases as its distance from the nucleus increases. The electrons in the last orbit play an important role in determining the physical, chemical and electrical properties of a material. 3. 4alence electrons . The electrons in the outer most orbit of an atom are %nown as 4alence Electron. The outermost orbit can have a ma+imum of 53 electrons. This is to say that ma+imum number of valence electrons can be 53. These valence electrons define the physical, chemical and electrical property of a material. 6ased on electrical conductivity we divided them into the following1 &a' 4alence electrons 7 8 &b' 4alence electrons : 8 &c' 4alence electrons . 8 9 9 9 A metal or a conductor. nsulator. #emiconductor.

These valence electrons posses great amount of energy and are bound to the nucleus depending on this energy. )ence in a substance li%e metals they posses so much energy that they are very loosely attached to the nucleus. The valence electrons move randomly within the material and are called free electrons.

;. A conductor has large number of free electrons. *hen a potential difference is applied across a conductor the free electrons move towards the positive terminal of the supply constituting electric current. 15. An insulator is a substance, which has practically no free electrons at ordinary temperatures. Therefore an insulator does not conduct current under the influence of potential difference. 11. A semiconductor is a substance, which has very few free electrons at room temperature. -nder the influence of potential difference, a semiconductor practically conducts no current. 12. Charge . Electrical neutrality of most of the ob<ects has revealed that the body contains positive and negative charge electric that largely cancel out. f this balance is disturbed then the body is supposed to be charged. There are two %inds of charge. =ne called the >ive charge and the other ? ive. The simplest of e+periments reveal that@li%e charges repel and unli%e charge attract.A The electrostatic force acting between the charge of two particles which is given by B . C q1 q2 r where C . Electrostatic constant q . Absolute value of the charge r . Cistance between the two charges

Charge is directly related to current. Blow of charge constitute electrical current and therefore a coulomb is defined as the charge passing through any cross section of a wire in one second if a current of one ampere flows through it. dq . i dt where dq = in coulombs i = in amperes dt . in seconds

1D. Resistance. t is the property of the conductor or material, which opposes the flow of charge or current through it. f the potential difference is applied between the ends of a materialEconductor the current density differs depending on the number of free electrons. )ence we can say that Resistance is R . 4 *here R . unit of resistance in ohms 4 . unit of potential difference in volts . unit of current in ampere

Resistance of a material *here R . pF A p . Resistivity F . Fength of the material A . Area of cross section.

18. Electro moti e !orce "E#$% . Bor a charge to flow through a conductor it needs some force and this force is applied using the potential difference between its terminals. The source generally providing this force is a battery and the E$B is represented by E where E = d* dq t is the wor% done d & on the charge element d q . The units E$B are <ouleEcoulomb or also called volt. 1". Electric !ield . A charge sets up an electric field whether the charge is at rest or in motion. The field strength E depends on the ,uantum of charge or electrical current that flows through a conductor. *ith the electric

field there always e+ists a magnetic field. 6ut the magnetic field necessarily depends on a moving charge. )ence a magnetic field is set up whenever there is current. The electric and the magnetic fields are always perpendicular to each other. This concept is used in producing large industrial electro9magnets. 1/. Alternating current . $ost of the appliances at homes and offices are wired for alternating current. Alternating current is that in which the values vary with time in a sinusoidal manner changing direction. The current alternates and so does the magnetic field that surrounds the conductor. *e can use this property to step up or step down the induced potential difference. This is the basis of a transformer. f we move a coil in a rotating motion between two magnets or conversely, if we %eep the coil stationary and rotate the magnets, current will be induced in the coil due to rate of change of magnetic flu+. This current that is produced is called Alternating Current &AC'. 10. The laws that govern generation of AC are the BaradayGs Faws and Fen!Gs Faw. 13. $arada'(s )a*s. &a' Faw. t states that an E$B appears in the coils only when the magnetic lines of force that pass through it are changing. &b' Faw. The induced E$B in a circuit is e,ual to the rate at which the magnetic flu+ through that circuit is changing with time. 1;. )en+(s )a*. t states that an induced current in a closed conducting loop will appear in such a direction that it opposes the change that produced it. 25. ,eneration o! Electromagnetic &a es . A transmitter consists of an oscillator, which produces and establishes an angular fre,uency with respect to the motion of the charge. Charges and current in the circuit vary sinusoid ally at the angular fre,uency. An electrical source, possibly a battery supplies the energy needed to compensate both for thermal losses in the circuit and for energy carried away by the radiated E$ waves. The oscillator is coupled to a transmission line, which feeds the antenna. The

antenna alternates sinusoid ally in potential at the angular fre,uency set by the oscillator causing changes to surge bac% and forth along the antenna a+is. These waves generated by the accelerating charges travel away from the antenna with the speed of light.

Energ' source

Transmission line

Oscillator

Antenna

Big 1 A typical transmitter

21.

n free space all E$ and radio waves travel in a straight line at the speed of light. A typical sinusoidal wave when plotted against time shows change in amplitude with time.
&a e length

am-litude

C'cle

21.

Certain definitions . &a' Amplitude . t is the ma+imum displacement or the ma+imum value a wave attains from its mean position in a cycle. t could be on the positive or the negative side of the cycle.

&b' Cycle . A cycle is one complete process or complete series of values. "c% *avelength . The physical distance travelled by a wave in one complete cycle. &a' &e' Bre,uency . (umber of cycles per second. S-eed o! light . Actual value of speed of light is . 2;;,0;2,8"3 m.sec but accepted is . D55,555,555 m.sec.

22. &a elength / !re0uenc' relationshi-. The relationship between wavelength and fre,uency is that if 51 Hertz &one cycle per second' is transmitted the wave will travel D55,555,555 metres. f 52 Hertz is transmitted, it would still travel the same distance in one second. 6ut the same distance is occupied by two cycles . Therefore Wavelength Frequency =r *avelength . #peed of Fight Bre,uency 2D. E# Radiation . E$ radiations are so called for the simple reason that each wave is accompanied by electrical and magnetic fields. The earliest e+ample of E$ wave was Fight wave accompanied with Ultra Violet and Infra Red radiation. They were called Fight *aves. )owever )einrich )ert! through his e+periments discovered what came to be %nown as RAC = *A4E# which traveled at the same speed as visible light. 2D. Electromagnetic S-ectrum. The behavior of the waves as it propagates through the earthGs atmosphere is very much dependant on the fre,uency and hence the wavelength. The spectrum table is as given1 = Speed of light "Constant%

Frequency (in Hertz) 15 2" 15 21 15 1; 15 10 Frequency (in Hertz) 15 1" 15 18 15 11 15 8

egion Cosmic Rays Hamma Rays I Rays -ltra 4iolet Rays egion 4isible Rays nfra Red Rays Radio *aves Electric *aves

28. 1hase . t is the instantaneous position of the particle in a wave or the position of a particle at a given time. f two waves of the same fre,uency were transmitted at the same time then the waves are in phase. This means both the waves will reach the same value at the same instant of time. A phase of an alternating current can be drawn by rotating the vector in a circular plane through D/5 deg.A phase difference is the angular difference between the corresponding points on the waveforms. 28. 1olari+ation . *hen an aerial transmits, the E$ waves propagate through space accompanied by electrical and magnetic fields. These fields travel at right angles to each other. f the transmission is made by a vertical aerial then the electrical component is travelling in the vertical plane and the magnetic component in the hori!ontal plane.The polari!ation is of use for the simple reason that a vertical aerial will receive only vertically polari!ed signals. 2". 1olar Diagram . t is plotting of points around an aerial when the field strength is the same at any given point of time. t is also the line <oining

the points of relative field strengths. n case of a vertical pole aerial the polar diagram is a concentric circle around the antenna. The polar diagram is e+tended in all the three a+is. t also determines the efficiency of the aerial in transmitting and receiving radio signals.

Big 1 Jolari!ation

2/. #odulation . f a message has to be transmitted easily, that is without losses and much time, it should be modulated. Energy of a wave is directly proportional to the fre,uency. At the Audio fre,uencies &25 )! to 25 %)!' the signal strength is too small and the radiation is not possible.Radiation of electrical energy is practicable only at high fre,uencies &above 25 %)!'. The high fre,uencies radiation can be sent thousands of miles even with comparatively small power. Therefore some means has to be devised to send the audio signals with high fre,uencies. This is achieved by sending the electrical audio signals on high fre,uencies carrier. The resultant waves are called modulated waves and the process is called $odulation. 20. Ho* is modulation achie ed 2 6y changing the characteristics of the carrier wave in accordance with the signal. -nder such conditions the audio signal will be contained in the resultant wave. The definition is1 The process of changing some characteristics (amplitude , frequency or phase ) of the carrier wave in accordance with the intensity of the signal is called odulation! 23. Need !or #odulation. $odulation is communication system for the following reasons ? necessary in the

&a' Jractical antenna height . The antenna si!e depends upon the fre,uency E wavelength transmitted and is e,ual to wavelengthE2 . )ence to transmit an audio fre,uency directly it would ta%e Antenna Fength . D55,555,555 25,555 . 1",555 m

&b' =perating range. Audio fre,uencies are small hence the distance traveled is small if radiated directly into space . the only solution is to modulate a high fre,uency wave with audio signal and permit the transmission to occur at this high fre,uency. &c' *ireless communication . =ne of the re,uirements of radio transmission is that it should be transmitted through space. At radio fre,uencies the efficiency of radiation is poor as they get attenuated or absorbed readily. 2;. T'-es o! modulation. $odulation is changing the characteristics of the carrier wave in accordance with the intensity of the signal. )ence, there are three types of modulations1 &a' &b' &c' Amplitude modulation Bre,uency modulation Angular modulation Jhase modulation

D5. Am-litude #odulation . *hen the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed in accordance with the intensity of the signal it is called amplitude modulation! n amplitude modulation only the amplitude of the carrier wave is changed . )owever the fre,uency and the phase are %ept constant.

&a'

Audio *ave

&b'

Carrier *ave

&c'

Amplitude $odulated *ave

34.

#odulation !actor . &a' t is the ratio of the change in amplitude of the carrier wave to the amplitude of the normal carrier wave. $odulation factor . m . change in amplitude of carrier wave amplitude of unmodulated wave &b' t can also be e+pressed as the ratio of the amplitude of signal to the amplitude of the unmodulated carrier and this ratio is called modulation depth. t is e+pressed in percentage. $odulation depth . amplitude of the signal amplitude of the carrier wave 155

2/. Im-ortance o! #odulation !actor . $odulation factor gives the depth of modulation and it determines the strength and ,uality of the transmitted signal.

&i' f @mA is small 1 Carrier modulation is small hence radio signals transmitted are not very strong. &ii' f @ mA is large 1 The audio signal is strong and clear. )owever if m : 1 , then distortion can occur and wastage of power results. )ence modulation factor should never e+ceed 1. n terms of modulation depth, it should never e+ceed 155 K . 20. Side5ands in A# *a e . n an amplitude modulated wave, the sideband fre,uencies are generated. t is the inherent property of a radio wave to generate sidebands if it is modulated by a fre,uency much lower than its own. A carrier modulated by a single fre,uency has 5D simultaneous signals. The carrier, the upper sideband and the lower sideband. The signal to be transmitted is carried in either of the sidebands and not in the carrier. This fact is used in reducing the power consumption by filtering the unwanted upper sideband and at times the carrier itself. n effect only one sideband with or without the carrier is transmitted thereby reducing the power consumption and the less of fre,uency spectrum is used.

fc

fc ! f"

fc # f"

)o*er side 5and

Carrier *a e

U--er side 5and

6andwidth

23. )imitations o! Am-litude #odulation . Although theoretically the A$ is highly effective, it suffers from the following drawbac%s 1 &a' (oisy reception . As all the man made and natural noises consist of electrical amplitude disturbances, the receiver cannot distinguish between amplitude variation due to the signal or due to noise. &b' Fow efficiency . n A$ the useful information is in the sidebands as they contain the signal. )ence power is used into carrier wave, upper sideband and the lower sideband. Therefore the efficiency is low. &c' #mall operating range . #ince the efficiency is low, the operating range is small. $essages cannot be sent over large distances. &d' Fac% of audio ,uality . n order to attain )i ? Bi reception all audio fre,uencies upto 1" %)! must be reproduced. This necessitates a bandwidth of D5 %)! . 6ut A$ broadcast is given only a bandwidth of 15 %)! . This is to minimi!e interference from the other stations. Therefore the highest modulating fre,uency can only be " %)! . 23. $re0uenc' #odulation . *hen the fre,uency of the carrier wave is varied in accordance with the intensity of the signal, it is called fre,uency modulation. n fre,uency modulation only the fre,uency of the carrier wave is changed %eeping the amplitude constant. The fre,uency variation of the carrier wave depends upon the instantaneous amplitude of the signal. )ence the amplitude of the carrier is no longer the controlling factor. This is an advantage because all natural and man9made noises appear mainly as amplitude variations of the carrier wave. )ence this is not heard in a fre,uency modulated reception.

&a'

Audio signal

&b'

Carrier *ave

&c' Bre,uency $odulated carrier wave

36.

Ad antages o! $# . (a) (oiseless reception . #ince noise is a amplitude modulation of the carrier wave, it is re<ected by the receiver and hence noiseles reception. The operating range is ,uite large. The efficiency of transmission is very high. t gives )i ? Bi reception.

&b' &c' &d'

n fre,uency modulation there are multiple sidebands containing the signal. )owever, the ma+imum deviation permitted is > 0" %)! about the carrier fre,uency. )ence the bandwidth is 1"5 %)! . A silence !one of 2" %)! on either side is provided to reduce interference. )ence a broadcasting station is allotted a bandwidth of 255 %)!. This allows for modulation by all audio fre,uencies and thus we get clear reception of signal. The

disadvantage is that the receivers are more complicated than the A$ receivers and the coverage range is limited as it operates in the 4)B band. D5. 1hase modulation . Jhase modulation consist of the variation in phase angle of the carrier wave in accordance with the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the signal. The fre,uency and the amplitude are %ept constant. This modulation is used in HJ# system. D1. 1ulse modulation . -sed in radar where the amplitude of the pulses is varied in accordance with the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the signal. D2. T'-es o! emissions . Cepending on the re,uirement and inherent disadvantages of various modulations there are various %inds of transmissions that are resorted to. #ome very basic types are enumerated below . &a' Continuous *ave &interrupted' . A continuous wave can either be modulated or unmodulated. *hen unmodulated it is interrupted by %eying the transmission. )owever this fre,uency of the carrier needs to be mi+ed with a local oscillator to obtain fre,uency in the audible range.This techni,ue is used in the $orse code transmission. The disadvantages are . &i' &ii' &iii' E+tremely slow transmission. (ot much of information can be carried. (o application.

&b' Amplitude $odulation single sideband Transmission . -sing a high band pass filter the upper side band can be filtered out. Thus the power lost in one of the sidebands can be saved. t is essential to have the carrier wave to facilitate demodulation at the receiver. &c' #ingle #ideband #uppressed Carrier . Also called independent sideband where the upper sideband and the carrier wave is filtered out. The space occupied by the upper sideband is utilised by another modulating signal on the same carrier fre,uency. )ence utili!ation of spectrum is ma+imum at the same time the overlap is avoided thus

reducing interference. This is also called Bre,uency Civision $ultiple+ing. &d' #ingle #ideband Jilot Carrier . The upper sideband and the carrier wave are filtered out. )owever a pilot carrier wave is inserted and is of much lower fre,uency. The primary <ob is to assist in demodulation. DD. Conclusion . The basic information content that human beings want to transmit from one point to another has appeal only to the Audio and 4isual senses of man. The other senses of smell, touch and taste have yet to lend themselves to electrical and electromagnetic wave propagation mechanisms. These basic information at relatively low fre,uency at the point of origin &upto 25 %)! for sound and upto 15 $)! for vision information' has to be imposed on higher and higher fre,uencies &modulation phenomenon' to ensure sufficient bandwidth of fre,uencies for information to be dispatched from transmitting end to the receiving end.The phase of communication electronics have demonstrated efficiently the utility of fre,uency from e+tremely low levels fre,uency &a few )! ' to optical fre,uency in the micron region. They can be used for communication purposes and can be sufficiently densely pac%ed for multilevel communication.