EST FORMULAS

1. Earth Curvature

d1d 2
EC = k =(1−0.04665 e
0.005577 Ns −1
)
1.5 k
2. Noise Current Diode
i=√ BI 2 q

3. Scatter Angle
angle 1+angle 2

4. Modulation Index

m= 2
Ic√(
It 2
−1 )
5. Modulating Power
Pi (Input Power )
P m= Pi=VI
2

6. SSB (Q)
1
dB 2
−1
f c (log )
20
Q=
4( f 2−f 1 )

7. SSB (Pave)

PEP PEP
≤ Pavg ≤
4 3
8. Carrier Voltage

V max +V min
V c= (vertical scale)
2
9. Overall Bandwidth
Overall BW =k opt f o k opt =1.5(k c )

10. Noise BW

1
BW n= (Resistance and Capacitance)
4 RD C

π
BW n= (BW ) (Bandwidth)
2
11. PEP
2
V
PEP=
R
12. Characteristic Impedance
a. Parallel Wire Line

z o=
276
√ εr
log
2D
d ( )
b. Coaxial

z o=
138
√ε r
log
D
d ( )
c. Stripline

( )
60 4d
z o= ln
√ εr
(
0.67 πω 0.8+
t
h )
d. Microstrip

z o=
87
ln (
5.98 h
√ ε r + 1.41 0.8 ω+ t )
e. Dielectric constant
i. PVC – 3.3
ii. Polyethylene - 2.27
iii. PCB – 2.2

13. Longitudinal Balance

open circuit longitudinal voltage

LB=
metallic voltage
14. Open Circuit Voltage

V =E hr

V= (√ 30 Pt Gt
r
hr)
15. Carson’s Rule

BW =2 ( δ max + f m (max ) )

16. Gain (Isotropic half-Wave)

 2
G λ =η D
2

G λ =10 log G λ x 2(both dipole )

dbi
2 2

17.
EST CONCEPTS

SIGNALS SPECTRA

1. Transforms
a. Wigner Transform – 1D to 2D
b. DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform) – finite list of equally spaced samples into list of
coefficients
c. DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) – similar to Fourier transform decomposition signal
d. Bilinear Transform – continuous to discrete and vice versa
e. CWT (Continuous Wavelet Transform)

2. Systems
a. Causal FIR - non-recursive systems

PRNCIPLES OF COMMS

3. Principles of Comms Concepts

a. Wavelength - "spatial period" of the wave

4. Transmitter
a. Buffer amplifier stage - Its high input impedance prevents oscillators from drifting of
frequency.

5. Modulation
a. AM
b. FM
i. for recording video to and retrieving video from magnetic tape
ii.
c. PM

6. Noise
a. Transit-time - becomes of great importance at high frequencies

7. Amplifier Class
a. Class A
b. Class B
i. SSB transmitter – Class B RF amplifier
c. Class C
d. Class AB
8. Threshold and Capture Effect (FM)
a. Threshold effect – a sufficient SNR at the input will provide better noise than AM
b. Capture effect – two signals are received at the same time and the stronger signal is the
priority. If same, the receiver will switch back and forth to both signals
9. Pre-Emphasis and De Emphasis Network
a. Pre-emphasis – high pass filter
 b. De-emphasis – low pass filter
10. Angle Modulation
a. Methods of FM generation
i. Varactor Diode Modulator
1. Direct FM generator that uses varactor diode to deviate frequency of a
crystal oscillator
ii. Reactance Modulator
1. Direct FM generator that uses an active device like JFET which varies the
total reactance of the tank circuit and rest frequency.
2. Produces phase modulation emission
iii. Linear IC FM Modulator
1. Direct FM output generator that is stable and accurate however it has
low output power and needs a lot of external components.
b. Methods of PM generation
i. Varactor Diode Modulator
1. Changes the instantaneous phase by varying the phase angle of the
impedance seen by the carrier resulting to carrier phase shift.
2. It is caused by the varying capacitance across the varicap diode
ii. Transistor Modulator
1. Produces a phase shift signal proportional to the information signal by
varying the emitter-to-collector resistance of the device
2. Due to modulating signal adding to or subtracting from dc bias of the
device
c. FM Transmitters
i. Crosby Direct FM Transmitter
1. Direct FM that uses a reactance modulator or a VCO to produce large
frequency deviations
ii. Phase Locked Loop Direct FM Transmitter
1. Wideband FM transmitter that uses a phase-locked loop to achieve
frequency stability
2. Phase-locked loop acts as a bandpass filter over a narrow range of
frequencies
iii. Armstrong Indirect FM Transmitter
1. Phase deviation is directly proportional to modulating signal. Also uses
crystal oscillators thus stability is high enough to not use AFC circuit
d. FM demodulators
i. Slope Detectors
1. Converts FM to AM before demodulating the AM envelope with a
conventional peak detector circuit
2. Seldom used because of its nonlinearity
ii. Balanced Slope Detector (Lattice modulator)
1. Simplest FM detector
2. Composed of two single-ended slope detectors connected in parallel
and fed 180 out of phase
 3. Poor linearity, difficulty in tuning and lack of provisions in limiting
4. Cannot be used to remove unwanted sideband in SSB
iii. Foster-Seeley Discriminator (Phase Shift Discriminator)
1. Tuned circuit discriminator that is similar to a balanced modulator
2. More linear but needs preceding limiter circuit
iv. Radio Detector
1. Does not need a limiter circuit
v. Phase-locked Loop FM Demodulator
1. Uses linear IC and does not need tuned circuits
2. Best demodulator overall
vi. Quadrature FM Demodulator
1. Extracts the original info from composite IF waveforms by multiplying 2
quadrature (90 out of phase) signals
2. Averages pulses in a low pass filter
vii. Envelope Detector
1. Most commonly used amplitude demodulator
viii. Product Detector
1. A balance modulator used to demodulate an SSB signal

RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION

11. Electromagnetic Wave

a. Composed of electric and magnetic field that are perpendicular to each other
b. A transverse wave (w/ oscillations perpendicular to the direction of propagation)
12. Polarization – physical orientation in space of electric field vector component of EM wave. Only
transverse waves are polarized like light and radio waves. Sound does not have any polarization.
a. Horizontal – electrical field parallel to the ground
b. Vertical – perpendicular to the ground
c. Elliptical – rotates about the axis of propagation but magnetic and electric field
magnitudes are unequal
d. Circular - same with elliptical but magnitudes are equal. Used to counter faraday’s
rotation
e. Linear - polarization when radiated is the same as when the wave is received
f. Random – no fixed pattern of polarization for the wave radiated (Ex. Sun)

13. Radio waves

a. Above MUF – overshoot the desired location
b. Below MUF – bent back to earth

14. Radio wave Propagation terms

a. Ducting - when radio wave signals follow the curvature of the earth. Also called
superrefraction and caused by temperature inversion.
b. Dispersion - The refraction of light waves that causes the different frequencies to bend
at slightly different angles
 c. Fading - A change or variation in signal strength at the antenna, caused by differences in
path lengths
d. Wavefront – plane joining all points of identical phase
e. Ray – line drawn in the propagation of a wave
f. Huygen’s Principle – about diffraction “each point on a waveform maybe regarded as a
new source of secondary wavelets”
g. Lowest Usable Frequency – lower limit
h. Gyrofrequency – helix path where electrons path becomes a very wide single loop
i. Critical Angle – highest angle of radiation that will return the wave to earth
j. Skip distance – minimum distance, function of AOR and AOT, to maximize use the
highest frequency and the smallest angle possible
k. Skip Zone – no signal can be heard
l. Hop – single reflection of radio wave from the ionosphere then back to earth
m. Multi-hop – multiple reflections and refractions thus increasing coverage for
propagation

15. Propagation Methods

a. Ground (Surface) Wave
i. Radio wave is radiated directly towards the ground
ii. Ground reflects waves toward the atmosphere for it to be refracted back
iii. Follows the earth’s curvature also known as “beyond the horizon means of
propagation”
iv. Uses VLF and LF bands and for broadcasting in MF bands
v. Effective only up to 2MHz
vi. Vertically polarized for it to propagate along the ground
vii. Horizontally polarized waves are shorted by the ground (conductor)
viii. Marconi Antenna (lambda/4) is used here
b. Sky Wave
i. Sky wave is directly upwards from the earth into the upper atmosphere, and
then returned to earth at a specific location
ii. Used for HF comms
iii. Effective above 2MHz up to 30MHz
iv. For long distance communication with multiple skips
c. Space Wave
i. Exceeds 30Mhz and beyond up to 300 GHz
ii. Two components: 1) travels in a straight line between transmitting and receiving
antennas (DIRECT SPACE WAVE) 2) travels by a single reflection from the earth
(GROUND REFLECTED SPACE WAVE)
iii. Used for sound and TV broadcasting and for various mobile systems operating in
VHF, UHF, and SHF bands.
iv. Limited by earth’s curvature or line of sight and height of transmitting antennas

16. Earth’s Atmosphere

a. Troposphere – 10km, where most of the weather take place. 300kHz-3Mhz
 b. Stratosphere – 50km, also called isothermal region meaning no temperature inversions
nor it can cause significant refractions of radio waves
c. Mesosphere - middle
d. Thermosphere (Ionosphere) – 400 km from the stratosphere, level of greatest electron
density, also supplied by ultraviolet radiation. 3MHz - 30MHz
e. Exosphere

17. Layers of Ionosphere

a. D layer
i. Lowest layer, daytime height of 70 km and thickness of 10 km
ii. Disappears at night due to recombination process
iii. Not an important layer for HF propagation but can refract VLF and LF waves
iv. Absorbs HF signals in daytime
b. E layer
i. Daytime height of 100 km and thickness of 25 km
ii. For MF surface wave propagation but can also reflect some HF waves during
daytime up to 20 MHz
c. F1 Layer
i. Daytime height is 180 km and thickness of 20 km but combines with F2 layer at
night
ii. Some of HF waves are reflected here but mostly pass through to be reflected
from the F2 layer
iii. Main function s to provide more absorption for HF waves
d. F2 Layer
i. Most important part for HF refraction
ii. Daytime height of 250-400 km and thickness of 200 km
iii. Combines with F1 at night with a height of 300 km

18. Factors affecting the refractive ability of Ionosphere

a. Ion Density – decreasing ionization bent away from earth, increasing bent towards the
earth
b. Frequency – lower frequency means easier to refract
c. Angle of the wave – lower angle means longer skip distance

19. Ionospheric irregularities

a. Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SIDs) – Delinger Fadeouts caused by solar flares,
irregular variation in ionospheric conditions that causes waiting period for several days
for it to be back to normal
b. Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) – affect the accuracy of high-frequency
direction finders due to irregularities of electron densities
c. Ionospheric Storms - caused by alpha and beta rays causing signal strength to drop and
fluctuate rapidly. 36 hours to reach the earth
d. Fading
i. Fluctuation of signal strength at the receiver
 ii. Occurs because of interference between the lower and upper rays of sky wave,
between sky waves due to hops or different paths, or between the sky wave and
ground wave at the lower end of the HF band

20. Fading
a.Interference Fading – most common type of fading caused by missing of two signals
b.Polarization Fading – caused by Faraday effect
c.Focusing and defocusing – due to atmospheric irregularities
d.Absorption Fading – caused by solar flare activities that affects lower frequency, signal
reduced for a prolonged period
e. Selective Fading – have different effects on different frequency ranges. Not all is affected
i. Multipath – fading on majority of the ionospheric circuits. Occurs when
reflected signals are delayed in time.
ii. Rayleigh – signal received is the resultant of reflected signals from nearby
objects and there is no direct path between the transmitter and receiver
iii. Rician fading – similar to Rayleigh but with a direct radio path between the
transmitter and receiver

21. Scatter Propagation Modes

a. Troposcatter
i. Least method of propagation
ii. Operates in UHF band (350MHz – 10GHz) (0.9 GHz, 2 GHz, 5 GHz)
iii. Also known as forward scatter propagation
b. Ionospheric Scatter (ionoscatter)
i. Same with troposcatter but usually occurs in the E region
ii. Mainly useful above MUF
iii. Unreliable in auroral regions
c. Backscatter Propagation
i. Via E and F layers
ii. Skip zone is able to receive signal due to this
d. Sidescatter
i. Similar to backscatter but stronger
ii. Can take place on any band between the MUF and LUF
e. Trans-equatorial Scatter
i. Usually about 4000 km

22. Minor propagation modes

a. Auroral propagation
i. Morse code is most effective in this
b. Sporadic E
i. Affects mainly lower amateur frequencies
ii. Extends single hop and double hop
c. Gray-line Propagation
i. Terminator or twilight zone
 d. Meteor-burst
i. Used for VHF and UHF waves
ii. The time between the trails is called waiting time

23. Polarization
a. AM BC signals – vertically polarized

24. Layers
a. D Layer – SID
i. At what frequencies does the combination of the earth’s surface and the D
layer act as a waveguide? - VLF
b. E layer –
i. Frequencies above what level pass through the E layer unaffected? – 150MHz
c. F1 Layer –
d. F2 layer – solar cycles; 4000km max distance

25. Standards
a. typical power of educational FM stations – 10W
b. When a person is standing in an rf field, power in excess of what level will cause a
noticeable rise in body temperature? – 10 mW
c. What is the typical channel capacity of a troposcatter system for 1 GHz frequency and
path distance of 250-320 km? – 36 channels
d. Antenna basic characteristics – 4
e. deep space radio communications - 2.29 GHz to 2.3 GHz
f. typical duty cycle of magnetron – 0.1%

26. Laws/Theorems/Statements
a. The Lambertian reflection - “Incoming light is partially absorbed and partially
transmitted equally in all directions”

DIGITAL COMMS

27. Digital Modulation (Digital Radio) (DACs) – modulation of an analog carrier by the digital
modulating signals
a. ASK – similar to conventional AM but not used due to a lot of disadvantages
b. FSK – only the frequency of the analog RF carrier is varied by the modulating signal. The
carrier amplitude remains constant. FSK waveform phase transition is not smooth.
i. Binary FSK – constant amplitude angle modulation similar to conventional
frequency modulation except that it is digital rather than analog
ii. MSK – Minimum shift keying is a binary FSK but its mark and space frequencies
are synchronized with the input bit rate. Smooth phase transition.
c. PSK – a form of angle-modulated constant amplitude digital modulation. Input signal is a
digital binary signal and a limited number of output phase is available
 i. BPSK – two output phases logic 0 and 1. Output carrier shifts between two
angles that are 180 out of phase
ii. Differential BPSK – alternative digital modulation where binary input is
contained in the difference between two successive signaling elements rather
than the absolute phase.
d. QAM – a form of digital modulation where the digital information is contained in both
the amplitude and phase of the transmitted carrier. A combination of ASK and PSK

28. Digital Transmission – analog or digital signals are transmitted but analog must be converted to
digital first and then converted back to analog at the receiver. Requires physical medium and
transmitted as pulses which can be +V and -V (bipolar) or +V and 0 (unipolar).
a. Analog Pulse Modulation
i. PWM – L3E pulse width proportional to amplitude
ii. PPM – M3E position of constant width pulse is varied based on amplitude
iii. PAM – K3E amplitude of constant width and position is varied in accordance to
amplitude of analog signal
iv. PWM – varying width
v. PFM – V3E varying frequency
b. Digital Pulse Modulation
i. PCM – ex. Differential PCM. P3G, analog signal is sampled and converted to
pulses of constant length and encoded for serial binary transmission
1. PCM System: BPF – S&H – ADC – DAC – H circuit – LPF
2. Sampling – Quantizing – Encoding
3. Aliasing – if sampling rate is less than fa (highest sampled frequency)
4. Dynamic Range – ratio of the largest possible to smallest possible
magnitude that can be decoded by DAC
5. PCM Code Number of Bits – PCM code is sign-magnitude code where
the MOST SIGNIFICANT BIT is the sign bit and the remaining bits are
magnitude bits or folded binary code
6. PCM coding methods
a. Level-at-a-time – ramp waveform
b. Digit-at-a-time – digit sequential
c. Word-at-a-time – flash encoders
7. DPCM – solves redundancy problems
ii. Delta Modulation – ex. Adaptive DM, Single bit PCM code
1. Problems
a. Slope Overload
i. Solved by increasing the clock frequency and the
magnitude of the minimum step size
b. Granular noise
i. Solved by decreasing the step size
29. Multiplexing
a. Multiplexer – combine ; Demux – separate
b. Oldest form of multiplexing – space division multiplexing, then FDM – TDM – CDM
 c. FDM – bandwidth is split into a number of channels to the different devices being
transmitted; analog all throughout.
i. Frequency translation – multiple sources occupying in the same frequency
spectrum are each converted to a different frequency band
ii. Comms system using FDM:
1. AM commercial broadcast: 535 kHz – 1605 kHz; 107 channel bands; 10
kHz international standard bandwidth
2. FM commercial broadcast: 88 MHz – 108 MHz; 100 channel bands; 200
kHz international standard bandwidth
3. TV commercial broadcast: 54 MHz – 890 MHz
iii. FDM terminologies
1. Message channel – basic building block of FDM hierarchy

d. TDM – transmission of multiple signals over a single channel but not at the time
i. TDM terms
1. T1 carrier – 24 voice band channels
2. T2 – 48
3. T3 – 96
4. T4 – 672
5. T5 – 4032
ii. Framing bit – used for synchronization between receiver and transmitter

ANTENNA

30. Antenna
a. cylindrical paraboloid reflector
i. NOT used to feed - A quarter–wave stub
b. Hertz antennas
i. operate at half wavelength
c. rhombic antenna
i. determines the gain and directivity - Radiated wave interaction
d. log–periodic array
i. minimum of number of transmit or receive systems to act as antenna – 4
e. collinear array antenna
i. maximum radiation - Perpendicular to the axis of the elements
f. Yagi Uda
i. # of driven elements – 1
ii. for mechanical support purposes – Boom
g. Trap antenna - It may be used for multi-band operation
31. On an energized half-wave antenna, which of the following electrical conditions exist?
a. Voltage is minimum at the ends
32. An antenna supplied by the center-feed method is fed at what point?
a. Low voltage and high current
33. Adding a series inductance to an antenna would:
a. decrease the resonant frequency
MICROWAVE COMMS

34. ITU designations

a. A3E - basic AM modulation scheme

TRANSLINES

35. Microstrip line - analogous to a parallel-wire line

36. Open wire line - made of two conductors held apart by insulated rods

DATA COMMS

37.