Suitable Gas for Improved Radio Reception

Try Nitrous Oxide - works for me.

Me too.

aether.

milo

RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION IN GASSES! PLEASE stay on topic! James

More practical results will be obtained using a directional antenna.

Commercial antennae are rated in terms of "forward gain", with a number of decibels. Doing it this way obviates the need to surround the existing antenna with something approaching a 'non-breathable gas at something other than ambient pressure for experimental purposes'.

Sic transit gloria.

I think that the problem is signal fade, not Fading Glory, PW.

milo

Radio communication through a layer of ionized gas is achieved by initially adjusting the impedance of the antenna system to match free space conditions, thereafter applying the radio signal to the antenna system, monitoring the standing wave ratio to detect a change in the ionization level of the ionized gas surrounding the antenna and thereafter adjusting the impedance of the antenna system to match that of the ionized gas. The ionization level is continuously monitored and the impedance continuously changed to match the constantly changing plasma conditions. Increased signal transmission is achieved by increasing the power of the signal up to a predetermined level and adjusting the impedance of the antenna system to match the changed ionized gas conditions which result from the increased input power. The increase in input power may be C.W. or may take the form of a series of pulses with subsequent monitoring of the changed ionization level delayed a predetermined time period after each pulse in order to monitor the effects of the increased pulsed power levels. Additional enhancement of signal transmission is achieved by adjusting the phased array of the antenna system in response to vehicle orientation data and remote tracking station signal data. The strength of the required power level may also be dependent upon this data.

THANK YOU "MR.GUEST"!! (please join our CR4 "club"-we need more like you!) James

Clutch Milo.

I can also Google:

An antenna device for transmitting a short pulse duration signal of predetermined radio frequency that eliminates a trailing antenna resonance signal. The device includes a gas filled tube; a voltage source for developing an electrically conductive path along a length of the tube corresponding to a resonant wavelength multiple of the predetermined radio frequency; and a signal transmission source coupled to the tube for supplying a radio frequency signal to the conductive path for antenna transmission. A method for transmitting a short pulse signal without a trailing residual signal is also prov...

I'm lost.

Someone educate me here. Is it proposed that if you stick your radio antenna in a tube filled with X gas, apply a "voltage source", a plasma will form, and you will get better reception?

" ... and you will get better reception?"

Nope - this junk stuff applies to transmitters. For a receiver to benefit, it would need advance warning of the signal it was supposed to be picking up.

I think.

Hello Milo

from me

For doing your homework so well, you also receive the

Kind Regards....

Sparky, The thumbs up award from you is the real deal, the above and beyond award, gee shucks...

milo"i thought your collapsing shells explanation frightingly close to the old picture of the parentheses emanating from the top of the tower in those old RKO films...but all I could find was their lightning emanating logo's

and i distinctly remembered a series of curves....go figure" more>>>>>>Ahh here it is each concentric circle would be your 1/2 or 1/4 wave front peak, right sparkster?

Hello again, Milo

The analogy as per those old Movie pictures in your above Post, is quite appropriate.

I see you have included a picture of your Grandpa, too, so just remember:

Kind Regards....

Hello James P. Hollen

Placing an envelope of "gas" around any antenna just will detract from the antenna impedance, thus power transfer will be reduced.

The reason any antenna is able to radiate energy in the form of Radio Waves, is very simple, but even Marconi did not truly understand how the antenna really worked, although I do believe Nikola Tesla did understand, from basic principles too.

Antenna Theory, from basic reasoning, per Sparkstation.

Each antenna has a particular impedance and also electrical resonance at a certain frequency or fractions/multiples thereof - the antenna and the transmitter must be tuned exactly to each other, for maximum power transfer.

That is what the transmitter owner wants: Maximum power output (there is no point in having a transmitter consuming power, without that power being used, is there?).

So....The transmitter is perfectly matched (tuned) to both the Electrical Impedance as well as to the Natural Electrical Resonant Frequency of the particular antenna.

The Radio signal is generally AC - a very complex waveform, but AC nevertheless.

Some recent transmitters transmit via Digital pulses, FM, PCM, Frequency hopping, and more, but the principle is the same: The waveform has to constantly alter for any antenna to work.

When the first half cycle of that (AC) waveform arrives at the antenna, it travels along to the far end, in the process establishing an electrical field plus a magnetic field (at right angles to each other, according to Lenz's Law), and as that first half-cycle decreases, and goes through the zero crossover point, the electric field plus the magnetic field at right angles to the electric field around the antenna, start to collapse.

In that sudden collapse, the collapsing electric and magnetic fields both change polarity, very suddenly too.

However, the next half-cycle of the AC from the transmitter is arriving, (perfect timing) and because the new half-cycle is fed by power from the transmitter, it is able to be stronger than the collapsing fields around the antenna (They have no power supply - it stopped for that half-cycle as it ceased by going through the "crossover point" of the AC wave).

Because the new half-cycle is thus the same polarity electrically + magnetically as the collapsing fields around the antenna (Remember the collapsing fields changed polarity) the new more powerful and freshly establishing electrical + magnetic fields oppose the collapsing fields (which are weaker, remember) and the Law of repulsion (Like repels like), applies, with the original collapsing field being repelled away from the antenna.

All the energy needed to do the above is supplied from the Power supply, via the Transmitter.

This process takes place repeatedly.

In effect, there are "shells" of electric fields, with each having it's associated magnetic field at right angles, moving away from the antenna.

The whole process continues, while power in the form of the resonant frequency is being supplied from the transmitter.

If the transmitter is switched off, the moving electric/magnetic fields still keep moving at the speed of all electromagnetic radiation = Light speed, but they always decrease according to the Inverse Square Law, as does all such radiation.

The best way to visualize the process is to imagine a succession of "shells" of electrical/magnetic fields being established constantly around the antenna conductor, each collapsing one being repelled by the incoming stronger one from the transmitter, thus the shells are ejected one after the other, expanding as they move away from the antenna, and thus each growing weaker with distance (because they occupy more volume of space).

Now perhaps as you read that, you should see that "encasing an antenna in some gas" is just not going to assist with power transfer at all, because a metal conductor is far more efficient at conduction than any gas.

Likewise if a "gas envelope' surrounded an antenna conductor, all that gas envelope would do, is alter the resonant electrical frequency thus the impedance of the antenna, and maximum power transfer would thus decrease.

Summary:

Antennae design for transmission of radio/TV and other electromagnetic radiation is a very complex subject.

There are many different styles and types of Antennae used for such purposes, each having both advantages and disadvantages.

In saying the above, from my memory bank, please don't think any of us know how things really work.

We may formulate theories, Laws and all the rest.

Nobody knows really what the following truly are:

1. Gravity
2. Light
3. Magnetism
4. Heat
5. And so much more.

I do trust the simple "shell" analogy above, which I reasoned out in 1949, does assist you, gentle reader.

Receiving Antenna

The receiving method works in reverse.

The receiving antenna is able to 'capture' the electrical field, or the magnetic field as those fields pass.

"Ferrite" style antenna rods capture the magnetic field, and using a coil of insulated wire around the ferrite rod, (transformer effect per Michael Faraday) increase that small signal to an amount which is a large enough Voltage to be amplified in the receiver, and seen and/or heard, or otherwise that received information used as needed.

"Wire or Tube (metal conductor) antennae generally have the voltage on them as induced by the electric component of the arriving waveform.

In all cases, maximum power transfer to the receiving antenna is gained by:

1. Orientation (Direction, azimuth, polarity if helical)
2. Frequency of electrical resonance (magnetic resonance for ferrite rods)
3. Impedance at operational frequency.
4. Conductance of the antenna (Metal wire, tubing etc)
   

As you may see, receiving antenna are calculated and designed on the basis of being a transmitting antenna, then they are used for a receiver.

"Skin Effect" of High Frequencies:

All High Frequency (Radio/TV/Microwave/etc) waveforms exhibit the "skin effect", in which the waveform prefers to travel on only the outer portion or "skin" of the conductor - which is why you can receive a RF burn, and not feel it, except at the immediate area of the burn, and the sensory nerves which in lower frequencies cause the muscle spasm, are not affected by the "skin" effect. (They are below the skin).

As always, advise further if needed with

Kind Regards, from far away....