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B Hand-Held Radio Transceivers
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Wireless Communications
Introduction
Wireless сommunications are various telecommunications systems that use radio waves to carry signals and messages across distances. Wireless communications systems use devices called transmitters to generate radio waves. A microphone or other mechanism converts messages, like sounds or other data, into electronic impulses. The transmitters change, or modulate, the radio waves so they can carry the impulses, and then transmit the modulated radio signals across distances. Radio receivers pick up these signals and decode them back into original messages. Commercial radio and television are also wireless telecommunications system, but radio and television are mainly public broadcast services rather than personal communications systems.
Wireless communications allow people greater flexibility while communicating, because they do not need to remain at a fixed location, such as a home or office. Wireless technologies make communications services more readily available than traditional wire-based services (such as ordinary telephones), which require the installation of wires. This is useful in places where only temporary communications services are needed, such as at outdoor festivals or large sporting events. These technologies are also useful for communicating in remote locations, such as mountains, jungles, or deserts, where telephone service might not exist. Wireless services allow people to communicate while in a car, airplane, or other moving vehicle. Police, fire, and other emergency departments use two-way radio to communicate information between vehicles that are already responding to emergency calls, which saves valuable time. Construction and utility workers frequently use hand-held radios for short-range communication and coordination. Many businesspeople use wireless communications, particularly cellular radio telephones, to stay in contact with colleagues and clients while traveling.
All wireless communications devices use radio waves to transmit and receive signals. These devices operate on different radio frequencies so that signals from one device will not overlap and interfere with nearby transmissions from other devices.
Principles of Wireless Communications
Wireless communications begin with a message that is converted into an electronic signal by a device called a transmitter. The transmitter uses an oscillator to generate radio waves. The transmitter modulates the radio wave to carry the electronic signal and then sends the modified radio signal out through space, where it is picked up by a receiver. The receiver decodes, or demodulates, the radio wave and plays the decoded message over a speaker. Wireless communications provide more flexibility than wire-based means of communication. However, there are some drawbacks. Wireless communications are limited by the range of the transmitter (how far a signal can be sent), and since radio waves travel through the atmosphere, they can be disturbed by electrical interferences (such as lightning) that cause static.
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Wireless communications systems involve either one-way transmissions, in which a person merely receives notice of a message, or two-way transmissions, such as a telephone conversation between two people. An example of a device that sends one-way transmission is a pager, which is a radio receiver. When a person dials a pager number, the pager company sends a radio signal to the desired pager. The encoded signal triggers the pager circuitry and notifies the customer carrying the pager of the incoming call with a tone or a vibration, and often the telephone number of the caller. Advanced pagers can display short messages from the caller, or provide news updates or sports scores.
Two-way transmissions require both a transmitter and a receiver for sending and receiving signals. A device that functions as both a transmitter and a receiver is called a transceiver. Cellular radio telephones and two-way radios use transceivers, so that back-and-forth communication between two people can be maintained. Early transceivers were very large, but they have decreased in size due to advances in technology. Fixed-base transceivers, such as those used at police stations, can fit on a desktop, and hand-held transceivers have shrunk in size as well. Several current models of hand-held transceivers weigh less than 0.2 kg (0.5 lb).
Modes of Wireless Communications
Wireless communications systems have grown and changed as technology has improved. Several different systems are used today, all of which operate on different radio frequencies. New technologies are being developed to provide greater service and reliability.
A Air Transceivers
Radio operators still monitor distress channels, but maritime and aviation telecommunications systems now use high-frequency radios and satellites capable of transmitting speech, rather than wireless telegraphy, to send messages. Aircraft pilots use radios to communicate with air traffic controllers at airports and also to communicate with other pilots. Navigation beacons are equipped with transmitters that send automated signals to help ships and aircraft in distress determine their positions. While high-frequency radio can transmit signals over long distances, the quality of these signals can be diminished by bad weather or by electrical interference in the atmosphere, which is often caused by radiation from the sun.
B Hand-Held Radio Transceivers
Police, fire, and other emergency organizations, as well as the military, have used two-way wireless radio communication since the 1930s. Early vehicle-based radios were large, heavy units. After the invention of the transistor in 1948, radios shrank in size to small hand-held radio transceivers, which civil authorities now use to communicate with each other directly. Public two-way radios with several frequency options are widely available as well. Usually limited in range to a few miles, these units are great aids for such mobile professionals as construction workers, film crews, event planners, and security personnel. Simpler two-way radios, called walkie-talkies, have been popular children’s toys for years.
C Shortwave
Long-range broadcast services and frequencies, in what is known as the shortwave radio band (with frequencies of 3 to 30 megahertz), are available for amateur or ham radio operators. Shortwave radio broadcasts can travel long distances because of the concentration of ionized, or electrically charged, particles in the layer of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere. This layer reflects radio signals, sending signals that are transmitted upward back to earth. This skipping of waves against the ionosphere can greatly increase the range of the transmitter. The degree of reflectivity of the ionosphere depends on the time of day.
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