EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENT OF SIGNALS ATTENUATION OF SOBI FM AT VHF ALONG ILORIN - JEBBA ROAD, NIGERIA
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Date
2022-12-22
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Nigerian Institute of Physics
Abstract
The study of propagation loss and fade margin of 101.9MHz (Sobi FM) signals along Ilorin (Lat 80541 & Long 40551E) – Jebba (Lat 90111N & Long 40821E) road at very high frequency (VHF) band was done experimentally using spectrum analyzer. Alongside theoretical calculation to determine the attenuation was also done using Friis and Free Space attenuation equations. The attenuation and fade margin were measured regularly at intervals of two kilometers (2 km) from the base station up to a total of sixty kilometers (60 km) along the chosen axis. The analytical models were obtained in form of polynomial equations for received power, measured attenuation and the fade margin of the signals. The calculated results correlated with the measurements (Correlation coefficient value R2 = 1), but gave deviation when compared with the measurements. The variance of the results for the existing formula with the measurements was adjudged to hills, valleys, trees and bends along the links. The highest value
of the fade margin obtained (75.89 dB) did not exceeded the receiver’s sensitivity of 80 dB, which implies that the radio-signals can be improved, by increasing the height and the power of transmitting antenna. This research provides information on improving Sobi FM transmission coverage and a guide to upgrade or redirect their transmission signals appropriately.
Description
Attenuation is the reduction in power density of an electromagnetic wave as it propagates through space. Attenuation may be due to certain effects such as free space loss, reflection, diffraction, refraction, absorption, aperture-medium or coupling loss. Attenuation could also be influenced by terrain, contours, environment (urban or rural, vegetation and foliage), propagation medium, the distance between the transmitting and the receiving stations, height and location of antenna (Rhodes, 2001)