User's Guide for the HF (High Frequency) Broadcast Antenna Design and Validation Summary Programs

摘要

A series of programs have been developed by the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) that assist the Voice of America (VOA) to plan and operate high frequency (HF) broadcast stations. The VOA has specific bands available for use and has particular reception areas to cover. Because of the long distance between the broadcast transmitter and the reception areas, the primary mode of communication is via HF sky wave. Since the ionosphere, which supports HF sky wave, varies with time of day, season of the year, frequency, and sunspot number, the HF broadcast antenna design and validation summary programs must calculate the best frequency and the required antenna power gain and pattern for the various conditions that apply to a particular broadcast scenario. The document will guide the user through the use of the programs, provide samples of the input to each program, and give examples of each program's output.