Visualizing Radio Waves
To allow you to put together the survey kits, I believed that the next stop on our way would be your comprehension of the way RF operates in your own environment. For this, I’m going to help you imagine what it would look like when you could see radio waves. Then you will be able to create an image in your mind that will be present with you.
Every class that begins in wireless teaches radio waves emit from an antenna with dipoles in neat concentric circles that gradually get bigger and smaller as they are removed from the antenna. Picture this: you are standing at the shore of a serene lake and throwing the rock. Imagine what the waves look like. These are the radio waves that appear to be (only much smaller) What radio signals will look like outside in an empty parking lot or field Wireless site survey companies near me.
Does that sound like your surroundings? Not hardly. There are a myriad of objects in the world that scatter radio signals. What would the picture be when we returned to our tranquil lake, but put a rock in the pier’s legs? It would be possible to see the initial circle. However, when it came in contact with the pier’s legs Some of the waves would be bounced back and dispersed, while others would then wrap around. It would be possible to see a shaky patterns of radiation. This is more akin to the environment we live in.
Imagine a street in a city with high-rises. I have just put the Access Point at the intersection of two streets. Do you think the pattern of radiation is circular? Maybe right close to an Access Point there will be concentric circles. However, If you were to look over the patterns from the top and could see the distance the waves radiate it would be apparent that they are longer than they do in open space due to the structures “herding” the waves down the corridors. The pattern of radiation would appear similar to something like an “H” or ‘. Do you see it? This is the way waves be moving down a hallway of the office.
Imagine stepping over the ocean. Waves can bounce through the air (sometimes that’s the reason we listen to radio stations far from the place they broadcast from). Waves may bounce off hard surfaces. They may be absorbed in a warehouse that has an equally distributed coverage, a few pallets of peat-moss may create an “hole” in the coverage around the skids. Another phenomenon is called “radio shadow” where behind an obstruction, the coverage is reduced similar to how light casts shadows over an object.
Understanding how radio waves travel is a vital initial step to conduct an on-site survey. If you’ve had some experience, you will be able to explore an area and understand how the RF operates or what you must do to make it an environment that is wireless.
I will return to the subject at a later time as we continue our research. We will study the patterns of radiation of various antennas.