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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations

Report
This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information
Publication Number: N/A
Date: November 1996

Field Strength Measurements of DGPS and FAA Beacons in the 285 to 325 kHz Band

Appendix E

Computation of Expected Electric Field Strength Based on
Transmitter Power and Antenna Characteristics.

Figure 1E. Signal radiating isotropically into a hemisphere.

Figure 1E. Signal radiating isotropically into a hemisphere.

For a known power into a transmitting antenna and a given antenna efficiency, the expected signal strength in dB µV/m can be determined at a specified distance from the transmitter. Assuming the signal is radiating isotropically into a hemisphere (Figure 1E), the power is evenly distributed over a surface equal to 2 pi y superscript 2 where r is the distance from the transmitter in meters.

The power density at the receiver expressed in W/m2 can be determined by

Equation E1

where e is the efficiency of the transmitting antenna and Pt is the input power.

The electric field E in dB µV/m is determined by

Equation E2

where 377 is the impedance of free space measured in ohms.

Take as an example a transmitter with an antenna efficiency e between 15 and 20 percent and signal power Pt into the antenna of 1000 W. The expected power density Pd at 10 km is between 238.7e-9 and 318.3e-9 W/m2 (Equation E1). The expected electric field strength E at the same distance is between 79.5 and 80.8 dB µV/m (Equation E2).

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