Today’s Wind Study is about microwaves! No, not the appliance used to heat up your food.
A microwave is an electromagnetic wave with frequencies ranging from 300 megahertz to 300 gigahertz. These microwaves can be used to transmit information from one place to another by sending a signal from a transmitter to a receiver – with the ability to transmit information more than 30 miles away!
This technology is very useful for transmitting information; however, it requires a path free of obstructions to successfully transmit data. Obstructions are typically avoided by placing the transmitter and receiver on towers. While this avoids low obstacles like trees and houses, taller structures such as buildings, cell towers, or wind turbines could cause an obstruction.
To avoid interference, anyone who builds tall structures should conduct a microwave path study before the structures are built. This is part of our project planning process at One Energy – and part of this week’s Wind Study assignment!
Download the homework questions here – and come back next week for the answers!
And be sure to share this educational series on Facebook and Twitter!
This is a diagram of a Fresnel Zone that is centered on a microwave path. It forms an ellipsoid that is thinnest at the transmitter
and receiver and widest in the middle. You’ll use this diagram in this week’s Wind Study!
