Also known as: radio propagation, propagation

Radio propagation describes how radio waves travel from transmitter to receiver, including line-of-sight travel, reflection, diffraction, and atmospheric effects.¹

At VHF/UHF, propagation is line-of-sight; height and a clear path matter more than raw distance.

How it works

At VHF and UHF, propagation is essentially line-of-sight, bounded by the radio horizon; reflections cause multipath. At HF, the ionosphere can refract signals over great distances. Loss along the way is path loss.

Relevance to SDR

Understanding propagation explains why antenna height and a clear path often matter more than the radio, and why a distant hilltop system can beat a closer obstructed one.

Sources

1. Radio propagation — Wikipedia, on line-of-sight, reflection, diffraction, and atmospheric propagation. ↩

See also

• Multipath propagation
• Radio horizon
• Ionospheric propagation
• Path loss
• Frequency bands (HF/VHF/UHF)

Learn it step by step

• How signals travel