Blake: MCQ in Radio-Wave Propagation

This is the Multiple Choice Questions in Chapter 15: Radio-Wave Propagation from the book Electronic Communication Systems by Roy Blake. If you are looking for a reviewer in Communications Engineering this will definitely help. I can assure you that this will be a great help in reviewing the book in preparation for your Board Exam. Make sure to familiarize each and every questions to increase the chance of passing the ECE Board Exam.

See also: MCQ in Electronic Communication Systems by George Kennedy

Start Practice Exam Test Questions

Choose the letter of the best answer in each questions.

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Radio waves were first predicted mathematically by:

a. Armstrong

b. Hertz

c. Maxwell

d. Marconi

2. Radio waves were first demonstrated experimentally by:

a. Armstrong

b. Hertz

c. Maxwell

d. Marconi

3. The technology that made cell phones practical was:

a. the microprocessor chip

b. the miniature cell-site

c. high-power microwave transmitters

d. all of the above

4. Cell phones reduce much of the problems of mobile communications with:

a. high power levels

b. high antennas

c. reuse of frequencies

d. all of the above

5. Which of the following are electromagnetic:

a. radio waves

b. light

c. gamma waves

d. all of the above

6. The electric and magnetic fields of a radio wave are:

a. perpendicular to each other

b. perpendicular to the direction of travel

c. both a and b

d. none of the above

7. TEM stands for:

a. Transverse Electromagnetic

b. Transmitted Electromagnetic

c. True Electromagnetic

d. none of the above

8. In free space, radio waves travel at a speed of:

a. 3 × 10⁶ meters per second

b. 300 × 10⁶ meters per second

c. 3 × 10⁶ miles per second

d. 300 × 10⁶ miles per second

9. Which is a possible polarization for an electromagnetic wave:

a. vertical

b. horizontal

c. circular

d. all of the above

10. Which polarization can be reasonably well received by a circularly polarized antenna:

a. vertical

b. horizontal

c. circular

d. all of the above

11. The number of circular polarization modes (directions) is:

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

d. many

12. An antenna has “gain” as compared to:

a. an isotropic radiator

b. a vertically polarized radiator

c. a ground-wave antenna

d. none of the above

13. EIRP stands for:

a. the E and I fields of the Radiated Power

b. the Effective Isotropic Radiated Power

c. the Effective Internal Reflected Power

d. the Electric-field Intensity of the Radiated Power

14. The “attenuation of free space” is due to:

a. losses in the characteristic impedance of free space

b. losses due to absorption in the upper atmosphere

c. the decrease in energy per square meter due to expansion of the wavefront

d. the decrease in energy per square meter due to absorption of the wavefront

15. Ground waves are most effective:

a. below about 2 MHz

b. above about 20 MHz

c. at microwave frequencies

d. when using horizontally polarized waves

16. Radio waves would most strongly reflect off:

a. a flat insulating surface of the right size

b. a flat dielectric surface of the right size

c. a flat metallic surface of the right size

d. a flat body of water

17. Radio waves sometimes “bend” around a corner because of:

a. reflection

b. diffusion

c. refraction

d. diffraction

18. Space waves are:

a. line-of-sight

b. reflected off the ionosphere

c. same as sky waves

d. radio waves used for satellite communications

19. Sky waves:

a. are line-of-sight

b. “bounce” off the ionosphere

c. are same as space waves

d. are radio waves used for satellite communications

20. Sky waves cannot be “heard”:

a. close to the transmitter

b. far from the transmitter

c. in the “silent” zone

d. in the “skip” zone

21. A 20-dB reduction in the strength of a radio wave due to reflection is called:

a. fading

b. diffraction

c. frequency diversity

d. spatial diversity

22. “Ghosts” on a TV screen are an example of:

a. fading

b. diffraction

c. multipath distortion

d. cancellation due to reflection

23. A “repeater” is used to:

a. send a message multiple times over a channel

b. send a message over multiple channels at the same time

c. extend the range of a radio communications system

d. cancel the effects of fading

24. Cellular phone systems rely on:

a. high power

b. repeaters

c. the radio horizon

d. the reuse of frequencies

25. If the number of cell-phone users within a cell increases above some limit:

a. the cell area is increased

b. the cell area is split

c. the power levels are increased

d. the number of channels is reduced

26. As a cell-phone user passes from one cell to another:

a. a “handoff” process occurs

b. a “sectoring” process occurs

c. both cells will handle the call

d. nothing occurs

27. To receive several data streams at once, a CDMA spread-spectrum system uses:

a. a “funnel” receiver

b. a “rake” receiver

c. multiple receivers

d. none of the above

28. The troposphere is the:

a. highest layer of the atmosphere

b. middle layer of the atmosphere

c. lowest layer of the atmosphere

d. the most ionized layer of the atmosphere

29. Meteor-trail propagation is:

a. used for radio telephony

b. used to send data by radio

c. also called “ducting”

d. not possible

COMPLETION

1. Radio waves were mathematically predicted by ____________________.

2. Radio waves were first demonstrated by ____________________.

3. Radio waves are ____________________ electromagnetic waves.

4. The propagation speed of radio waves in free space is ____________________ m/sec.

5. Electromagnetic radiation can be thought of as a stream of particles called ____________________.

6. Unlike sound or water waves, radio waves do not need a ____________________ to travel through.

7. The dielectric strength of clean dry air is about ____________________ volts per meter.

8. Waves from an ____________________ source radiate equally in all directions.

9. The wavefront of a point source would have the shape of a ____________________.

10. At a far distance from the source, a radio wavefront looks like a flat ____________________-wave.

11. The polarization of a radio wave is the direction of its ____________________ field.

12. The electric field of a radio wave is ____________________ to its magnetic field.

13. Both the electric and magnetic fields of a radio wave are ____________________ to its propagation direction.

14. With ____________________ polarization, the direction of a radio wave’s electric field rotates as it travels through space.

15. An antenna is said to have ____________________ in a certain direction if it radiates more power in that direction than in other directions.

16. The watts per square meter of a radio wave ____________________ as the wave-front moves through space.

17. Reflection of plane-waves from a smooth surface is called ____________________ reflection.

18. ____________________ is the “bending” of radio waves as they travel across the boundary between two different dielectrics.

19. The process of ____________________ makes radio waves appear to “bend around a corner”.

20. ____________________ waves travel from transmitter to receiver in a “line-of-sight” fashion.

21. ____________________ waves are vertically polarized radio waves that travel along the earth’s surface.

22. ____________________ waves are radio waves that “bounce off” the ionosphere due to refraction.

23. The ____________________ zone is a region where sky waves cannot be received.

24. “Ghosts” on a TV screen are an example of ____________________ distortion.

25. The “fast fading” seen in mobile communications is caused by ____________________ waves interfering with direct waves.

26. Cell phones typically operate at a ____________________ power level.

27. The ____________________ of frequencies allows many cell-phone users to share a geographical area.

28. ____________________ is when a cell-site uses three directional antennas, each covering a third of the cell area, to reduce interference.

29. The use of ____________________ chips makes cell phones a practical technology.

SHORT ANSWER

1. A certain dielectric has permittivity of 6.3 × 10-6 F/m and the same permeability as free space. What is the characteristic impedance of that dielectric?

2. If a point source of radio waves transmits 1 watt, what is the power density 10,000 meters from the source?

3. What power must a point-source of radio waves transmit so that the power density at 3000 meters from the source is 1 µW/m²?

4. If a radio receiver needs 1 nW/m² of power density to function, how far away from a 1-watt point source will it continue to work?

5. A line-of-sight radio link over flat terrain needs to use antenna towers 50 km apart. What, approximately, is the minimum height for the towers assuming all the towers are the same?

6. A mobile radio is being used at 1 GHz in an urban environment with lots of reflecting structures. If the car is traveling 36 km/hour, what is the expected time between fades?

Complete List of MCQ in Electronic Communication Systems by Blake