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E3A02

RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION · Electromagnetic Waves and Specialized Propagation: Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communications; meteor scatter; microwave tropospheric and scatter propagation; auroral propagation; daily variation of ionospheric propagation; circular polarization

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What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?

  1. AA slow change in the pitch of the CW signal
  2. BA fluttery, irregular fading
  3. CA gradual loss of signal as the sun rises
  4. DThe returning echo is several hertz lower in frequency than the transmitted signal
Why The Moon is a rough, irregular reflector, and its libration (the slight wobbling of its face as seen from Earth) constantly changes the relative path lengths from the thousands of scattering points on its surface. Those reflections add and cancel at random, producing rapid multipath interference on the received signal. The result is the fluttery, irregular fading EME operators hear, sometimes fast enough to make CW sound rough.
Watch out The choice about the echo returning several hertz lower in frequency describes Doppler shift from the Earth-Moon relative motion, a separate EME effect; a slow pitch change would also be Doppler, not libration.
Libration = the Moon wobbles, so its rough face scatters many echoes: flutter. Doppler = frequency shift, a different problem.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
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The rest of E3A

  1. E3A01 What is the approximate maximum separation measured along the surface of the Earth between two stations commu…
  2. E3A02 What characterizes libration fading of an EME signal?
  3. E3A03 When scheduling EME contacts, which of these conditions will generally result in the least path loss?
  4. E3A04 In what direction does an electromagnetic wave travel?
  5. E3A05 How are the component fields of an electromagnetic wave oriented?
  6. E3A06 What should be done to continue a long-distance contact when the MUF for that path decreases due to darkness?
  7. E3A07 Atmospheric ducts capable of propagating microwave signals often form over what geographic feature?
  8. E3A08 When a meteor strikes the Earth's atmosphere, a linear ionized region is formed at what region of the ionosph…
  9. E3A09 Which of the following frequency ranges is most suited for meteor-scatter communications?
  10. E3A10 What determines the speed of electromagnetic waves through a medium?
  11. E3A11 What is a typical range for tropospheric duct propagation of microwave signals?
  12. E3A12 What is most likely to result in auroral propagation?
  13. E3A13 Which of these emission modes is best for auroral propagation?
  14. E3A14 What are circularly polarized electromagnetic waves?
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