Eldon J. Haakinson, Susan L. Rothschild, and John R. Godwin

Abstract: A series of programs have been developed by the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) that assist the Voice of America (VOA) to plan and operate high frequency (HF) broadcast stations. The VOA has specific broadcast bands available for use and has particular reception areas to cover. Because of the long distances between the broadcast transmitter and the reception areas, the primary mode of communication is vi a HF skywave. Since the ionosphere, which supports HF sky wave, has electrical characteristics that vary with time of day, season of the year, frequency, and sunspot number, the HF broadcast antenna design and validation summary programs must calculate the best frequency and the required antenna power gain and pattern for the various conditions that apply to a particular broadcast scenario. This document will guide a user through the use of the programs, provide samples of the input to each program, and give examples of each program’s output.

Keywords: ionospheric propagation; HF broadcast; curtain array antennas

Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.

For questions or information on this or any other NTIA scientific publication, contact the ITS Publications Office at ITSinfo@ntia.gov or 303-497-3572.

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