3 ms·
The loss on microwave relay is just incredibly high (think >90% power loss), because it goes as distance^2. Also there's physical limits on how tight the resul
by mNovak 5y ago
The loss on microwave relay is just incredibly high (think >90% power loss), because it goes as distance^2.
Also there's physical limits on how tight the resulting beam of energy can be -- it's not a laser beam, it'd be irradiating 100s m^2 if not km^2 with whatever it's peak W/m^2 is. Also it can't be anywhere near a useful radio band, because interference.
- beambot 5y agoThe distance^2 applies, but it's most pronounced for isotropic source (i.e. emitting across a sphere). If you create a tight beam (think columnated laser), you vastly reduces the overall system loss. The bigger problem for microwave links is converting electricity to RF & back -- you get big losses in the amplifiers, radiators & rectifiers.