Author Description

The NVIS system characterized in this work was designed to eliminate skip propagation by optimizing the design for contiguous coverage. The NVIS technique involves use of transmission and receiving antennas that create nearly vertical propagation and continuous coverage from the transmitter to a distance of 200 miles. Man portable, very low power transceivers (5 watts maximum) and horizontal dipole antennas five feet above the ground are used in an NVIS communication system for this work. The system is designed for the purpose of supporting communication with emergency workers in areas where other communication is difficult. Digital and analog effectiveness are compared at this low power range, and the human factors of communication error are described.