5 km radio links - South Wonston to Sparsholt
Microwave radio signals can be badly affected when rain or sleet is present along the path between transmitter and receiver. The signal is absorbed and scattered, becoming much weaker than normal. This creates difficulties for telecommunications operators who need to guarantee a reliable service in all weathers.
As higher frequencies are used by radio operators the characteristics of these outages have sometimes been surprising. Research is taking place to investigate the propagation losses at these higher bands.
Signal levels of several links at frequencies of 38, 54 and 56 Ghz were monitored. They covered a path of 5km from the South Wonston water tower near the A34 to Sparsholt College. The links were within coverage of the Chilbolton Advanced Meteorological Radar which was used to measure precipitation affecting the links.
This series of measurements ended in 2006. Data is available from BADC.
