What if there were more radio receivers?

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Camilord
  • Start date Start date
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effects of multiple radio receivers on the power received from a transmitting radio wave. Participants explore analogies with electrical circuits and consider the implications of receiver placement and interference.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether increasing the number of receivers affects the power each receives, drawing an analogy to resistors in parallel.
  • Another participant asserts that no receiver impacts the power received by others, suggesting that radio waves can diffract and fill in behind antennas.
  • A participant shares a story about a homeowner who allegedly redirected a radio signal using a homemade antenna, prompting a question about the feasibility of such an action.
  • A later reply dismisses the possibility of the homeowner's action being effective.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the impact of multiple receivers on signal power, with some asserting no effect while others explore the potential for interference or signal redirection.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved assumptions regarding the interaction of radio waves and the physical placement of antennas, as well as the conditions under which signal redirection might occur.

Camilord
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Hi everyone, i am not so good at physics though i like it a lot and i have a few questions that i hope someone can answer. first i was thinking about radio stations, and i was making an analogy with a voltage source, say, i have a voltage source with many resistors connected in parallel, the more resistors i add the less current they have, so the question is what if i am transmiting a radio wave with a certain power, and i have x number of receivers, will the increase of receivers affect the power each one is receiving? and if the question were yes..is there a formula that relates the transmitting power with the number of receivers allowed?
 
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No, of course not. No receiver has any effect on other receivers. It is conceivable that if one antenna is directly behind another, the first antenna could block the second but radio antennas are very thin and and radio waves will diffract to fill in behind one fairly quickly.
 
I was told (heresay) that an individual homeowner objected to the construction of a 1.5 MHz vertical AM antenna nearly in his back yard, and when it was built, constructed an antenna running from his attic to his basement, and redirected the signal of the first antenna. Is this possible?
 

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