The Basic lessons · Radio wave propagation · B-007-003

Understanding Skip Zones and Sky Wave Hops

This lesson explains how radio waves bounce off the ionosphere to travel long distances and why a silent gap often exists between local and distant reception. You will learn the specific distances covered by different atmospheric layers and how antenna angles change your signal's reach.

This lesson is part of SignalPrep Pro. The subsection's 11 exam questions are free to practise: practise B-007-003.

What this subsection asks

• What term describes an area that is too distant for reception of ground waves, but too close for reception of ionospheric waves?
• What is the maximum distance along the Earth's surface that is normally covered in one hop using the F2 region?
• What is the maximum distance along the Earth's surface that is normally covered in one hop using the E region?
• Skip zone is:
• The distance to Europe from your location is approximately 5000 km. What type of high frequency (HF) propagation is the most likely to work?
• Assuming constant ionosphere region height, how does a higher radiation angle affect skip distance?
• On a double-hop path involving the surface of the Earth as a middle point, what phenomenon returns the radio wave to the ionosphere?
• Skip distance is the:
• Skip is a term associated with signals from the ionosphere. What causes skip?
• The skip distance of a sky wave will be greatest when the:
• How does an increase in the height of the refracting region affect skip distance?