RadioBanter - View Single Post

Telamon · December 23rd 06, 06:05 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave

In article ,
(Jim) wrote:

OK! i have read this whole thread, so who won? i am not trying to
stir it up again.

This isn't a debating forum. People post news, information, and their
opinions.

i want to know what is the latest and/or best theory! (i do think
that theory is the term because i have not seen proof either way)

Quantum mechanics.

who is in charge of the last word?

Me. I own this news group. I bought it used years ago when news groups
were cheap.

i previously understood that radio was a magnetic force, a subatomic
energy similar to gravity. and like gravity, its not yet completely
understood. (we dont need to understand it to detect, measure or use
it) magnetic energy has a spectrum from gravity through radio into
light and who knows how far beyond. the particular qualities of this
energy depends upon its frequency or position relative to the
spectrum. now one guy is arguing on the existence of either, or a
medium to propagate the waves. this seems true at one end of the
spectrum. the other guy argues on photons or little energy packets
that transverse distance like particles do. this also seems true at
the OTHER end of the spectrum. where are we on the spectrum NOW? e l
f radio is radio but it works very much like a magnetic force. e
h f is also radio. radio at gigahz frequencies and above is starting
to exhibit properties of light. so where the hell are we talking
about on the e m spectrum and how the hell does my antenna work?
SOMEBODY here HAS to be the one with the highest education! what are
YOUR qualifications and then what is YOUR opinion?

EM stands for electromagnetic. All electromagnetic wave energy
according to quantum theory are carried by photons. According to this
theory depending on how or what you measure of the electromagnet energy
it will exhibit particle or wave like properties.

Electromagnetic waves are the theoretical construct used to understand
how this energy propagates. EM waves convey energy in the spectrum of
radio waves from 1 Hz to microwave radar. After that radiant heat
energy, then infra red, then the visual light energy colors red through
violet, then ultra violet or UV, then gamma and cosmic waves.

Gravity waves are not a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. There is
no theory connecting gravity and EM waves but people are working on it.

The quantum theory of EM waves does not require an ether. Whether there
is an ether or not does not matter. We know that vacuum is not empty so
their must be something there. In quantum theory it looks like the foam
of virtual particles. In string theory it is other dimensions that are
so small we can't see them but people intuitively understand that
something occupies empty space.

There are two basic classes of materials conductors and insulators.
Conductors like copper have electrons that can travel freely through
them and if you apply a voltage potential across a conductor you will
cause a flow of electrons (current) proportional to the potential
voltage divided by the resistance of the conductor. Most conductors are
metals. By definition this resistance is low for a conductor so a few
volts with drive significant current. Insulators like most plastics are
the opposite of metal conductors in that they don't have mobile
electrons. All the electrons are bound in the chemical structure that
make up these materials so they have very high resistance and it takes
very high voltages to drive a current through them. At normal
everyday voltages in the house wiring or in your electronics voltages
are not high enough to cause the insulators to break down and conduct a
current.

The trick with antennas is that you can get electrons moving through
them at a distance and not just by directly connecting a voltage source
to it. This can be done with EM waves. These waves carry the electric
and magnetic fields that can drive the motion of the free electrons in
a conductor. For this to happen efficiently the conductor needs to be
the right electrical length for the EM wave we are trying to stimulate
it with. The EM wave passing by the antenna element wants to cause the
electrons to move a specific distance in the conductor and so the
conductor needs to be the right length for this movement. When the size
of the EM wave matches up with the right length conductor the passing
wave can then efficiently cause the electrons to move in the conductor
and we have a good antenna. Visualize a sinusoidal wave passing by a
conductor orthogonal to the motion of the wave and you have a graphic
representation of the motion of the electron flow the wave generates in
the antenna element.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California