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What Is the Noise Floor? Thermal Noise, SNR and Receiver Sensitivity Explained
RF Engineering

What Is the Noise Floor? Thermal Noise, SNR and Receiver Sensitivity Explained

The noise floor is the faint thermal noise present in every receiver, the level a wanted signal has to rise above to be decoded. At room temperature it starts at −174 dBm per hertz, then climbs with bandwidth and the receiver noise figure. Add the signal to noise ratio your modulation needs and you have the receiver sensitivity. Here is where −174 dBm/Hz comes from, the noise floor formula with a reference table, how noise figure and SNR fit in, and a worked example that turns into a sensitivity figure.

· 15 min read

What Is the Noise Floor? Thermal Noise, SNR and Receiver Sensitivity Explained

RF Engineering 15 min
How to Calculate an RF Link Budget: A Step by Step Guide with a Worked Example
RF Engineering

How to Calculate an RF Link Budget: A Step by Step Guide with a Worked Example

A link budget adds every gain and subtracts every loss between a transmitter and a receiver to predict the received power, then compares it against the receiver sensitivity to see whether the link will work. Here is the formula, an at a glance budget table, a worked example for a 5.8 GHz point to point link, and the engineering considerations, fade margin, propagation and noise, that decide whether the design survives in service.

· 8 min read

How to Calculate an RF Link Budget: A Step by Step Guide with a Worked Example

RF Engineering 8 min
dBm to Watts, dBi vs dBd and dBc: Every RF Decibel Explained (with Conversion Tables)
RF Engineering

dBm to Watts, dBi vs dBd and dBc: Every RF Decibel Explained (with Conversion Tables)

0 dBm is 1 mW and +30 dBm is 1 watt, so every 10 dB is a tenfold change in power and every 3 dB roughly doubles or halves it. Here is what dB, dBm, dBW, dBi, dBd and dBc each mean, how to convert dBm to watts in both directions, a full conversion table, the dBi to dBd offset, EIRP, and the mistakes that trip people up.

· 14 min read

dBm to Watts, dBi vs dBd and dBc: Every RF Decibel Explained (with Conversion Tables)

RF Engineering 14 min
How Far Do You Need to Stay From a Transmitting Antenna? RF Exposure Safe Distances Explained (ARPANSA RPS S-1 / ICNIRP)
Compliance

How Far Do You Need to Stay From a Transmitting Antenna? RF Exposure Safe Distances Explained (ARPANSA RPS S-1 / ICNIRP)

The safe distance from a transmitting antenna depends on its radiated power, its frequency, and whether the person is a worker or the public. Here is the ARPANSA RPS S-1 and ICNIRP formula, a 900 MHz worked example, a compliance distance chart, and the reasons a single distance is rarely the full answer.

· 8 min read

How Far Do You Need to Stay From a Transmitting Antenna? RF Exposure Safe Distances Explained (ARPANSA RPS S-1 / ICNIRP)

Compliance 8 min
The 900 MHz Band Replan: What Australia's Decision Means for IoT, Mining Radios, and Smart Meter Networks
Spectrum Engineering

The 900 MHz Band Replan: What Australia's Decision Means for IoT, Mining Radios, and Smart Meter Networks

A working engineer's guide to ACMA's 900 MHz replan: the new band edges, what happens to legacy PMR, STL and telemetry users, how LIPD class licensing changes in 915 to 928 MHz, and what LoRaWAN, NB IoT, LTE M and private LTE deployments actually have to recalculate this year.

· 20 min read

The 900 MHz Band Replan: What Australia's Decision Means for IoT, Mining Radios, and Smart Meter Networks

Spectrum Engineering 20 min
Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) Interference: The Spectrum Coexistence Problem No One Is Planning For
Spectrum Engineering

Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) Interference: The Spectrum Coexistence Problem No One Is Planning For

Direct to cell (D2C) satellite services are raising the RF noise floor across Australia. If you design fixed links, SCADA, WISP networks or PMR systems, your link budgets may already be outdated. Here is what changes.

· 10 min read

Starlink Direct to Cell (D2C) Interference: The Spectrum Coexistence Problem No One Is Planning For

Spectrum Engineering 10 min