Fading characteristics of a geographically fixed, normally line of sight, 450 MHz radio channel in the Southeastern United States

Described are the fading characteristics of a normally line-of-sight, fixed-station 450 MHz radio path, which can be typical of paths encountered in a basic exchange telecommunications radio (BETR) system in the southeastern United States. The fading parameters of the radio channel examined are slope and attenuation, the characteristics of which are expressed with density functions and cumulative distributions of data gathered over a 5 and a 1/2 month period. The knowledge derived from these measurements should permit more accurate radio system engineering and aid in determining BETR system requirements for this region of the country. One application of this information will be to determine the optimum fade margins for the design of BETR installations. This will allow the greatest possible range of service without degrading system availability, a consequence of excessive fade margins. The slope information is useful in predicting the bit error rate performance of 450 MHz digital radio systems in determination of the need for adaptive equalization