Extra exam question E3B10
Subelement E3, RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION· Group E3B
What is the effect of chordal-hop propagation?
- A.The signal experiences less loss compared to multi-hop propagation, which uses Earth as a reflector (correct answer)
- B.The MUF for chordal-hop propagation is much lower than for normal skip propagation
- C.Atmospheric noise is reduced in the direction of chordal-hop propagation
- D.Signals travel faster along ionospheric chords
WhyChordal-hop propagation lets a signal experience less loss than ordinary multi-hop propagation, since it skips the lossy ground reflection between hops. Chordal-hop propagation lets a signal refract repeatedly between ionospheric layers without touching down and reflecting off the ground in between, and skipping that lossy ground reflection means a chordal-hop signal experiences less overall loss than ordinary multi-hop propagation that does bounce off the Earth's surface at each hop, answer A. It doesn't lower the MUF, doesn't reduce atmospheric noise, and doesn't make signals travel any faster, radio waves move at the same speed regardless of the hop pattern.
Published 2026-08-28 · Last updated 2026-08-28 · Question text is verbatim from the 2024-2028 NCVEC Element 4 pool (public domain); the explanation above is original writing, see our methodology.
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