Radio frequency (RF) is a frequency, or rate of oscillation, of electromagnetic radiation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to the frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves. Since most of this range is beyond the vibration rate that most mechanical systems can respond to, RF usually refers to oscillations in electrical circuits.
In order to receive radio signals, for...
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Radio frequency (RF) is a frequency, or rate of oscillation, of electromagnetic radiation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz. This range corresponds to the frequency of alternating current electrical signals used to produce and detect radio waves. Since most of this range is beyond the vibration rate that most mechanical systems can respond to, RF usually refers to oscillations in electrical circuits.
In order to receive radio signals, for instance from AM/FM radio stations, a radio antenna must be used. However, since the antenna will pick up thousands of sine waves at a time, a radio tuner is necessary as well to tune in to a particular frequency (or frequency range). This is typically done via a resonator (in its simplest form, a circuit with a capacitor and an inductor). The resonator is configured to resonate at a particular frequency (or frequency band), thus amplifying sine waves at that radio frequency, while ignoring other sine waves. Usually, either the inductor or...
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