Comment Re:The physics of radio waves constrain their use (Score 1) 134
> Once you get to microwaves they act even more
> like light. They need a line of sight and are
> easy to block.
High microwaves, maybe. Amateur radio contesters have been using troposcatter for long haul contacts for decades at frequencies up to 24GHz. For an explanation of troposcatter: http://www.qsl.net/oz1rh/troposcatter99/troposcatt er99.htm Some communications records held by hams: http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/vhf/world_dx_records 2006.html
The point isn't to pick a nit, only to note that there are reliable mechanisms that can be used for reliable long haul communications at microwave frequencies. I'm not personally familiar with the attenuation of the atmosphere at 1THz and up; perhaps if we generate 100 watts at 1THz we can use tropo there too...
> like light. They need a line of sight and are
> easy to block.
High microwaves, maybe. Amateur radio contesters have been using troposcatter for long haul contacts for decades at frequencies up to 24GHz. For an explanation of troposcatter: http://www.qsl.net/oz1rh/troposcatter99/troposcat
The point isn't to pick a nit, only to note that there are reliable mechanisms that can be used for reliable long haul communications at microwave frequencies. I'm not personally familiar with the attenuation of the atmosphere at 1THz and up; perhaps if we generate 100 watts at 1THz we can use tropo there too...
