R. A. Wood Associates Software - PathLossSolver

• Simple, intuitive, easy to use interface
• Calculates receiver sensitivities vs range from a transmitter.
• Different units (km, miles, feet, etc) may be selected for distance and transmitter power.
• A list of additional losses may be created and included in the calculations.
• A graph and table of receiver power level vs. range is plotted.
• Parameters may be loaded from and saved to text files.

Welcome to PathLossSolver, a program that calculates the one way RF path losses from a transmitter to a receiver. This program provides a simple, easy to use interface to determine the Radio Frequency (RF) signal levels at a receiver at a given distance from an RF transmitter.

The program has three parts: Transmitter Characteristics, Path Characteristics, and Receiver Characteristics (Figure 1). Parameters can be modified in each of these parts to determine the RF signal level at the receiver input.

The Transmitter:

In this section the user can select the transmitter power, the losses from the transmitter to the transmitter antenna, and the antenna gain. The Effective Radiated Power is calculated (See Figure 2).

The Loss to the antenna may include coaxial cable, transmission line losses, and component losses (eg. duplexers, switches, ect.) between the amplifier and the antenna. Other Transmitter Losses may be added (eg. random losses, polarization losses, antenna pointing losses, ect.).

The Path:

The Path section calculates the loss in the RF signal as it travels a certain distance through the atmosphere (Figure 3).

Items that may be included in the Path Attenuation (dB/Distance Unit) include but are not limited to water vapor loss, rain loss, and oxygen absorption. Items that may be included in the Other Path Attenuation include fixed losses, and simplified multi-path losses.

The Receiver:

The receiver captures the RF energy with the receiver antenna and translates it to a receiver power at the receiver front end. Figure 4 shows the components of the Receiver. The Receiver Input Power is calculated at the receiver input.

The Loss from the Antenna to the Receiver may include coaxial cable, transmission line losses, and component losses between the antenna and the receiver. Other Receiver Losses may also be added (eg. antenna random loss, polarization losses, antenna pointing losses, ect).

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  PathLossSolver Main Interface Screenshot

Download PathLossSolver now for a free trial version. This trial version has all features available to the user except for the following limitation:

• The Frequency value is fixed at 915 MHz or 915 GHz.

The full version is available for purchase for $59.99 (US Dollars). Buy now to unlock all program features.