Application of diffraction techniques in propagation path loss modelling

Diffraction techniques are used to predict the propagation path loss between a radio transmitter site and receiver sites located in the shadow of mountainous and hilly terrain. These predictions are used to determine the effective coverage range for a radio paging service and, in the reverse problem, are used to determine the required transmitter power and siting for a desired geographical coverage. Extensive field tests at over 100 sites and ranges to 50 km are summarized for comparison with predicted values.