Channel characterisation for polarisation diversity

Linearly polarised radio signals propagated through the ionosphere are received as a combination of elliptically polarised components. The high frequency signals received by two orthogonal antennas will consist of different blends of these components. If the combinations are sufficiently distinct, then the resulting diversity may be used to improve the quality of signal at the input to a modem using some kind of diversity combining. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the channel characteristics of an HF polarisation diversity system.