What is a base station in radio communications?

In radio communications, a base station is a wireless communications station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of one of the following: a wireless telephone system such as cellular CDMA or GSM cell site. Base stations use RF power amplifiers (radio-frequency power amplifiers) to transmit and receive signals.

How can a mobile vehicle communicate with a base station?

The above graph shows the distance range between a mobile vehicle with a basic vehicle antenna, communicating with a base station using a basic antenna mounted on the roof of a suburban house. Communication distance can be greatly improved over this by advanced gain antenna systems or a high pole or a tower at the base station.

Does increasing base station transmitter power increase radio range?

Increasing base station transmitter power will nearly always increase the communications range, but usually by less than anticipated. For aircraft at altitudes below 8000 feet agl, even a relatively low power transmitter will reach the radio horizon with an acceptable signal level.

Why can't aircraft communicate with a base station?

Since vhf radio signal travel along a “line of sight”, aircraft that are behind hills or beyond the radio horizon (due to earth curvature) cannot communicate with ground a station, regardless of other favorable conditions. The next most significant factor is base station antenna height.

Is a base station a transmitter or broadcast point?

Base stations are generally a transceiver, capable of sending and receiving wireless signals; otherwise, if they only transmitted signals out, they would be considered a transmitter or broadcast point. A base station will have one or more radio frequency (RF) antennas to transmit and receive RF signals to other devices.

How does a base station communicate with a client device?

Generally, if client devices wanted to communicate to each other, they would communicate both directly with the base station and do so by routing all traffic through it for transmission to another device. Base stations in cellular telephone networks are more commonly referred to as cell towers.