Engineering Tutorials

A signal degrades as it moves through space. The longer the path, the more loss it experiences. This free-space path loss is a factor in calculating the link viability . Free-space path loss is easily calculated for miles or kilometers using one of the following formulas:

Lp = (96.6 + 20 log10 F) + (20 log10 D)

where
Lp = free-space path loss between antennas (in dB)
F = frequency in GHz
D = path length in miles

or

Lp = (92.4 + 20 log10 F) + (20 log10 D)

where
Lp = free-space path loss between antennas (in dB)
F = frequency in GHz
D = path length in kilometers