122 



BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL 



transmission losses at the lower frequencies are higher than here 

 indicated because of limitations in antenna heights. 



Were we to take the ideal condition as regards the transmission 

 medium itself, where for wires there is no conductor or dielectric loss, 

 and for radio there is, likewise, no earth or air absorption loss, we 

 would note: (1) that, for wires, there would be no attenuation what- 



WIRE AND RADIO TRANSMISSION LOSS WITH DISTANCE 



WIRE CIRCUIT ^8BW.G OPEN WIRE 



Radio Dispersion and Attenuation 

 Dashed Curves-Loss Due to Dispersion Only. 



1000 KC 

 1O00KC 



100 KC 

 100KC 

 100 KC 



20 KC 



100 

 90 

 ■80 

 ■ 70 

 60 

 1-50 



CO 

 CJ) 



■P 

 CD 



C 

 «J 



ZOKC 



80 100 120 



d miles 

 Fig. 2 



140 150 180 200 



1-40 ^ 

 30 

 '20 

 -10 

 ■0 



ever, the curve following along the X axis; (2) for radio, there would 

 remain the loss due to dispersion, inherent in the unguided method 

 of transmission, the magnitude of which loss is, of course, very sub- 

 stantial. The dash-line radio curves show the radio losses without 

 attenuation, the full line curves with attenuation. 



Considering the actual condition, where there is dissipative loss 



