Investigation Question: Research and write a report on how outback Australians communicate with their neighbors and the rest of the world using wireless technology like microwave and radio repeater towers, coaxial cables, optical fibers and satellite dishes.
Australians in the outback have many ways to contact each others such as people like, your neighbor or someone half way across the world. Australia is mostly covered with networks of coaxial cables, satellite dishes, micro wave and radio repeater towers. These network systems allow people to transmit signals coming from a television, radio, phones and computer data.
Microwaves are used for television and radio signals, and computer and telephone messages, they have the capability to hold many signals at the same time but to hold this many signals it has to have repeater stations so the signal of it doesn't fade away, giving it the power to communicate almost everywhere. The way these repeater stations work is that the antennas on the repeater stations have to receive the microwave signals and send them to the next repeater station in order for the signals to transfer, but each of the towers need to be in sight of the station that the signal is being sent to, because they send the signals in straight lines so this is why the repeater towers are usually built on the top of a tall hill.
An electric way of sending things is called a Coaxial cable. they allow sound and pictures to be sent as a pulse of electric current, rather than a electromagnetic wave. These signals are sent along a conducting wires that are inside durable tubes, the wire is thin and is placed in the centre of the tube. Most of the Australian coaxial cable tubes contain more than 4 to 12 tubes also a smaller conductor wire is in the cable and is used for providing the links to small towns and neighborhoods, these wires are used to control the main system. Most of the coaxial cables are buried and hid under the ground or the oceans floor. One of the main reasons coaxial cables are used more is that it doesn't fade away like the Microwaves does as it needs to have repeater stations.
Optical fibers can send more messages and signals at one time than microwaves and coaxial cables, the electrical signals that are triggered by a microphone, television, camera and a computer are transformed into a pulse of light. When the signals are received at the other end all the things that have been sent are converted back into a electrical signal so it can be fed through a television, computer or just a speaker.
Satellites are one of the most used ones of them all, these satellites allow a radio wave or a microwave to be sent at the speed of light. it travels from continent to continent, but in Australia the satellites are used to send televisions, radio and telephone signals to cities that have remote areas. The signals are sent to a satellite place that is called geostationary orbit, the signals are sent from one satellite to another either sending it back to Australia or to another continent in the world, the geostationary satellite is one that usually orbits around the our earth once every 24 hours. In order for it to send it must be located above 36,000 kilometers above our equator.