M I C R O W AV E

R E P E AT E R
S TAT I O N

Ma. Rebecca J. Bayrante & Kate Angelene P. Pili

Types of FM Microwave Stations:
Terminal stations are points in the
system where baseband signals either
originate or terminate.

Repeater stations are points in a system

where baseband signals may be
reconfigured or where RF carriers are
simply “repeated” or amplified.
@Tomasi
 Microwave Repeater
– a receiver and a transmitter
placed back-to-back or in tandem
in the system.

– receives a signal, amplifies and

reshapes it, and then retransmits
the signal to the next repeater or
terminal stations down line from it.

@inhinyero.tm
• A "microwave radio repeater" is a specific device that
amplifies and retransmits microwave signals, addressing
signal attenuation issues within a microwave link.

• A "microwave repeater station" is a larger facility that

encompasses multiple components, including microwave radio
repeaters, and serves as a central point in a microwave
communication network. It manages the routing and
distribution of microwave signals across a network, and it may
include other equipment and infrastructure beyond repeaters.
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 • IF Repeater
• Baseband Repeater
• RF Repeater
Types of
Microwave
Repeaters
IF Repeater
• Here, the received RF carrier is down-converted to an
IF frequency, amplified, reshaped, up-converted to an
RF frequency, and then retransmitted.
• Signal is never demodulated below IF
• Baseband intelligence is unmodified by the repeater
• aka heterodyne repeaters
• most commonly used
Baseband Repeater
• Here, the received RF carrier is down-converted to an
IF frequency, amplified, filtered, and then further
demodulated to baseband.
• Baseband frequency is then reconfigured, afterwards it
FM modulates an IF carrier, which is up-converted to an
RF carrier and then retransmitted.
• It is the most complicated system
RF Repeater
• Here, the received microwave signal is not down-
converted to IF or baseband.
• It is simply mixed with a local oscillator frequency in a
nonlinear mixer.
• Signal is neither reconfigured nor reshaped.
• Signal is just simply converted in frequency and then
reamplified and transmitted.
 The received RF signal enters the receiver
through the channel separation network and
bandpass filter. The receive mod down-
converts the RF carrier to IF. The IF
AMP/AGC and equalizer circuits amplify
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and reshape the IF.
 Again, the transmod up-converts the IF
to RF for retransmission. However, in a
repeater station, the method used to
generate the RF microwave carrier
frequencies is slightly different from the
@Tomasi method used in a terminal station.
 In the IF repeater, only one microwave
generator is required to supply both the
transmod and the receive mod with an RF
carrier signal. The microwave generator, shift
oscillator, and shift modulator allow the
repeater to receive one RF carrier frequency,
down-convert it to IF, and then up-convert the
@Tomasi IF to a different RF carrier frequency.
H H L L H H L L
 Another reason for using a
high/low-frequency scheme is to
prevent the power that
“leaks” out the back and sides of a
transmit antenna from interfering
with the signal entering
the input of a nearby receive
antenna. This is called ringaround.

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@Tomasi
The number of channels available in a given
bandwidth is cut in half when transitioning from
high-order to low-order modulation schemes
because the lower-order schemes use less
bandwidth-efficiently due to their slower symbol
rates and reduced information-carrying capacity
per symbol. This trade-off is made to ensure
reliable communication in various conditions.
@Tomasi
Note!
At the repeater station, none of the transmit
or receive channels have the same frequency
or polarization. Ringaround only slightly
affects the interference that the transmitters
and receivers experience.

@Tomasi
References
• [1] “Microwave communications part 1,” Ako Si Kino,
https://inhinyerotm.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/microwave-
communications-part-1/ (accessed Sep. 5, 2023).
• [2] W. Tomasi. Electronic Communications Systems: Fundamentals
Through Advanced(5th Edition). New Jersey Columbus, Ohio: Pearson
Prentice Hall, 2004.