Question
Which of the following describes a waterfall display?
Answer Options
- A) Frequency is horizontal, signal strength is vertical, time is intensity
- B) Frequency is vertical, signal strength is intensity, time is horizontal
- C) Frequency is horizontal, signal strength is intensity, time is vertical
- D) Frequency is vertical, signal strength is horizontal, time is intensity
Correct Answer: C
Explanation
A waterfall display is a tool often integrated into software-defined radios and sound card programs to visualize the radio spectrum over time. It is essentially a scrolling, two-dimensional spectrogram.
In a standard waterfall display, frequency is plotted on the horizontal axis, the flow of time moves vertically (from top to bottom), and the signal strength is represented by the intensity (or color/brightness) of the trace at any given frequency and time point. This gives the operator an intuitive way to identify signals, track drifts, and analyze interference.
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