Text a. Radio engineering and television

The seventh of May is traditionally named Radio Day. It was on this clay in 1895 that A. S. Popov, a Russian scien­tist, reported in the Physics Department of the Russian Phy­sical and Chemical Society on his invention of a sensitive re­ceiver which detected and registered electric oscillations in the atmosphere. He demonstrated his radio-receiving set in operation. Popov's invention found practical application in meteorology and communication. Since then," radio com­munication and radio engineering have made a, tremendous progress. A great number of scientists and inventors contribu­ted to this progress. Radio has become such a part of our life that we cannot imagine our existence without it. Now it is hardly possible to name a sphere of science, engineering or national economy where radio equipment is not used.

Today radio engineering is a very vast field, which in­cludes a great number of specialized branches, such as radio communication, television, radiolocation (radar), radioastron- omy, radiotelemetry, automatics, cybernetics, and so on.

The invention of the radio (electronic) valve made poss­ible the transmission of speech, music and vision signals and thus led to broadcasting and television. While radar helps navi­gation at sea and makes air navigation and flight safe, tele­vision helps man to see what goes on hundreds and thousands of kilometres away. Man is already able to cast his electric eye at the bottom of the sea, inside a roaring blast furnace and a live nuclear reactor. Without radio, radiobeacon and radiocompass it would be not safe to travel by air and by sea in foggy and stormy weather. Without radioelectronic equipment space flight would be impossible. Radiolocators installed on sputniks help see from outer space the formation of typhoons or hurricanes, calculate their force and direction, determine spring floods of rivers, etc.

Radio and television are not only the reliable means of communication but also efficient means of educating people, spreading knowledge and ideas and raising the cultural level of the population. Television finds ever wider application in various fields of national economy.

In radioastronomy radiotelescopes are used to investigate the Universe, to obtain data on chemical composition and surface conditions of the Sun and other planets.

Radio engineering technique is widely used in radiotele­metry to indicate or record a measurable quantity at a dis­tance.

At present we produce equipment for powerful broadcasting and television centres and radio-relay stations, electronic computers, radar stations, telecontrol and telemetric sys­tems, etc.

Radiobroadcasting is the technique of use of radio (elec­tromagnetic) waves for wireless transmitting of sound.

Radiowaves are produced at the broadcasting station and radiated by the aerial. Radiowaves generated by the radio transmitter and emitted by the aerial propagate in all di­rections. Radioreceivers receive, transform and amplify the energy of radiowaves into audio signals so that they can reach the loudspeaker, headphones, a relay, recording equip­ment, etc. Radioreceiver is one of the main elements of broadcasting, communication systems, television, radar and many other fields of engineering. The lower the power of signals received, the higher sensitivity of the receiver should be.

Broadcasting based on digital coding has revealed many advantages over conventional broadcasting. It consists in converting soundwaves into series of digits and their subse­quent transmission in the form of monofrequential pulses. A signal is then received and after amplification is sent to the acoustic system for reproduction. Digital coding enhan­ces the quality of broadcasting, makes it possible to reduce considerably the size of new receiver-decoders. In digital broadcasting more than one station can use one and the same wavelength without interference.

Many fundamentally new radioengineering devices have appeared of late, which infinitely extend the range of their application.

VOCABULARY NOTES

1. radio communication — радіозв'язок

2. it is hardly possible — навряд чи можливо

3. to go on — відбуватися, траплятися

4. to cast one's eye (at) — кинути погляд, глянути (на)

5. blast furnace — доменна піч, домна.

6. ...thousands of kilometres away — на відстані тисяч кілометрів

7. live flaivl nuclear reactor — діючий атомний реактор

8. ... ever wider application — дедалі ширше застосування

9. measurable quantity — величина, яку можна виміряти

10. technique of use (of) — метод використання (чого-н.)

11. conventional (broadcasting) — звичайне, традиційне (радіомовлення)

12. in the form of ... — у вигляді...

13. monofrequcnt(ial) pulse — одночастотний імпульс

14. digit(al) coding — цифрове кодування

15. digital broadcasting — радіо (телебачення) на основі цифрового ко­дування

16. series of digits — ряди цифр (сигналів)

17. receiver-decoder — приймально-декодуючий пристрій

EXERCISES

1. Find in the text the sentences with the following termino­logical words and word-combinations and translate them into Ukrainian:

radiotelemetry— радіотелеметрія, radiobeacon — ра­діомаяк, radioreceiver — радіоприймач, радіостанція, sen­sitive receiver — чутливий приймач, radio-receiving set — радіоприймач, radioengineering (technique) — радіотехніка, radio-engineering equipment радіоустаткування, radiotrans- mitter — радіопередавач, vision signal — відеосигнал, audio signal — сигнал звукової частоти, electric oscilla­tions — електричні коливання.

2. a) Form adjectives from the following nouns by adding the suffix -y and translate them into Ukrainian:

fog, storm, rain, anger, craft, grinder, wind, star, wool, wave, grease, grass, sun, mist, dust, water, snow, trick, smoke, powder, might.

b) Arrange these adjectives according to their general meaning:

Models: 1. S + -y (full of, covered with): grease — greasy;

2. S + -y (resembling, looking, sounding or feel­ing like): silver — silvery;

3. S + -y (having the character of): rotar — ro­tary.

1. Explain the meaning of the words in bold type and translate the word-combinations into Ukrainian:

foggy weather, stormy weather, silky skin, leafy trees, cloudy sky, greasy place, misty weather, sandy hair, grindery shop, rainy day, frosty air, hasty man.

4. From the following verbs form adjectives adding the suf­fix -able (-ible) and translate them into Ukrainian:

to understand, to measure, to read, to access, to imagine, to work, to suit, to obtain.

5. Read the following international words and give their Ukrainian equivalents:

193

to report, to register, to demonstrate, to calculate, to gen­erate, to propagate, to transform;.record, atmosphere, oper­ation, communication, pulse, interference, transmission, composition, condition, navigation, formation, application, safe, relay, distance, technique, coding, converter; detective, sensitive, stormy, acoustic.

7 2-1650

6. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following words and word-combinations:

receiver, oscillation, radio communication, radiolocation, cybernetics, radar, radio valve, broadcasting, vision signal, radiobeacon, telecontrol, loudspeaker, telephone, wireless, aerial, audio signal, sensitivity, digital coding, monofrequen- tial pulse, acoustic system, digital broadcasting.

7. Find in the text English equivalents of the following Ukrainian word-combinations:

чутливий приймач, радіоелектронне устаткування, на­дійний засіб зв'язку, хімічний склад, радіотехнічне устат­кування, потужні радіо- та телецентри, радіотрансляційна станція, безпровідникова передача (трансляція) звуку, приймально-декодуючий пристрій, радіотехнічний пристрій.

8. Combine the word "radio" with the appropriate English word to form the equivalents of the following Ukrainian words:

радіотехніка valve

радіозв'язок engineering

радіоустаткування transmitter радіолампа equipment

радіомаяк communication

радіопередавач beacon

радіопередача location

радіолокація broadcasting

1. Find In the text all word-combinations with the word "ra­dio" and translate them into Ukrainian:

2. Arrange the following words according to:

1. similar meaning: tremendous, predominance, use, vari­ous, a great number of, different, advantage, satellite, great, sputnik, application, of late, powerful, recently, a lot of, strong; to detect, to decrease, to reduce, to spread, to regis­ter, to propagate, to investigate, to extend, to record, to study, to increase, to catch.

2. opposite meaning: inside, low, strong,' vast, outside, narrow, high, weak, many, enhance, few, reduce.

   11. Form words with the opposite meaning adding prefixes to the following words:

possible, reliable, practical, safe, efficient, measurable, advantage, coding.

11. Combine the noun with the proper adjective: star, sun, earth solar, astral, terrestrial sky, moon, year lunar, celestial, annual night, time, day nocturnal, diurnal, temporal

12. Define the ing-forms and translate the sentences into Ukrainian:

1. Radiobroadcasting is the technique of using radiowaves for wireless transmitting of sound. 2. Broadcasting based on digital coding has revealed many advantages over conven­tional broadcasting. 3. Digital broadcasting consists in con­verting sound-waves into series of digits and their subsequent transmitting in the form of monofrequential pulses. 4. The first step in the measuring of a physical quantity consists in choosing a unit of that quantity. 5. Studying the properties of electrons gave the possibility of constructing a very power­ful microscope. 6. By employing a number of amplifying tubes in cascade, almost any desired amount of amplification can be obtained. 7. The concept of telemetry developed back in the 1900's with the first practical device being used just before World War I.

11. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the conjunction "while":

1. D. I. Mendeleyev considered physical chemistry his main subject, while he successfully dealt with problems in very different areas, from mathematics and astronomy to meteorology, from philosophy to economics, from tech­nology to art. 2. The atoms which form the molecules are of course smaller than the molecules, while the elecrons of which the atoms are composed are yet smaller. 3. While power engineers build hydroelectric plants on rivers, civil engineers construct roads, housing, facilities for enterprises, cultural facilities and public services.

11. Answer the following questions on the text:

I. When is Radio Day marked? 2. Who is the inventor of radio? 3. Why is Radio Day marked on the 7th of May? 4 Where did Popov's invention find application? 5. Where is radio equipment used now? 6. Where is television applied today? 7. What modern radioengineering techniques do you know? 8. Where are radio-waves produced and how are they radiated? 9. How does radio work? 10. What is digital broad­casting? 11. What does digital broadcasting consist in? 12. What advantages has digital broadcasting revealed over conventional broadcasting?

11. Render the text.

12. 7*

    195

    Using the text and ex. XV make up a dialogue.