Sources of external noise and its effects on radio reception

The spectrum is heavily loaded with atmospheric and cosmic radiation that is dependant on the receive frequency, the receive mode and the antenna. Additionally ever increasing sources arise from the so-called industrial noise or technical noise. These can impair or prevent reception of the smallest signals. The specification for a receiver sensitivity determined by the self-noise are partly to blame. Therefore it is important to know the external sources of noise that contribute to the quality of radio reception. The following article considers this for the frequency range between 1Hz and 100GHz. The definition and meaning of receiver sensitivity is described in [1] as well as the different types.