Author:  Peter Wittenberg

Phasor Addition

Remember that a radio signal is characterized by frequency, amplitude, and phase.   For carriers of the same frequency, we can represent the radio signal by looking at just amplitude and phase.  Sometimes we can even get useful information by comparing the phase of two signals that have slightly different frequencies.

First, look at the addition of two phasors to get a result.  For those interested in the mathematics, each phasor is just a polar representation of a complex number.   To add phasors, we convert to rectangular coordinates, then add the vectors to get a resultant, and finally convert the resultant into polar coordinates for its phasor representation.

The rectangular coordinates are the I/Q (inphase / quadrature) columns in the table.   If you enter values for the inphase or quadrature representations, the amplitude and phase representation will be corrected to reflect those changes.

Second, this calculator will allow you to enter a desired value in the resultant, either in amplitude and phase form or in I/Q form.  If you do this, vector 2 will be adjusted to meet the desired result.

Note:  You must enter numeric values in the entry fields.