Effective Communication
Signal to Noise Ratio
In radio communication, signal to noise ratio (SNR) refers to the proportion of a transmission that can be heard and understood, versus the amount of background static or interference. This same concept can be applied to all field communication. When transmitting via any means, the transmitter should consider how much of what they are saying is useful and relevant, versus how much is just ‘noise’.
Planning can help improve signal to noise ratios by establishing things that could cause confusion when discussed in the field and assigning short names, identifiers or call-signs for them. An example of this is shown in Table 1.
| Low Signal to Noise Ratio | Proceed to objective 2 |
|---|---|
| High Signal to Noise Ratio | Load up and head south for about two kilometres and I think the place your're looking for is gray double-story building on the left-hand side of the road. Let me know if you have any trouble finding the place and let me know if you get there. |
In the example from Table 1, the poor example (high signal to noise ration) is mostly information that good planning could have prevented it's need to be transmitted.