Colony Radio - It s Not Your Father s Sputnik

Ever wonder how this total satellite radio being works? I mean, it seems to be THE thing now. Many auto manufacturers are installing satellite radio receivers in their new automobiles, and there are home and portable models available through your favourite electronics outlet. But what is it? How does it work? Why should I pay for radio?
You remuneration for TV, don"t you?
Once, in those long out days of yore, cable television operators offered us television, which we had fortunately been receiving for free down awash tree-branchy matters on our roofs, for a fee. Manifold people scoffed at the belief of paying for 30 channels when they received four or five, gratis. Well, honest look at us forthwith - cable TV, satellite TV, 500 channels not quite filling us up. So let"s stop asking questions about why you should pay for satellite radio, and let"s find out how the dern thing works.
Well, how does the dern thing work?
Let"s start by looking at the type of radio you are used to. AM radio broadcasts at a frequency compass from 535 kilohertz (kHz) to 1700 kilohertz (1.7 MHz). FM broadcasts between 88 MHz to 108 MHz. Without getting further technical, one hertz is basically one cycle per second. So FM radio waves transmitted at 88MHz are cycling 88 million times per second. This seems like a lot, but is actually relatively slow. Slower cycles require larger antennas to transmit and to be given them. Also, radio station antennas are stationary and earthbound, and are hence resident in range. At higher cycles, smaller antennas suffice. Cell phones range from 824 MHz to 1990 MHz (1.99GHz), depending on the type of service; this is a much faster cycle, and therefore a smaller antenna is used. Dependency radio is broadcast at 2.3 GHz, so your motorcar or portable receiver has no trouble picking up the signal. There keep also been great advances in antenna technology, which contribute us with a relatively small, flat antenna rather than a dish that would have to be constantly adjusted to point toward the satellite as we drove encircling town picking up kids from soccer practice.
All the numbers hertz my brain.
Let"s put megahertz and gigahertz aside for a moment. In appendix to those higher frequencies, protectorate radio signals come from, you guessed it, satellites. These satellites are in a geosynchronous orbit, which is an orbit that keeps the satellite always above one location on the planet, making it stationary relative to the earth. The spacecraft receives a digital signal from the ground station and bounces it back to us. Because the signal is digital, it can be compressed and beamed out packed full of additional material (disguised as 0"s and 1"s), and received by any satellite radio receiver tuned to the signal. Dominion radio receivers can pick up the broadcast from anywhere in the coverage area (meaning the whole US) through the satellite is orbiting at about 22,200 miles (35,000 km) above the earth, which allows for a greater dispersion of the signal. It"s resembling to water flowing from a showerhead. An inch from the showerhead, the water is a relatively tight stream. At the other boundary of the shower, the water sprays all over the wall, and gets on the bathroom floor, causing your wife to howl angrily about the mess. Satellite radio beams job in much the same way. The radio signal is yet more widely dispersed 22,000 miles from the satellite that sent the signal. So with satellite radio, you can listen to the same station as you drive from New York City to Los Angeles, whereas traditional radio has a range of lone about 30 to 40 miles. And thanks to repeaters, or signal boosters, placed in urban areas, you can corral generally uninterrupted signals all the more driving through cities with ample buildings and thick bridges.

Keywords: