Satellite Radio Technology

| Tuesday, November 22, 2011
By Angela Gymmy


Satellite radio uses different technology than terrestrial radio. Instead of relying on the analog signals transmitted through a ground based antenna, satellite radio uses a network of satellites to transmit data to your stereo. It has advantages, and can be a great solution for some drivers. Here's a quick look at the difference between satellite and terrestrial radio.

In order to reach this quality, the recording and playback speed needs to be around the 384 kbps level. The music tracks are catalogued in a comparable way to the MP3 system, which uses names called ID3 tags. Each station on satellite radio attempts to create its own identity. A music station may try this by playing music only of one type or from only one era or decade. This means that you may get a satellite radio station called 1970's Punk music or Twentieth Century Classical Music.

When you are searching for new radio stations to listen to by this modern and diverse method, you will find that stations are often categorized by genre and era or decade. This means you could tune into a channel that plays the specialist music you love, such as 1980s pop music. You will almost certainly be used to this method already if you have satellite television in the home; here once again you will find hundreds of specialist music channels to choose from.

What you may find different in listening to the radio in this digital age is that there will be less talk time, less intros and just good quality music. The disc jockey does still exist in satellite radio, but he takes more of a back seat. He will prepare the songs for the next hour and compile them onto a format that is like an MP3 to play; long gone are the days where records got stuck or jumped on your favorite show.

The resulting binary or digital code is then translated into analogue signals so that your speakers can replay it. This process produces sound which is just about of CD quality. The transmitting satellites are in a geo-static orbit at 23,000 miles above the equator and have a large footprint which is the name given to the area of ground that is capable of receiving their broadcasts.

The footprints that are used in order for these digital broadcasts are huge, and the advantage of this is that you will never have to retune your set on a long journey again. A country the size of Britain needs only footprint to cover even the furthest of points, America starting with two, one for the west coast, and the other for the east.

In order to successfully listen to this kind of radio, you do not need to worry about having a huge parabolic dish like those required for television. A simple digital aerial is sufficient, and this will allow you to obtain excellent reception wherever you are, even if you are on the move.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment