Satellite Radio

During the last decades radio has evolved into just a piece of box that produces sound to a lifestyle gadget. Radio has coped with so many challenges and as the song goes “video killed the radio star” it literally almost did bury the medium six feet under. But radio fought back and was able to get back on its feet. Radio has gone through so many changes and the most successful to date is satellite radio.

Well imagine the luxury of radio listening when you don’t have to listen to various commercials and roll of songs that are played are nonstop. These along with other must-have features make the satellite radio an indispensable tool for music enthusiasts.

For one to be able to appreciate the works of satellite radios, getting back the basics would be a good idea. For starters, conventional radio (the one that your parents keep in your basement which they used to call transistor radio in case you don’t know) uses sky rise towers or technically called transmitters. Well it starts with a radio station studio where the DJ bla-blas and the engineers operate the transmitters that will transmit (broadcast) the bla-blas and the sound of records the DJ plays (these are called signals) out into the air space waiting for a nearby radio set.

Your radio set on the other hands uses its antenna to catch the signal. Well how does radio know that the signal it catches is the one that comes from your favorite station? Simple, it uses frequencies. Those decimals like 107.9 or 93.3. Each radio station is operating on a unique frequency so when you turn that radio dial to a specific frequency it will only scoop that signal that comes from that station.

Now so much for that, satellite radio came to be because of the many setbacks the traditional radio (in contemporary literature traditional radio is now termed as terrestrial radio) has. On top of that are the seemingly annoying commercials that sometimes run on long sets. And the limit of musical and programming content in local radio stations where sometimes a song can get played a number of times during the day. And the limited scope or broadcast coverage of terrestrial radio.

Satellite radio was ratified by the FCC in the mid 90s and in 1997 two companies (Sirius and XM) have opened to operate on what is called the revolution in radio listening. Satellite radio relies on satellite (thus the name) to broadcast music and news programs. From the studios of satellite companies signals are aimed at satellites orbiting around the globe in geosynchronous manner. It then relays the signals back to the earth and into to a Trek satellite radio antenna (a satellite radio receiver).

This makes the sound output of satellite radio crisper and clearer compared to terrestrial radio. Moreover its covers a wide broadcast scope that you can listen to a satellite radio program nonstop from New York to Los Angeles. Imagine during those long trips you don’t have to switch frequencies as radio signal fades city after city.

Another edge in satellite radio is the vast choices of program content to choose from. This variety is often distinguished through channels. Some channels offer pure talk while others play continuous music all day, some with no DJs, and a variety of playlist that caters to different listener tastes. There is a channel that airs music from the 50s and a channel for purely love songs the list is endless.

Satellite radio works definitely like cable television. To get signal from satellite radio a yearly subscription will have to be applied. Standard radio sets are not capable of accepting satellite radio signals so you must need to purchase satellite radio receiver.

Today, two rival satellite radio companies XM and Satellite have merge into a single entity that will provide musical and programming content to all listeners across the United States. Indeed radio has stood up the test of time and has gone from ground tower transmitters to space satellites.