How Does Satellite Radio Work?
In the mid-1970s, one young female graduate student was driving across Texas. She wanted to listen to the Spanish music coming from the various ground-based stations within the state. The signals from each station could travel only about 30 or 40 miles. Eventually, that young lady found that her car radio would pick-up only cowboy music.
The satellite radio does not get a signal from a ground-based transmitter. Each satellite radio receives a digital radio signal. That digital signal comes from a communications satellite. The satellite picks-up and returns to earth whatever signals it has received from the ground. The signal from a satellite can reach a much wider area than a signal carried over the land.
When a car owner has a satellite radio in his or her car, then that radio can play music from the same channel throughout an entire cross-county trip. Should the car owner want to listen to a talk radio host, the car owner does not need to fear the a sudden lapse in the message from coming from the satellite radio.
Due to the strength of the satellite radio broadcast, each broadcast can be “heard” by receivers that have no link to a satellite dish. At times, the curvature of the earth can put limits on the reach of a satellite radio signal. That problem is generally solved by the launching of two to three satellites, all of which fly above a single continent.
A second problem that can interfere with transmission of a satellite radio signal can take the form of a large and tall object. A big building might seem to stand in the way of a clear transmission in an urban setting. That problem has been solved, through the use of broadcast boosters. Such boosters allow signals to be made available to radio listeners, even when that signal runs into a tall building.
The availability of boosters gives local radio stations the capacity to broadcast clear and uninterrupted traffic reports. That is especially important, when traffic converges on a possible signal obstruction. Think, for example about how a tunnel might create traffic problems, and how it might also interfere with transmission of a radio signal. The presence of the boosters does away with the potential difficulty.
The earlier development of the boosters displays the extent to which skilled engineers can improve upon the exiting satellite radio signals. No doubt research into the field digital radio signals will facilitate the creation of even more technological advances, advances that can improve delivery of satellite radio programs.
At this point, it is difficult to predict how satellite radio might change in the near future. The two major satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, are thinking about becoming a single company. They await approval from the U.S. government, which does not want to entourage the creation of a monopoly.
Meanwhile, the public continues to enjoy the new additions to the family of services offered by the satellite radio companies. Sirius now advertises the availability of its “Backseat TV.” The children who now watch that TV might find that their own children reap the benefits of even better and more sophisticated satellite radio services.
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Bryan
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