The Facts You Need To Know About Satellite Radio - Part 1
Time and technology marches on and things that were considered
impossible just a few years ago, are now almost routine. That
applies to a lot of things in life, but certainly to the way
that we are able to listen to radio broadcasting today.
Just a few years ago it was just accepted that if you tuned in
to a particular radio station, you would lose reception and
clarity if you were driving long distance and you would have to
hunt around and find another station instead. It was also
accepted that every broadcast would be filed with lots of ads
that you didn't really want to hear, just so the radio station
could turn a profit.
Well, now there are more choices to be ahd and technology has
made a whole new way of broadcasting radio possible. It's called
satellite radio and we will try to help you understand a few
facts about it, because the more you know about it, the more you
will no doubt appreciate what it can do for you.
First of all, conventional radio traditionally only travel
around 30-50 miles with any clarity at all, and then they
degrade rapidly. Much of that is due to the roundness of the
earth and so as the signal goes out it can't follow the contour
of the earth and so the signal is lost to the user. Satelliter
radio has solved that issue altogether. As it's name implies,
the signal is sent from satellites over 20,000 miles above the
earth, so there is absolutely nothing that can obstruct the
broadcast signal.
There are currently two major players in the US in this new
field, Sirius and XM satellite radio. XM has two satellites in
orbit and Sirius employs three. They are specifically timed and
placed within orbit to maintain constant coverage of the US for
about 16 hours at a time. What this means to you is that no
matter where you go in the US and no matter what time of day or
night, you will not lose reception, and can enjoy the
programming that you like uninterrupted.
This feature alone of satellite radio is an incredible advantage
over conventional ground-based radio stations. It comes in handy
especially for folks who may live in rural areas that get very
poor reception from standard radio, and for those that are long
distance travelers. There is no hunting for stations as their
reception fades. No having to listen to programming that you
don't particularly like just because it's the only thing
available in a particular area. Just crisp, clean programming
all the time.
But there is lots more about satellite radio to be covered in
Part 2 of this report.