Does anyone know much about satellites and how they make satellite radio work?
I was just wondering because there doesn't seem to be much difference between the quality of sound of the music from traditional radio and satellite radio.
Taking a wild guess on this one. Radio waves are transmitted from a studio to an orbiting satellite. That signal get bounced off and comes back down to one or more antennae here on earth.
Interesting. I haven't ever thought about it either. I don't notice any difference in the quality of the sound either. I listen to both and never really thought about it.
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, The satellites receive the signal from a ground station and re-transmit it back toward the ground. The power is not huge, but enough for the receivers to pick up. Sensitivity of receivers has gone up by an enormous amount in the past ten or so years. What used to require a dish (for radio) now is done with something the size of an ice cube. The quality of sound in satellite systems like XM and Siris is about equal to a mid level MP3 with a sample rate of about 192. It is not hi-rez, but certainly is sufficient for most uses.
Sounds like the outer space equivalent of radio and cell phone towers. Being as high up as satellites are, the signals can go worldwide instead of just staying in a region.
Being as high up as satellites are, the signals can go worldwide instead of just staying in a region.
That was the original intent in making that technology I would think. It wasn't so much about making clearer sound, more about transmitting the sounds farther.
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