Table of Contents
HOW FAR CAN AM radio transmissions travel?
Useful daytime AM service is generally limited to a radius of no more than about 100 miles (162 km), even for the most powerful stations. However, during nighttime hours the AM signals can travel over hundreds of miles by reflection from the ionosphere, a phenomenon called “skywave” propagation.
What is the best site of an AM broadcast transmitter?
As a result, AM radio tends to do best in areas where FM frequencies are in short supply, or in thinly populated or mountainous areas where FM coverage is poor.
What is the range of a radio station?
VHF radio waves usually do not travel far beyond the visual horizon, so reception distances for FM stations are typically limited to 30–40 miles (50–60 km). They can also be blocked by hills and to a lesser extent by buildings.
Can you touch an AM radio tower?
There’s a big reason those enormous AM radio transmitter towers are surrounded in fences: touching them can be incredibly dangerous on account of the enormous amounts of power pushed through them.
What is the range of AM and FM for your radio broadcasting?
The Amplitude Modulated (AM radio) carrier frequencies are in the frequency range 535-1605 kHz. Carrier frequencies of 540 to 1600 kHz are assigned at 10 kHz intervals. The FM radio band is from 88 to 108 MHz between VHF television Channels 6 and 7.
Do they make AM transmitters?
The AM transmitter can get a modulation source from a computer, Internet radio, a smartphone (maybe with an audio Bluetooth adapter), an audio CD deck, an audio cassette deck, or a vinyl record turntable with a preamp. The input to the transmitters is an RCA jack.
How does an AM tower work?
Receiving an AM Signal An amplifier amplifies the signal to something like 50,000 watts for a large AM station. Then the antenna sends the radio waves out into space. Unless you are sitting right beside the transmitter, your radio receiver needs an antenna to help it pick the transmitter’s radio waves out of the air.
What happens if you grab a radio tower?
Why you shouldn’t touch AM radio towers. Seems that if you touch one and are also touching the ground (as in standing on the ground) the tower will conduct through you, cooking all your nerve endings while you, at the same time, hear the broadcast inside your head.
What is a studio-to-transmitter link?
Studio-to-transmitter links, and to some degree inter-city relays are familiar elements of most radio stations. They allow stations the flexibility to build their studios in locations that may be miles from the transmitter, allowing certain creature comforts or marketing opportunities.
How are AM radio signals transmitted?
The electrical signal from program material, usually coming from a studio, is mixed with a carrier wave of a specific frequency, then broadcast. In the case of AM, this mixing (modulation) is done by altering the amplitude (strength) of the carrier wave, proportional to the original signal.
What is AM broadcasting technology?
AM broadcasting is a radio broadcasting technology, which employs amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as “AM band”) transmissions, but also on the longwave and shortwave radio bands.
What is the difference between AM and FM radio?
Thus, AM broadcasters tend to specialise in spoken-word formats, such as talk radio, all news and sports, leaving the broadcasting of music mainly to FM and digital stations. AM and FM modulated signals for radio. AM ( Amplitude Modulation) and FM ( Frequency Modulation) are types of modulation (coding).