You have probably been hearing a lot about satellite radio
lately, and there is no doubt that you will be hearing even more
about it soon. If you haven't adopted this new technology into
your entertainment and information mix, then you may not
understand it very well. So let's help you get the facts on how
this new technology works.
You have probably guessed that satellites are involved due to
the name satellite radio, and you would be right. But first the
programming is recorded in studios digitally so that the signal
contains much more and higher quality sound than is possible
with standard radio. That recording is converted into a signal
that is beamed up to satellites that orbit earth more than
20,000 miles up into the atmosphere. There the signal is encoded
and sent down to a receiver that decodes the signal and plays
the sound for you.
It all takes place very quickly, easily, and reliably due to
advanced technology. All that you need to have to be able to
take advantage of this technology is three things: a
subscription to a satellite radio provider's service, a
receiver, and an antenna.
There are currently three major satellite radio provider's, but
only two, Sirius and XM are available in the US. The third is a
company called WorldSpace that takes a more global view of the
potential that satellite radio has and is available in Asia,
Africa, Europe, and South America. All you have to do is choose
the company whose programming seems to best fit what you are
interested in listening to and your first step is done.
Now that you have the programming available, you wuill need the
equipment to receive the special signals since normal radios
cannmot decode the satellite radio signal unless they already
have that capability and are are equipped to do so. There are
lost of places though where you can get satellite radio
equipment and even have them installed in your boat, car and RV.
You can usually get very good deals on radio receiving equipment
that you can either install yourself or have installed locally.
Quite often you can even buy equipment that will let you use a
satellite radio receiver in multiple places including your home,
car, RV, etc. You just take the receiver with you as you go.
More and more new car companies are even installing satellite
radio as standard equipment in their vehicles, so expect this
technology to grow, improve and become more accepted as time
goes on. We think that if you just take some time to listen to a
satellite radio broadcast for a while, you will begin to
understand and appreciate what a pleasure it is to have.
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