Satellite Radio Technology

| Tuesday, December 13, 2011
By Tom Soyer


Portable radios are nothing new, but the portable satellite radio has only grown in popularity in recent years. A mid range priced hand held portable radio is the XM XPMP3H1. This is more than just a radio, it is a completely portable music facility. As well as receiving broadcasts from around the globe, it also has the ability to record songs as you listen to them.

In order to reach this quality, the recording and playback speed needs to be around the 384 kbps level. The music tracks are catalogued in a comparable way to the MP3 system, which uses names called ID3 tags. Each station on satellite radio attempts to create its own identity. A music station may try this by playing music only of one type or from only one era or decade. This means that you may get a satellite radio station called 1970's Punk music or Twentieth Century Classical Music.

Satellite radio doesn't have this issue. The signals are transmitted by a satellite and can span across thousands of miles. This means you can listen to the same station from the beginning of your travel all the way through to your destination. You may experience slight fading of the channels if you are in an area that has heavy tree cover, but as soon as you have a clear shot of the sky the station comes back in clearly again.

Station Availability Another benefit to satellite radio is the sheer number of stations available. With terrestrial radio you are usually limited to a handful of stations that you can pick up in your area. If you enjoy listening to more alternative music you may be stuck with having to listen to CD's or an mp3 player.

For $80 less than the stiletto you can get yourself the Pioneer GEX-INNO2BK. Small, stylish and powerful, and carrying the renowned Pioneer brand name, this model is becoming increasingly popular. It has a 1 GB storage capacity, large enough to hold 5O hours of music and a single charge will give you five hours of live XM radio or 15 hours of playback. One touch recordings of your favorite programs are played back through MP3 or WMA files. The 1.7 LCD display is full color with a pixel resolution of 180 x 180.

Although not strictly portable, the Audiovox car XMCK5 XpressEZ brings you satellite radio while you drive. This is the latest of Audiovox's products and it's a good one. The large 3 line display is easy to read and the singular button to tune and dial ensures you find your favorite programs quickly. It also has the facility to save your 10 favorite XM channels and the sleek appearance would look good in any motor. Retailing at around $40, this is a good quality at a bargain price.

In order to receive satellite transmissions, you will have to use a special antenna on your decoder. This antenna must be capable of receiving L-band broadcasts for it to be of use. These new antennas are a huge improvement on the parabolic dishes (similar to those used for satellite television) that one used to have to have in order to take advantage of satellite radio technology.




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