Tips on Satellite Radio

| Sunday, January 8, 2012
By Olga Wright


For me, the greatest advantage of satellite radio is being able to listen to music commercial free. The main reason being that their main source of income does not come from advertisers, but instead from the listener.

Satellite radio offers over 70 channels of commercial free content with a pretty diverse variety. Everything from hip hop to heavy metal and now there even a Catholic talk channel.

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.

The resulting binary or digital code is then translated into analogue signals so that your speakers can replay it. This process produces sound which is just about of CD quality. The transmitting satellites are in a geo-static orbit at 23,000 miles above the equator and have a large footprint which is the name given to the area of ground that is capable of receiving their broadcasts.

Unlike conventional radio, satellite radio is complete uncensored. This is the main reason why artists like Howard Stern chose to abandon their old radio gigs and establish their shows on satellite radio. It's great to be able to listen to music without those annoying beeps interrupting the vocals.

In addition to music, satellite radio also offers information about local weather and travel conditions. This information can be very detailed especially for the larger metropolitan areas. In the case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake which can knock a conventional radio signal off the air, satellite will always work and you can count on it for the latest news and information regarding the calamity.

The standalone receivers start around $40 and go up from there. You also need to purchase a subscription for the service. The subscriptions are relatively cheap depending on the option you choose. In most cases you can get an extended plan for as low as $10 per month. If you want to pay monthly instead you may pay between $15-$20 per month. Many of the stations are funded through advertisers, but many are ad free thanks to the paid subscription.




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