Skip to main content

Video Killed the Radio Star


Image result for am radioAM broadcasting, the official device of listening to the Boston Red Sox game in the car during a family trip to grandma’s house. AM broadcasting, believe it or not, did have its peak from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was known as the Golden Age of Radio and it was the way to get any form of entertainment at home. This was perfect for people living in rural area to get their entertainment and for politicians to reach the ears of millions with one microphone. It has established a new way for people to listen to the latest news and music, until FM and eventually televisions would take it’s spot.

Image result for am radio
Many early radio attempts could only transmit radio signals a short distance and most just transmitted Morse through them. The first radio broadcast was done by the US Navy and its many stations on January 1 1905. Later France and the United States would establish a small market of receiver lines for jewelers to obtain the accurate time, which sparked the interest of many due to not only be able to receive the accurate time, but also receive the weather in Morse code and obtain news summaries making it quite handy. The person credited for inventing the AM technology is a Canadian-born inventor Reginald Fessenden. He was able to create a transmitter that transmitted a speech over a mile. The only problem was it was distorted the further from the transmitter.  

How AM technology works by sending out frequencies from a transmitter, for example 690,000 hertz. That frequency is then transmitted out into the air where an antenna collects the stray frequencies sent out by the transmitter. The turner then collects the 690,000 hertz frequency and ignores the rest. The frequency is in a sine form and goes to a detector where it makes out the signal into sound. This signal of audio is then amplified through the speakers.

Image result for am radio work
AM although useful at one point, it is now surpassed by better options like FM, television, or even the internet. For example there is not a lot of music stations on AM broadcasting because AM is more prone to signal dropping that it’s radio brother, which did not help it’s popularity and is the reason why AM is full of talk shows and news stations. AM broadcasting is now left for emergency broadcasting for alien invasions and such


FUN FACT: Franklin Roosevelt used AM broadcasting for his fireside chats during the Great Depression




source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_broadcasting
https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio8.htm

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 26, 2017 at 11:21 PM

    I love the imagery you use to open up your topic, and the information you provide is well thought out and explained in an easy, simple form. I wanted to ask, because I am confused, what is the major difference between AM and FM? Is it simply the strength of the radio waves or is there more depth to it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jose EscobarNovember 27, 2017 at 9:08 PM

      You are right Diego the major difference are the radio waves. Due to AM (Amplitude Modulation) having points of varied amplitude, thus the name, it is much more prone to static when there is a change in amplitude. In FM (Frequency Modulation) the amplitude are uniformed, this changes in frequency are ignored by the receiver causing no static drops at all.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousNovember 27, 2017 at 6:56 PM

    1430 KYNO Fresnoooo. AM radio is alive and kickin' man. But on a serious note, you did a really great job briefly explaining the history of AM radio.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 27, 2017 at 10:13 PM

    I sometimes wonder who uses AM radio or who did use it. I always enjoy reading your summaries of the origins of these devices keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dorito Power

Rotary engines, the official motor when burning oil is actually a good thing. The rotary engine or Wankel engine is much like chocolate ice cream in the car world, you hate it or you don’t. It is actually interesting concept because unlike other engine configurations, there is no cylinders. Instead they have a rotor which some claim to look like a Dorito spinning. The inventor of this odd engine was a Felix Wankel. Wankel was born in August 1902 in Lahr, Germany. He came up with the idea at the age of 17. It was only after 2 World Wars when he began working with NSU Mototenwerke in the research department without ever getting a degree or a driver license. He complete his design in 1954 and in 1957 and 1958 the prototypes were tested. In 1961 Mazda had contracted with NSU to produce the engine and install them in their cars. The engine was proven to be quite powerful in the 1960s and soon the engine was used by other car companies. The engine would began to lose its popularity in
3 comments
Read more

Automatic Safety

Automatic or passive seat belts, the great compromise between automakers and the United States government. Passive seat belts were one of those “safety” products that cause more harm than good for the end user. It was much hated by consumers and led to them only having a short life from 1990 to 1995. Now why were these seat belts a thing in the first place? Well the passive seat belts were invented by Volkswagen in 1972 and was first used in the Volkswagen Golf in 1975. This lead the Brock Adam, the United States Secretary of Transportation, to mandated that every car in to have either automatic seat belts or airbags by 1983. Now this angered many lobbyist who thought this was a way too soon of a deadline. In 1981 the mandate was dropped then transferred to the Supreme Court which lead to the mandate to stay, but now with an extended deadline of 1990. Now airbags were still a relatively new system which meant it was pretty expensive. Thus many car companies decided to go with pas
2 comments
Read more

Just My Type

Typewriter, the official device of that satisfying click sound from the movies. Typewriters were once a popular form of typing up essays and document in a clear and formal way in which regular handwritten documents could not replicate. Now they are relics of the past due to the rise of personal computers, allowing so much for functionality with less hoops to jump through. The first commercially produced  typewriters appeared on scene in 1874, but became widespread in offices until the mid 1880s. Throughout this time there has been many manufactures and companies who added improvements over time. Historians believes that the typewriter was invented 52 time in some form by other inventors and thinkers. This helped to create competition and develope many types of typewriters. The common mechanical typewriters works like this, the keyboard is in the same order as the keys on a computer or on a digital one on a cellphone. When a is press, for example the F key, a lever swings and
2 comments
Read more