The Ongoing Advancement Of Radio Technology

| Wednesday, July 6, 2011
By Lewis Gil


Radio receivers are electronic circuits that detect, demodulate and amplify transmitted signals. These signals are then converted into forms usable for the consumer such as sound, pictures, digital data, measurement values, navigational positions, etc. Radio receivers come in various types and among these are audio and high fidelity audio receivers, satellite television receivers, and crystal radio receivers or radio sets.

An AV receiver is a type of receiver which uses an amplifier, a preamp/processor, and an FM/AM tuner. Along with audio and high fidelity audio receivers, this type of receiver is the most commonly used type especially by home stereo listeners and audio and home theatre system enthusiasts. The increased need in better audio is brought about by the increasing number of high definition television and home theatre systems found in the market. On the other hand, there are also the satellite television receivers which can be considered as the most widely used radio receiver in the world today. This type of radio receivers is used to receive television programming from communication satellite found din the outer space. Given the fact that almost all homes in the world have at least one television set at home, it is no wonder that this type are the most popular and widely used.

Used in the reception of modulated AM/FM signals, crystal radio receivers or radio sets as they are commonly known are considered as the simplest type of radio receiver. The first example of this radio sets are the transistor radios popular during the early 1900's. These days, AM and FM radios are being integrated as parts of more common music and sound sources which includes cassette players, DVD/CD players, MP3 CD, USB key players. Other popular types of radio receivers include the communications receivers, specialized-used receivers, measuring receivers, and scanners. All these types of radio receivers are commonly used fro the purpose of entertainment. However, it is also important to note, that besides entertainment, these are also being used as tools fro business as well as security purposes.

The discovery of electromagnetic waves in 1850 by James Clerk Maxwell led to the invention of the first ever radio receiver. Heinrich Hertz in 1887 further demonstrated the function of electromagnetic waves trough using spark gas equipment which he used to transmit and received radio waves. By the year 1986, Alexander Stepanovich Popov designed the first radio receiver and was introduced to the public through the All Russia Exhibition. The experiment showed the process detecting an electromagnetic signal by a wireless device and then converting it to a usable form, much like the way our modern mobile phones work.

The technology of receivers is continuously moving forward in the present time. This technology is gradually but regularly improving from the initial discovery of the electromagnetic waves to the invention of transistor radios to further improvements made to radio sets. Nowadays, a more popular form commonly used in the digital world is digital signal processing. This is a process of wherein signals are being converted to a digital stream and then are mathematically manipulated. Functions usually performed by an analogue intermediate frequency stage can also now be processed through the different soft wares that have been developed.

Communication and entertainment have been easier and more accessible to consumers due to the different improvements in the radio receiver technology. From the first transistors, radio receiver technology has evolved leading to the invention of different devices such as radio sets, television sets and cellphones which have also become an integral part of everybody's lives.




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