Satellite radios are great in the outback!

By Corbin Mathieson

Satellite radio has quite literally been a god send to people who live or travel regularly in remote locations, or even for people who are required to travel long distances. Static-free reception can now be experienced and enjoyed by listeners who have a satellite radio even if they are
in the remotest of locations.

In the past if you were travelling for long periods, every hour or so you would have to start tweaking with the radio dial, as the radio station you were just listening to began to turn to static after it seemed to fade in and out for a while. You would then frantically try to locate a new radio station to listen to and just as you did, it too would turn static. This would go on until eventually there were no
decent stations left on the dial and then finally you would succumb to putting on a cassette or a CD or even turning off the entire stereo all together. But with the advent of satellite radio, static, tuning, fiddling and complete boredom will soon be a thing of the past.

The standard, more conventional radio signals are only able to travel around 30-40 miles from their original
transmitters so if you travel beyond this distance then the signal will eventually get weaker and weaker until you are no longer able to hear the transmission at all. However in a far greater development of technology, satellite radio waves travel from space (around 22,000 miles) meaning that you will be able to travel across the entire country without even having to change national radio stations because the frequency will be consistent and strong.

Automobile manufacturers have been installing satellite radio receivers as standard fittings for some years now, so
when the satellite radio transmission finally begins most drivers will be able to clearly access the signals and won't
experience any problems in utilizing the new technology. What a revolution!! Currently there are only three space-based radio broadcasters who are working on the
development of this technology. In 1997, the government agency the Federal Communications Commission gave licenses
worth around $80 million to these companies to experiment and deliver on the allocated radio band for digital satellite radio transmission.

These three satellite radio companies have conducted completely different research programs and as a result naturally are now offering different products to the market.
As a result there is more then likely going to be a 'VHS versus Beta' type battle between the companies as the
technology progresses. Two of the companies, XM Radio and Worldspace have made a formal agreement to share new
technological developments with the other party and to make every effort to work collaboratively to develop and design
further innovations in this expanding communications field. This partnership can only be a good thing for consumers,
particularly consumers who frequent remote locations on a regular basis and who need to communicate with the outside world when they do so.