AM FM Radio Spectrum and Frequency | RF Circuits

Saturday, April 9, 2011

AM FM Radio Spectrum and Frequency

Radio Spectrum

FM radio works the same way that AM radio works. The difference is in how the carrier wave is modulated, or altered. With AM radio, the amplitude, or overall strength, of the signal is varied to incorporate the sound information. With FM, the frequency (the number of times each second that the current changes direction) of the carrier signal is varied.



FM signals have a great advantage over AM signals. Both signals are susceptible to slight changes in amplitude. With an AM broadcast, these changes result in static. With an FM broadcast, slight changes in amplitude don't matter -- since the audio signal is conveyed through changes in frequency, the FM receiver can just ignore changes in amplitude. The result: no static at all.

Radio Frequency

The Amplitude Modulated (AM radio) carrier frequencies are in the frequency range 535-1605 kHz. Carrier frequencies of 540 to 1600 kHz are assigned at 10 kHz intervals.



The FM radio band is from 88 to 108 MHz between VHF television Channels 6 and 7. The FM stations are assigned center frequencies at 200 kHz separation starting at 88.1 MHz, for a maximum of 100 stations. These FM stations have a 75 kHz maximum deviation from the center frequency, which leaves 25 kHz upper and lower "guard bands" to minimize interaction with the adjacent frequency band. You may be interested in reading What is Transmitter?

No comments:

Post a Comment