Frequency Modulation and FM Transmitters

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What is Frequency Modulation (FM)?
• What is a FM Transmitter?
• News Summary Related to FM transmitters Inauguration

Why in News?

• The PM of India inaugurated 91 FM transmitters spread across 18 states and two UTs and asserted that the government was working towards giving people in every nook and corner of the country affordable access to technology.

What is Frequency Modulation (FM)?

• It is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave.
• The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and computing.
• In analog FM (radio broadcasting), the instantaneous frequency deviation – the difference between the frequency of the carrier and its center frequency – has a functional relation to the modulating signal amplitude.
• Digital data can be encoded and transmitted with a type of FM known as frequency-shift keying (FSK), in which the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is shifted among a set of frequencies.

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What is a FM Transmitter?

• It is a low-power FM radio transmitter that broadcasts a signal from a portable audio device (such as an MP3 player) to a standard FM radio.
• Most of these transmitters plug into the device’s headphone jack and then broadcast the signal over an FM broadcast band frequency, so that it can be picked up by any nearby radio.
• This allows portable audio devices to make use of the louder or better sound quality of a home audio system or car stereo without requiring a wired connection.
• Being low-powered, most transmitters typically have a short range of 100-300 feet (30–91 metres), depending on the quality of the receiver, obstructions and elevation.

News Summary Related to FM transmitters Inauguration:

• The tech revolution has led to the shaping of radio and FM in a new way. Through online FMs and podcasts, it has come in a new avatar.
• The expansion of optical fibre networks into the villages has led to a reduction of costs of mobiles and data which have led to ease of access to information.
• In this line, the PM inaugurated the 91 FM transmitters in border areas and aspirational districts.
• With this, All India Radio was well on its way to expand its FM footprint nationally.
• These FM transmitters will play a key role in a range of services be it timely dissemination of information, weather forecast for agriculture or connecting the women SHGs with new markets.

Q1) What is the Bharat-Net (NOFN –National Optical Fiber Network)?

NOFN aims to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country and provide 100 Mbps connectivity to all gram panchayats (GPs). To achieve this, the existing fibres of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) were utilised and incremental fibre was laid.

Q2) What is the All India Radio (AIR)?

AIR, officially known since 1957 as Akashvani is the national public radio broadcaster of India and is a division of Prasar Bharati. It was established in 1936.

Source: Tech revolution has reshaped radio, FM: Prime Minister Modi