Portal:Radio

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The Radio Portal

An old-fashioned Truetone Radio
An icon representing a radio tower.

Welcome to Wikipedia's portal for Radio.

Radio is the wireless transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light.

Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. It does not require a medium of transport. Information is carried by systematically changing (modulating) some property of the radiated waves, such as their amplitude or their frequency. When radio waves pass an electrical conductor, the oscillating fields induce an alternating current in the conductor.

The word 'radio' is used to describe this phenomenon, and television, radio, and cell phone transmissions are all classed as radio frequency emissions.

Modulation is the process where speech, music and the like are impressed onto the carrier wave of a transmission. Detection or demodulation is the reverse proces which takes place in a receiver. The speech, music etc is recovered and may then be amplified and applied to an ear piece or a loud speaker. The most common forms of modulation are Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) both of which use different modulation and detection circuits. Cell phones, digital radio and digital television use more complex modulation and demodulation systems.

The simplest AM receiver is the Crystal Set or Crystal Radio. Demodulation is achieved by a semiconductor diode. One of the earliest forms of detection consisted of a thin copper wire in contact with a small chunk of Galena Rock. Adequate signals could be heard in headphones for up to 50 km with simple arrangements.

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Electromagnetic spectrum illustration
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation. Also, the "electromagnetic spectrum" (usually just spectrum) of an object is the range of electromagnetic radiation that it emits, reflects, or transmits.

The electromagnetic spectrum, extends from frequencies used into electric power grid (at the long-wavelength end) to gamma radiation (at the short-wavelength end), covering wavelengths from thousands of kilometres down to fractions of the size of an atom. It is commonly said that EM waves beyond these limits are uncommon, although this is not actually true. The 22-year sunspot cycle, for instance, produces radiation with a period of 22 years, or a frequency of 1.4*10-9 Hz. At the other extreme, photons of arbitrarily high frequency may be produced by colliding electrons with positrons at appropriate energy. 1024 Hz photons can be produced today with man-made accelerators. In our universe the short wavelength limit is likely to be the Planck length, and the long wavelength limit is the size of the universe itself (see physical cosmology), though in principle the spectrum is it infinite.

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Amateur Radio Station with multiple Receivers and Tranceivers

This photograph shows the receivers and transceivers used in an amateur radio station. Amateur radio is a hobby in which enthusiasts purchase or build their own equipment and use radio for their own enjoyment. Radio amateurs are licensed to use frequencies in a large number of narrow bands throughout the radio spectrum. Photo Credit: User:NX1Z

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BBC Local Radio is the BBC's regional radio service for England and the Channel Islands, consisting of 40 stations. Initially, stations had to be co-funded by the BBC and local authorities, which only some Labour-controlled areas proved willing to do. Radio Leicester was the first to launch on 8 November 1967, followed by Sheffield, Merseyside and Nottingham. By the early 1970s, the local authority funding requirement was dropped, and stations spread across the country; many city-based stations later expand their remit to cover an entire county. Today, stations are asked to target their coverage to Dave and Sue, two fictional fifty-five-year-olds.

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Radio lists

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Cinema, radio, television, magazines are a school of inattention: people look without seeing, listen in without hearing.

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Howard Stern (born Howard Allen Stern on January 12, 1954) is an American radio and TV personality, media mogul, humorist, actor, and author. He is best known for his national radio show, which for many years was syndicated on FM radio stations (and a few AM stations) throughout the United States until his last terrestrial radio broadcast on December 16, 2005. He began broadcasting on the subscription-based Sirius satellite radio service on January 9, 2006.

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" (a humorous reference to Michael Jackson's appellation "The King of Pop") has been dubbed a shock jock for his highly controversial use of scatological, sexual and racial humor. Stern has said that the show was never about shocking people, but primarily intended to offer his honest opinions on a gamut of issues (ranging from world affairs to problems among his own staff). Though controversial, he is one of the highest-paid radio personalities in the United States and the most fined personality in radio broadcast history.

Related portals

WikiProjects

  • Radio December 12, 2006 "...to create, expand, and maintain wikipedia articles related to radio, including radio propagation and reception, radio programming, radio personalities, and the business of radio." (Example: Mutual Broadcasting System)
  • Amateur Radio August 24, 2006 "...to improve Wikipedia's articles related to Amateur radio, maintain the amateur radio category and its sub-categories for clean organization, and to produce and maintain templates for Amateur radio-related topic identification." (Example: Amateur radio)
  • Radio Stations February 15, 2005 "...to coordinate the activities of creating and maintaining articles about radio stations." (Example: KCBS-FM)
  • Podcasting January 21, 2007 "...to make Wikipedia's knowledge of notable Podcast and podcast-related information as complete as possible." (Example: Podcast)


Radio topics

Formats Music radio, Old-time radio, Radio comedy, Radio documentary, Radio drama, Top 40
Networks BBC Radio, Blue Network, Columbia Broadcasting System, Mutual Broadcasting System, National Broadcasting Company, Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio
People Fred Allen, Gracie Allen, Don Ameche, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, Jagadish Chandra Bose, George Burns, Ronald Colman, Jim Connors, Frank Conrad, Norman Corwin, Alice Faye, Stan Freberg, Phil Harris, Bob Hope, Spike Jones, Hans von Kaltenborn, Kay Kyser, Frances Langford, Guglielmo Marconi, Elizabeth McLeod, J. Carrol Naish, Ozzie Nelson, Arch Oboler, Dorothy Parker, Virginia Payne, Harold Peary, David Sarnoff, Red Skelton, Kate Smith, Howard Stern, Nikola Tesla, Lurene Tuttle, Rudy Vallée, Fred Waring, Orson Welles
Shows Abbott and Costello, Amos 'n' Andy, Arch Oboler's Plays, Burns and Allen, Cavalcade of America, Dragnet, Duffy's Tavern, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Goldbergs, The Howard Stern Show, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, The Jack Benny Program, Life with Luigi, Lights Out, Lux Radio Theater, Opie and Anthony, The Archers, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, Quiz Kids, The Screen Guild Theater, The Shadow, Suspense, Theater Guild on the Air, Twenty Questions, The Whistler, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
Technology Amateur radio, AM broadcasting, FM broadcasting, International broadcasting, Internet Radio, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio, Digital Audio Broadcasting and GNU Radio, Software-defined radio, Transistor radio, Vacuum tube

Associated Wikimedia

Radio on Wikibooks  Radio on Wikimedia Commons Radio on Wikinews  Radio on Wikiquote  Radio on Wikisource  Radio on Wikiversity  Radio on Wiktionary 
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