FM and Am radio

AM stands for Amplitude modulation and FM stands

for Frequency Modulation.
What is AM

 AM (Amplitude Modulation) originated in the mid 1870’s

and is the simplest form of radio broadcast. It “carrier
wave” is modulated in amplitude(Single strength) while
the frequency remains the same.
 It is the process of varying the amplitude of carrier
wave in proportion to amplitude of the carrier base
 There were other problems with AM beyond the
limitations of amplitude modulation. If you were inside
a building, AM signals would be more difficult to
receive. Most AM stations have to reduce their power or
turn off completely at night.
 If every AM station were to keep broadcasting at night,
stations that were far apart would start to interfere
with each other.
 Unfortunately ,AM broadcasting is susceptible to
distortion and harbours(SeaPort) background noise
making the sound quality poorer overall.
 Usage

 It is still used for radio stations globally, as well as

walkie talkies which don't require crystal clear sound.
 Advantages
AM signals are reflected back to earth from ionosphere
layer. Due to this fact, AM signals can reach far places
which are thousands of miles from source. Hence AM radio
has coverage wider compare to FM radio.
 AM is the cheaper offer of broadcasting
 AM requires simple circuit and easy to made
 AM is simple to tune
 It is used in all short waves broadcasting
 FM
After working for more than a decade to eliminates static from
radio broadcasts, engineer Armstrong applied to the Commission in
1936 to broadcast using new technique, frequency modulation FM
 During the early 1930s, the world was devastated by the
impact of the Great Depression. Despite the fact that a
huge part of the population was struggling with
unemployment and businesses found it hard to stay
afloat, broadcasters all throughout the United States
were still making billions of dollars a year. Those were
primarily thanks to the contributions of one Edwin
Armstrong in radio technology and the launch of
television broadcasting in some parts of Europe and
North America.
 Features
FM offered truer transmission with much less static.
FM uses changes in the waves frequency to convey
information
The sound quality is far superior to that
Advantages

 In FM, recovered voice depends on frequency and not

amplitude. Hence the effects of noise are minimized in
FM.
 FM bandwidth covers all the frequency range which
humans can hear. Hence FM radio has better quality of
sound in comparison with AM radio.
FM is more attractive to advertisers
 Disadvantages
FM has lesser coverage compare to AM signal.
Even though the first FM stations in the United States started in the
late 1930s, it took a while before it caught on. It required people to
have FM capable radios, which most people didn’t have at launch.
 Disadvantages of
AM
The most natural as well as man made radio noise are
of AM type. The AM receivers do not have any means
to reject this kind of noise.
 Weak AM signals have low magnitude compare to
strong signals. This requires AM receiver to have
circuitry to compensate for signal level difference.
 Difference
between FM and
AM
Am is amplitude modulation but FM is frequency
Modulation
FM can be flittered out when the tune received by the
receiver but in AM not
AM signals can be changed and difficult to get
information but FM is constant
AM can be received on analog but FM can be received
as digital
 The first FM Radio station was established in Karachi, by
Pakistan broadcasting corporation, as a musical
Channel. FM Radio rapidly grew due to a high quality of
sound. Secondly, it broadcasted programmes in local
languages and dialects which attracted a large audience
(Pakistan, 2015). Besides Radio Pakistan, a Number of
FM radio stations broadcast news and information
programs, but most radio content is music and
entertainment.
 In 2002 PEMRA issued licenses to private FM Radio stations in
Pakistan. The major purpose was to improve the standard of
information, education and entertainment. It was established
to enlarge the choices available to the people of Pakistan