Broadcast refers to “sending signals through radio wave in order to relay message to many people in a large region.”

       In English, broadcast includes Television (TV) and Radio. However, because the invention of sound broadcasting came first, Taiwan decided to use the Chinese term for broadcasting - “guangbo” – for radio. Later, Television, which transmitted sound and image using radio waves was called “Dianshih”.

         In 1873, Scottish Physicist James clerk Maxwell published the famous electromagnetic theory, which explained that the path of charged particles moving in air is similar to its path moving in wire. His theory became the foundation for studying radio wave communication and he became the “father of radio”.  

        In 1888, German scientist Heinrich Hertz published a study report that proved the existence of electromagnetic wave as well explain the method of producing, transmitting and receiving radio wave. To commemorate his contribution, the scientific community defined the numerical unit for radio frequency with his name Hertz/Hz in 1967.  

       In 1895, Italian scientist Gugliemo Marconi began using radio waves on radio transmission. When the Titanic sunk in 1912, radio communication was used and more than 700 people were saved.  

       In 1906,US scientist De Forest invented the vacuum tube, which magnified waves and produce the high frequency radio wave required for broadcasting sound. In 1910, he successfully broadcasted the singing voice of the famous vocalist Enrico Caruso fromNew York City. People called him “father of broadcasting”.

       In broadcasting history, Maxwell, Hertz, Marconi and De Forest were inventors with great contributions.

       A radio station converts sound into electronic signals, and they become radio waves through radio transmitter and transmitted via antenna. Listeners far away can use the radio (receiver) to receive radio wave and the signal returns to the original sound. That is the principle of broadcast transmission. The primary tools for radio transmission are radio transmitter and antenna.

       Traditional broadcasting is divided into amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM), AM broadcasting was invented right after WWI ended, but listening to radio didn’t become an integral part of people until WWII.

   There’s been more than 90 years of history since the development of AM broadcasting.

        Using a radio. Currently there are many types of radios including walkman, boom boxes, small stereo, home stereo and car radio. Some of the MP3 players and cellular phones have built-in FM radio function. In addition, one can use the Internet and listen to online radio program.

        The difference between FM and AM is the difference in “modulation”. FM is transmitted by “frequency modulation” and AM is transmitted by “amplitude modulation”. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.

        AM system is simpler and the wave can be transmitted farther. However, its fidelity is low and there are much more noises, which makes it a bad choice for transmitting music compared with FM. FM has better sound quality, but because a higher frequency is used for transmission, FM waves are easily blocked by buildings and geographical obstacles, and therefore, form no-reception zones or cause interference, which means some listeners will not be able to hear the broadcast clearly.

       A professional broadcasting room must have soundproof facility. The basic equipment is a mixer and microphones, as well as PC-assisted broadcasting system, MD, CD, digital switcher, and telephone connection. You’ll need about $1.5 to 2 million NTD for a comprehensive broadcasting setup.