AM Vs. FM Radio Waves





I'm sure quite a few of you have sat around one day and flipped on the radio on the Am dial to hear a ball game or get the latest on the weather . But as you listen closely you suddenly hear a station that is faint and rolls in and out and all of a sudden they give a weird traffic report or in that quota and you realize you are listening to a station broadcasting from a diffrent state . Why does this happen ? It's simple as I will explain .



You See AM waves carry further in distance then FM waves . Am stands for * AMPLITUDE MODULATION * which is a mouthful to say unlike FM which is short for *FREQUENCY MODULATION * . Although both Spectrums are on the HF or * High Frequency * AM carries a lot more then FM waves . Below is a few samples of some Radio stations and where they are transmiting from . Just to say these stations are heard in Detroit Michigan and the surrounding cities .



The # Rating in clarity (1) = + 30 Db , (2) = About 20 Db , (3) = Faint and rolls in and out , (4) = rolls in and out depending on the air waves , (5) = barely translatable because of static , telephone wires , etc .