Radio and Television

A few decades ago, it would have been pure wishful thinking for an ordinary citizen to see or listen to the rulers of the country. Any new pronouncements of the government would have taken considerable time to reach the man in the streets. But today, ask a beggar in any city of India whether he has seen the face of the Indian Prime Minister or if s/he can he recognize his voice, the chances are grossly in favor of an affirmative reply. TV and radio have invaded the life of almost everybody, but they still remain the magic box for most of us. Most often we do not understand the processes involved or the instruments used. Lets begin with the processes first. How are pictures formed on a television screen? Why are TV/radio signals not received by different places at different times according to their distance from the transmitter? Do the high frequency radio waves interfere with each other? How does TV or radio catch different signals? Why does not the sound from different channels get mixed up? What is the difference between amplitude modulated and frequency modulated transmission? What are the components of a transmitter ? Which component decides its range? Why is TV transmission over long distances not possible? Why isn't the sound of a TV broadcast heard in radio? Suppose you are standing in a closed room on the second floor of a building and you have to communicate to someone outside (maybe on the ground floor) the contents of a poster in a foreign language embedded on the wall. How will you do it? You may read aloud the writing on the poster, so that the person below can hear it, letter by letter or word by word. The person standing below can then write it down in the same sequence to have an exact transcript of the information contained in the poster. During the transmission of an image, the letters or words in the above analogy are the electrical signal containing information of the image --its colour and

brightness; the sound wave is the like the carrier wave, the person who shouts a television camera and so on. Television in a way emulates our sense of vision and extends it beyond its natural limits. But there are differences. While from the retina in our eye to our brain hundreds of thousands of electric circuits are used to convey simultaneously the content of a scene we see, in case of television only one such circuit is used to connect the camera to the transmitter. This fundamental disparity is overcome in television technology by a process of image analysis and synthesis. The scene to be televised is first scanned and translated into an electrical image which is broken up into an orderly sequence of pulses that can be sent over a channel one after the another. This sequential reproduction of visual images is feasible because of what is known as persistence of vision. Our brain retains the impression of illumination for about one tenth of a second after the source of light is removed. Therefore, if the process of image synthesis occurs within less than a second, the eye is unable to sense that the picture was assembled piecemeal. It appears as if the whole surface of the viewing screen is continuously illuminated. Similarly, by recreating more than ten complete pictures per second it is possible to simulate the movement. Transmission of sounds is much simpler, essentially because a sound signal is inherently a linear array of information about the amplitude of vibration with respect to time. For transmission, a signal -- sound or light -- is first converted to an electrical signal using a microphone or a video camera. These signals are then superimposed on to a carrier wave before being sent to the transmitter. Different channels of a radio or television use carrier waves of different frequencies. Radio/TV receivers are so designed that they can tune in to a particular frequency of electromagnetic waves at a time -- they ignore other signals. The images and sounds corresponding to one particular signal can then be selectively processed and reproduced by the receivers. It is important to remember that radio waves are only part of a extensive spectrum of electromagnetic waves. This spectrum includes such familiar radiations as visible light; ultraviolet and infrared radiations, as well as X-rays and gamma rays. As you may be aware they all exhibit phenomenon of reflection, refraction, diffraction, interference and absorption. Since sound or the image signals both travel as an electromagnetic wave, their velocity is the speed of light and they reach any destination on Earth almost instantaneously. The process of mixing electrical signals from a microphone or a TV/video camera with an electromagnetic carrier wave is known as modulation. At present two kinds of signal modulation are commonly used -- Amplitude Modulation (AM) and

Frequency Modulation(FM). In amplitude modulation the amplitude of the carrier electromagnetic wave at any instant of time is changed corresponding to the amplitude of the signal electric current and in frequency modulation, the frequency of the carrier wave at a particular instant of time is changed according to the amplitude of the signal wave. Normally amplitude modulation is used for carrier frequencies corresponding to the short, medium and long wavelength bands of radio frequencies. The television signal is made up of two parts, both related to each other by the frequency of the carrier signal. The image signal is amplitude modulated and occupies about three fourth of the total bandwidth (which is usually 6 megahertz) the audio component of the TV signal is frequency modulated and has a frequency in the range of the upper quarter of the band frequency range. Television and radio receivers are generally designed to process signals in a certain frequency range which are globally allotted for the respective signals. Normal radio receivers therefore cannot process sound signals meant for televisions. But such radio receivers can be designed. In fact in Lajpat Rai market, New Delhi and some markets in Calcutta radio receivers are available which can receive and process TV audio signals. A Radio/TV transmitter performs essentially three functions: generation of the carrier currents for the sound and/or light signals, modulation and amplification of the resulting signal (so that it has enough energy to dissipate over a large area). The carrier currents have frequencies accurate to roughly one part in 200,000. The signals are then sent to the transmission antenna, which in turn, sends the signal out into air as electromagnetic waves. The receiver receives the electromagnetic waves through its own antenna, demodulates the received signal (by mixing with an electromagnetic wave corresponding to the carrier wave frequency generated within itself) and then recreates the original sounds and/or images. The broadcasting range of a transmitter depends both on its power (measured in watts) as well as the frequency of the transmitted signals. For example, A typical strong AM radio station -- which broadcasts signals in the range of 1000 kilohertz ( in medium wave band)-- has a power of 50,000 watts and its signals can be received far away. For example, programs broadcast on Delhi-B by a 50,000 watts transmitter in New Delhi can be heard at night as far as Calcutta (about 1500 km away). The least powerful AM stations operate at 250 watts and usually serve only neighboring areas. AIR Chandigarh programmes can be received in Delhi but not beyond. The power of FM stations which broadcast signals in the range of 100 megahertz, ranges from 100 watts (which can broadcast up to 30 kilometers) to 100,000 watts, (which can broadcast up to about 100 kilometers). The dependence of the range of a radio signal

on its frequency is essentially due to absorption of these waves by matter. As the frequency of the carrier wave increases it is absorbed more readily by the structures in its way. Since the television signals are generally transmitted on carrier waves popularly known as VHF (very high frequency waves) they can only be transmitted and received more like light i.e. in straight lines. VHF signals, unlike short-wave radio signals transmitted by radio stations, transmitting in short-wave frequency band, cannot be reflected by the upper layers of atmosphere. Television or FM signals therefore cannot be transmitted directly to receivers located at very long distances. But now with the advent of satellites it is possible to beam signals both in VHF and UhF (ultra high frequency) range to geostationary satellites, which can then transmit these signals back to another far off location on Earth.

Television, The Magic Lantern: How does the screen of a television set acquire static electricity? What is `High Definition TV'? What is a cable TV channel? While switching on or off the TV our hair tends to stick to the screen, why? What is the nature of the substance coated on the inside surface of a colour TV screen? Why does the image on a TV screen get distorted if we bring a magnet near it? Why is it that we can see colour pictures on a colour TV and not on a black and white TV? How does a colour TV work? Why dont we get clear photographs of images on the television screen? Why doesn't a colour picture come on a black and white television ? In the dark when we focus a torch on TV screen and turn it off immediately, why is the image of the focused light is seen on the screen? What is S-Band in modern television sets? If a colour picture tube is fitted in a black and white TV set will it function as a colour TV? How are we able to watch pictures through video on TV? Why does an airplane flying overhead distort a TV picture.

In order to answer the above queries, we need to understand the working of a television receiver. The radio signals received by the TV antenna are normally weak, they have to be therefore first amplified using a rf (radio frequency) amplifier. After amplification the signals are demodulated, this is done through a tuner. A tuner can produce electric currents (electromagnetic waves) having same frequencies as the carrier waves used to broadcast various channels. Therefore when we select a particular band on the TV set, an electric signal having a particular frequency is mixed with the amplified signal received through the antenna to produce a demodulated signal. From the tuner, the television signal goes through complicated electronic circuits in the set. These circuits further process the signal to separate the audio and video portions of it. The audio signals are changed into sound waves by the speaker, the video signals go to the picture tube where they recreate the picture. The picture tube transforms the video signal into patterns of light that duplicate the scene in front of the camera at the time of the broadcast or when the programme was recorded. One end of the picture tube is rectangular and nearly flat which makes up the screen of the TV set. At the other end the picture tube tapers off to a narrow neck. The neck of the picture tube holds three electron guns -- one each for red, blue, and green signals. The tube of a black and white TV set has only one gun. Each electron gun in a colour picture tube shoots a separate beam of electrons at the screen. The screen of most colour tubes is coated with more than 300,000 tiny phosphor dots -- made-up of coating of phosphorescent materials which emit light when exposed to some radiation such as light or electrons. They continue to emit light for some time even after the source of radiation is turned off. This explains why the TV screen glows after a torch light is switched off. The dots on a colour TV picture tube are grouped in triangular arrangements of three dots each -- one red, one blue, and one green. These dots glow with their respective colours when struck by an electron beam. A metal plate perforated with thousands of tiny holes lies about 13 millimeter behind the screen of a colour picture tube. This plate, called the shadow mask, keeps the beams from hitting any other colour dots but their own. When the television set shows a colour program, the neuron signals produced by light emitted from the three coloured dots blend together in the viewers brain to produce the perception of all the colours of the original scene (see Mystery of Colours, Curiosity Corner, SR, Oct. 98) In case of a black and white program the dots appear to produce differing amounts of white light. The picture on the TV screen is produced by the process of scanning the electron beam horizontally on the screen at a very fast rate. The beam is guided by the

magnetic field produced by the signal electric current fed into coils which are located around the neck of the picture tube. The electron beam scans the screen much as a person reads -- from left to right, top to bottom. The scanning pattern for the normal TV sets used in India is made up of 625 lines. In a high definition TV it is made up of 1125 lines As electrons constantly strike the screen, it acquires static electric charge, which can induce electric charge on our hairs on our hands/arms and make hair stick to the screen. A magnet distorts the path of the electron beams used to create the picture and hence the picture formed on the screen gets distorted when a magnet is brought close to it. Transmitting or receiving video signals without modulation/demodulation is indeed possible for short distances it is used in a close circuit television setup. A video tape recorder records and replays the video signal and the audio signals on a magnetic tape very much like a audio tape recorder records audio signals on audio cassettes. A normal TV receiver can receive transmitted TV on fourteen different channels. The frequency of these ranges from 54,000,000 hertz or 54 megahertz to 216,000,000 hertz, or 216 megahertz. The bandwidth of each of these channels is 6 megahertz. Signals transmitted on such frequencies are known as VHF, or very high frequency signals. TV signals can also be broadcast on frequencies between 470 megahertz and 890 megahertz known as the UHF range. Doordarshan in India broadcasts TV programs on the national channel (DD1) in VHF range. Both VHF and UHF signals act much like light, not bending much around the curvature of Earth and pass through the atmosphere. They are also blocked by structures and hills. An airplane coming in the way of the signal and the receiver therefore disturbs TV reception. Television broadcasting antennas are usually placed on tall towers standing on high ground, so that the radio signal which carries the television programme may travel as far as possible. But still the maximum range of a TV broadcast signal is in between 100 to 250 km. Television signals are therefore sometimes broadcast via satellites to reach an audience farther off. The signal sent to the satellite are in the UHF range and are sent back towards the ground by the satellites. These signals are received by cable operators using large dish antenna. Often there is a limitation posed by the design of older television sets, which allots 6 MHz. bandwidth to each channel. In order to overcome this limitation cable operators/recent television sets use single sideband (S Band) technology to modulate/demodulate the signals. Using this technology a larger number of TV signals can be distributed through a cable network. Such signals have bandwidth less than 6 MHz.

Some questions about radio How can I make a simple radio receiver? Sometimes conversations on a walkie talkie can be heard on a radio. How does that happen? What is the frequency range of short-wave radio band? Why is there a disturbance in a radio operating on batteries when we switch on or off an electric appliance? How do we tune a FM radio by varying its frequency since frequency of the modulated signal itself varies? Why does the sound of radio becomes clear after the sunset? Why is the reception in medium wave on cloudy day very noisy? A radio receiver can be a very simple instrument. In fact children often get excited when they can pick up radio programs from a nearby radio station using a headphone from a telephone instrument and a small crystal of galena (a compound of lead and sulfur)-- without using any batteries. This is possible because the electromagnetic waves from the neighboring station is usually strong enough to produce sounds in an earphone after the crystal filters off the carrier waves. But, for a radio receiver to pick up programmes from different stations and produce loud enough sound in a loudspeaker it needs to have several other components. The receiver must be able to resonate with different carrier electromagnetic waves. This is normally achieved with the help of a tuning circuit which is an inductor and a variable capacitor connected in parallel. As one rotates the knob of the capacitor, the instrument gets tuned to different frequencies and hence can pickup signals on that frequency, which after filtering through a crystal diode can produce sound in a earphone. Such a simple circuit however is insufficient to tune to all the radio signals (broadcast on MW, SW and FM ). Separate tuner circuits are required for each frequency range. The band switch in fact selects each of such circuits. The FM, AM, SW, MW marks on the selector switch of a radio, in fact, indicate positions of the switch, which select a particular circuit. Although in a frequency modulated (FM) signal the frequency is modulated, when we tune a radio to a particular station broadcasting FM signals, we tune the circuit to produce frequency corresponding to the carrier frequency used by the transmitter. An amplitude modulated (AM) signal used in the short wave or medium wave transmission is very much susceptible to disturbances caused by some electrical

devices. Thus an automobile starter, sparking in any electrical device, or lightning in the atmosphere produce electromagnetic waves which are also received by the receiver set. The power source of the receiver has no role in such disturbances. So, such disturbances occur even in a battery-operated receiver A signal broadcast by a radio station can reach a radio receiver in a number of ways. It may travel directly to the receiver as a surface wave, a ground reflected wave, or it may travel towards the sky and then be reflected back towards the ground (sky waves) by a layer of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere. The ionosphere is made up of ionized atoms/molecules, and its composition changes with the intensity of solar radiation passing through it. Although there are at least four distinct ionized layers in the atmosphere , only two, E and F layers, are most important for radio transmission. The E layer extends from about 100 km to 230 km above the ground and is very much susceptible to the variations in solar radiations. Therefore signals reflected from this layer are not very good (low signal to noise ratio). During the night the E layer disappears almost completely and the reflection from the F layer is responsible for radio reception at places far off from the transmitter. The signals reflected from the F layer have a much higher signal to noise ratio. Hence at night or during sunset distant radio receivers receive a much better signal (higher signal to noise ratio). Also amplitude modulated radio broadcasts in the medium wave band are transmitted via the ground waves. Many locations can receive the transmission both by surface/ground waves as well as sky waves, during the day these two waves interfere with each other, the reception at such locations is therefore noisy in the day but clearer at night, when there are no sky waves..

Antenna Why is it possible to increase the sound level of a radio set by just changing the direction? Why are the shapes of different TV antennas different? If an antenna wire can be used for connecting a bulb to the mains, then why can an ordinary wire not be used to connect a television set to the antenna? How can a channels,? Why does the reception of a TV programme depend on the orientation of the antenna? TV with no connection with any cable receive some satellite

Why do we need a dish antenna to receive television programmes telecast through satellites? Why is it that inside a train compartment, a transistor set is unable to receive radio programmes? If a TV antenna replaces a radio antenna, will a radio receive a TV program? Why do we sometimes see ghost images on the TV screen? Can there be some place where radio waves cant reach? An antenna is a piece of a conducting material which facilitates the resonance

between the receiver and transmitted electromagnetic waves. It can be in the form of a length of a wire, a number of metallic rods, a coil or a dish. The dimensions and the design of an appropriate antenna for a reciever located at a particular location depends both on the strength of the signal in that area as well as on the electronic design of the receiver instrument. While in the neighborhood of a radio or TV transmitter a piece of wire may be often sufficient to produce good reception, in far off places one needs an antenna designed for better reception of the signal. To be highly efficient, an antenna must have dimensions that are comparable with the wavelength of the radiation of interest --the wavelength of a 66-72 MHz. wave (the frequency of channel 4 on which DD1 is transmitted) is about 4 meters, A conductor having this length is often sufficient to receive strong TV signals. The folded rod in the middle of a common television antenna is also about this length -- the other rods essentially serve as reflectors to boost up the signal. Radio signals are usually strong. We therefore can pick up signals from a local radio station even without an antenna. Sometimes a long metallic rod which has length equal to a near fraction of the wavelength (one tenth or a quarter of the wavelength of the transmitted radiation) or a coil of wire wound on a ferrite core can be sufficient provided the receiver has been adequately designed to receive and process weak signals. A radio frequency signal is often much stronger in a certain direction ( the direction in which the transmitter is located) than others. Also some antennas are directional - they are more effective in a particular geometry e.g. when the rods of a TV antenna are aligned perpendicular to the direction in which transmitter is located the antenna is more effective. Similarly a radio antenna of a AM radio receiver ( made up of a wire coil wound on a ferrite rod) if aligned toward the transmitter yields a higher output signal. The changing intensity of the volume of a radio program broadcast on an a medium wave band is due to such directional characteristic of its antenna. The antenna of a FM radio set is often in the form of a stretchable metallic

rod, which normally points towards the sky, but one does sometimes experience changes in the sound intensity in an FM set. This is due to the fact that the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves used to carry FM signals is in the range of a few meters-the dimensions of our usual rooms. These waves are reflected from the walls of the room and can be absorbed by objects coming in between. Hence sometimes signals become very weak or very strong when the receiver is placed pointing to a certain direction or someone comes in between.. The metro channel of Doordarshan is transmitted on a frequency band ranging from 174-180 megahertz, hence an antenna having a dipole about 1.3 meter length is sufficient provided the signal does not get attenuated by the time it reaches the location. You may recall, we have said earlier that as the frequency of the signal increases, it is more susceptible to be absorbed by objects in the way. The metro channel therefore can be easily received only in the cities where it is broadcast, or through the satellite. The signals transmitted from a satellite are also in high frequency range. Ordinary rod antennas cannot pick up such signals, one needs specially designed dish antennas linked to appropriate tuners to pick up and process signals from them. The energy in an electromagnetic wave is easily dissipated by inducing electric current (motion of electrons) in a closed loop of metallic conductors. A receiver enclosed in a cage like structure made up of a metal ( popularly known as the Faradays cage) is therefore unable to receive electromagnetic signals, because there is no electromagnetic energy left. One can therefore understand why our transistor radio cannot receive radio programs inside a train or a bus. Such a cage also acts a no entry zone for electromagnetic waves. This also explains the use of shielded wires used for transmission of TV programs by cable networks. A metallic shield around the metallic wire carrying the signal prevents outside interferences as well as attenuation of the signal by leaking of waves to neighboring locations. But then cable operators often have to compromise with low cost joins between two cables, which are often sufficient for neighboring TV sets to pick up which explains the reception of cable programs even when you may not have a cable connection. TV signals are easily reflected by huge buildings in the neighborhood of a transmitter, the reflected signal has a slightly different phase than the original signal and gives rise to ghost images. Remote Control How does a remote control controls the working of TV or VCR? Why doesn't a remote control work if a table fan is placed between it and the TV although the sensor is clearly visible from the other side?

If something solid comes between the TV and the remote, it does not work. Why does this happen? How does a TV shuts down by pressing a button on the remote control? Is it possible to operate a TV set by a voice operated remote control? The remote control of a television sends out a coded signal to the TV set when

we press a particular button on it. This message is send using infra red radiation. The control signal and their codes are generated by a complex electronic circuit which are finally given to the IR-LED (Infra-red Light Emitting Diode)which convert the electrical codes into Infra-red (IR)rays. These rays are received by a sensor on the TV. Thereafter the signal that is contained in these rays are processed further by a decoder circuit in the TV to perform the desired function. When something solid or opaque comes in between the remote and the TV or the remote is not pointed towards the TV, the infra-red beam does not reach the receiver sensor in the TV set, and hence, the remote does not work. Voice operated remote controls are indeed possible, indeed in latest computers lots of commands can be voice controlled, but voice controlled controls have certain limitations, pronunciation of the same command by different people can be so different that an instrument can misinterpret it. Are you Curious? Have you been reading CURIOSITY CORNER regularly? In the previous five issues a number of questions related to colour; energy; electricity; heat; sounds; taste and smell have been answered in this column and here you have answers to several questions related to smell and taste. Although a wide spectrum of questions were covered in these articles, there can be many more similar queries related to these subjects which have not been answered. If you have such a query, do write to us. Your query may appear in a future installment of this column. Queries on other subjects or reactions to the answers provided in this column are also welcome. So buck up! Observe closely, think and come up with intelligent questions. We want you to develop a true scientific temper. Send your queries to: Curiosity Corner Science Reporter, National Institute of Science Communication

Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg New Delhi 110 012 or you may email to scireport@hotmail.com