How does the Radio Data System work?

The Radio Data System, or RDS, allows your radio to display information like song titles and radio station call signs. Find out how the RDS works in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.

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Episode Transcript

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(00:28):
today's question, how's your radio able to display the station's
call letters and things like song titles on the radio's display.
If you have one of those radios that show FM
station call signs right on the display panel, then you
have what's called the radio data system feature with your radio.

(00:49):
The Radio Data System or RDS, is available in many
US cities. There's a similar system in Europe as well.
In the United States, each FM radio station is allocated
two herds of bandwidth. So if a radio station is
at ninety three point one on the FM dial, its
frequency is ninety three point one million herds, and it

(01:13):
has between ninety three point one and ninety three point
three million hurts as its allocation. The station doesn't fill
all that bandwidth with music there's some space left over
on both sides. RDS is a completely separate radio signal
that fits between the station's frequency allocation. It's like there

(01:34):
are actually two radio stations broadcasting. One has music and
the other has data. The RDS signal carries digital information
with a data rate of about eleven hundred bits per second.
RDS transmits data simultaneously with a standard FM radio broadcast.
Your radio picks up the music and sends it to

(01:57):
the speakers, and then it separately picks up the data
signal and sends that data to the display. Possible uses
include transmitting song titles, station call signs, and signaling when
traffic and weather reports are being broadcast. For more on
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