Any discussion of the technology of radio broadcasting must, at the outset, acknowledge its rapidly changing nature. The almost exponentially increasing effect of computers is being felt in the domain of radio as it is in most other areas. Although computers have not replaced all of the tools in use in radio broadcasting by any means, they have greatly enhanced the effectiveness of most, if not all, of them.

Microphones

There are a number of tools used to introduce various signals into a broadcast system, and the microphone remains one of the most basic of these input tools in use in radio. The microphone is an instrument used to transduce, or convert, acoustic energy into electric energy. During this process, sound waves are changed into electricity that can then be sent through wires as variations in voltage. There are three types of...