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Radio reception
162n
The radio waves — medium-wave, long-
wave and short-wave — offer a wide
range of reception, because the broad-
cast signals travel not only along the
ground as surface waves, but also as
atmospheric waves bounced back to
earth from the ionosphere.
Frequency-modulation (FM) provides
substantially better sound quality than
AM. However, because FM transmis-
sions rely on line-of-sight broadcast
waves, their effective reception range is
limited.
The limitations inherent to radio recep-
tion in a moving vehicle have been min-
imized by a number of innovative sys-
tem designs:
The "Radio Data System" (RDS) makes
sure that, for broadcast stations trans-
mitting on several frequencies, the ra-
dio automatically tunes to the frequency
with the best reception quality.
The Diversity Antenna system employs
several FM antennas integrated within
the rear window to provide three sepa-
rate sources for receiving broadcast
waves. An integral processor automati-
cally selects the antenna with the best
FM reception quality at any given time.
The selection of the antenna takes
place within milliseconds, and is there-
fore not noticed by the radio listener.
Safety belt tensioner
The safety belt tensioner responds to
collisions by tightening the belts to en-
sure that occupants remain firmly posi-
tioned in their seats. A gas-pressure
system retracts the buckle assembly
to tension the shoulder and lap belts
within fractions of a second. This re-
duces the tendency to slide under the
lap belt.
Online Edition for Part No. 01 41 0 155 026 - © 6/99 BMW AG
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