FM Modulator vs FM Transmitter

In order to be able to transmit FM signals from one point to another, you need to have a full system that transforms your signal. The FM transmitter and FM modulator are two parts of this system and they are both necessary in making the system function as desired. Clearly, the transmitter is the part that dissipates the FM signal into the air so that it can be received by antennas somewhere else. The FM modulator, on the other hand, is responsible for piggybacking the signal onto the carrier signal.

There are two signals in an FM system. The carrier signal is set at a specific frequency and it is what we tune to on our radios. This frequency is a lot higher than the frequency of the signal that we intend to transmit. To transmit the signal, the carrier frequency is varied depending on the amplitude of the intended signal. The resulting carrier frequency is not fixed as it can be higher or lower, depending on the signal that is being transmitted. An FM receiver is able to track this minor frequency shifts and extracts the signal from the carrier frequency and plays it back.

Since it is the FM modulators job to combine two waveforms into a single waveform, it is therefore necessary to do that before having the signal transmitted. Because of this, you would need to have the modulator before the transmitter, as you would see in any diagram you can find. Each of the two is responsible for certain specifications of the system. You set in the modulator what frequency you would transmit at as that would be the carrier frequency. With the transmitter, you set how much power is used in transmitting the signal. This is important because the power level determines how far your signal reaches.

The FM transmitter and FM modulator are two essential parts of an FM transmission system and should be understood correctly in order to design a transmission system that works as intended.

Summary:
1. An FM modulator and an FM transmitter are both necessary to transmit an FM signal
2. An FM modulator modifies the FM signal based on the input signal while the FM transmitter is responsible for sending out the signal to the air
3. In a system, the FM modulator appears before the FM transmitter
4. The FM modulator determines at what frequency the system transmits at while the transmitter is responsible for the power level and the range

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