The video signal bandwidth for standard television system is 6MHZ resulting in a modulation Bandwidth

of 12MHZ when AM is used. To economize bandwidth a form of DSB is used in which a vestigial of one
sideband is transmitted along with the whole of the other side band. This reduces the overall bandwidth
to about 8MHZ>

The vestigial of the lower sideband includes transmissions of the D>C signal since it represents the
average brightness of the picture and its important picture detail. On transmission the lower frequency
components of the vestigial sidebands signal are overemphasized and so the receiver is given response.
Characteristics which reduce the low-frequency components and this restores the information content
on reception to its original balance prior to transmission

AM RECEIVERS

There are mainly two types

A) TRF(Tuned Radio Frequency)

B) Super heterodyne

TRF RECEIVER

This is a simple fixed frequency receiver

The two RF amplifiers all tuning together(ganged) are employed to select and amplify the incoming
frequency and reject all others. The signal is then detected and fed to a loudspeaker after having been
passed through the appropriate audio amplifying stages.

Such receivers are simple to design and align at broadcasting frequencies(535KHZ-1640KHZ) but present
at higher frequencies. Other problems associated with TRF include;

i) Instability
ii) Insufficient adjacent frequency rejection
iii) Bandwidth variations

The use of super heterodyne receivers solves these problems

AM SUPER HETERODYNE RECEIVER BLOCK DIAGRAM

1)RF STAGE

Operates in a class A bias and is usually a low noise device. It is a tuned circuit connected to the antenna
terminals. The wanted frequency (station) is selected and all unwanted frequencies are rejected at this
stage. The output is fed to the mixer.

Advantages of the RF amplifier stage

i) Greater receiver again i.e better sensitivity

ii) Improved image frequency rejection
iii) Improved signal to noise ratio
iv) Improved rejection of adjacent channel is better selectivity
v) Prevention of re-radiation of local oscillator signal through the antenna
vi) Better coupling of the antenna

2) MIXER(CONVERTER OF FREQUENCY CHANGER)

Mixer or heterodynes the oscillator frequency with the selected frequency with the RF amplifier. It is a
high noise device with principle frequencies present after the mixing process:

i) RF signal –F1
ii) Local osc signal –f2
iii) Sum of the two-f1+f2
iv) Difference of the two f2-f1

The difference frequency known as the intermediate frequency IF is selected by the tuned circuit of the
mixer as its output and fed to the IF stage.
3) LOCAL OSCILLATOR

This is ganged to the RF amplifier tuned circuit. The output frequency thus depends upon the signal
selected by the RF amplifier. Its frequency output is usually tuned above the selection station. As an
oscillator output signal, it is usually constant amplitude signal which is fed to the mixer.

4) INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY AMPLIFIER STAGES

These can be one or more stager and operate at a fixed frequency usually 4555KHZ as a standard.
Because of their fixed frequency of operation the IF amplifiers can be specially designed to give

i) High gain
ii) Good stability
iii) Good selectivity
iv) Better aid to rejection of both adjacent and second channel interferences

5) DEMODULATORS (DETECTOR)

Extracts, demodulates or detects the transmitted information from the modulated signals. It comprises
a diode and a filter circuit the output signal consisting of:

i) Wanted AF signal
ii) IF component
iii) DC component
iv) Harmonics of the IF
v) All except the wanted AF signal are filtered being fed back to early stages AGC

6) AUDIO AMPIFIERS STAGES

These amplify the detector output which is the original modulating waveform applied at the transmitter.
Amplification is necessary in order to give the audio signal sufficient power to operate the transducer I.e
loudspeaker.

7) TRANSDUCER

This is the device that converts the audio signals into a form required by the user,e.g the loudspeaker
converts the AF alternating current into vibrations producing sound waves as the output.

This is super heterodyne receiver similar to the AM receiver. The basic differences are as follows:

i) Operates at a much higher frequencies.

ii) Has a limiting and de-emphasis circuit.
iii) Demodulating method is different.
 iv) Has a different method of obtaining AGC.

1)RF AMPLIFIER STAGE

This is necessary to reduce the noise figure in the wide bandwidth receiver. It is also required to match
the input impedance of the receiver to that of the antenna.

2) MIXER AND LOCAL OSCILLATOR

The oscillator circuit can either be colpitts or clap types which are suited for VHF operation. Tracking is
not much of a problem in FM broadcasting receiver because the tuning frequency range is 1:25:1 much
less than AM broadcasting

3) IF AMPLIFIERS

The types and operating of the IF amplifiers do not differ much from the AM counterparts. However the
IF and bandwidth required are higher than in AM receivers. Typical figures for receivers operating in the
88-108MHZ band are:

IF of 10.7MHZ and a bandwidth of 200KHZ

4)AMPLITUDE LIMITER

The transmitted signal is FM with constant amplitude. During its passage through the
receiver<unwanted noise is unavoidably introduced and most of it appears as amplitude variations in
the signal.

If the discriminator is sensitive to amplitude changes as well as frequency variations, the output will
contain noise mixed with the desired intelligence.

A limiter ensures that the input to the discriminator is of constant amplitude while retaining with the FM
characteristic. The noise is much reduced by the action limiter.
5)FM demodulators

The function of a frequency to amplitude changer or FM detector is to change the frequency deviation
of the incoming carrier to an AF amplitude variation.

The FM detector is more complex and different from an AM detector. The circuits used include:

1) Foster-seelay phase shift discriminator

2) Ratio detector

PHASE SHIFT DISCRIMINATOR

RATIO DETECTOR

FM RECEIVER BLOCK DIAGRAM

1)AMPLIFIER STAGE

This is necessary to reduce the noise figure in the wide bandwidth receiver. It is required to match the
input impedance of the receiver to the antenna.

2)MIXER AND LOCAL OSCILLATOR

The oscillator circuit can either be colpitts or clap types which are suited for VHF operation. Tracking is
not a problem in FM broadcasting receivers because the tuning frequency ratio is 1;25;1,much less than
in AM broadcasting.

3)IF AMPLIFIERS

The types and operation of IF amplifiers do not differ much from the AM counterparts. However, the IF
and bandwidth required are higher than in AM receivers. Typical figures foe operating in the 88-108MHZ
band are: IF of 10.7MHZ and a bandwidth of 200KHZ.

3) AMPLITUDE LIMITER

The transmitted signal in FM is constant in amplitude. During its passage through the receiver,
unwanted noise is unavoidably introduced and most of it appears as amplitude variations in the signal. If
the discriminator is sensitive to amplitude changes as well as frequency variations the output will
contain noise mixed with desired intelligence .A limiter ensures that the input to the discriminator is of
constant amplitude while retaining the FM characteristics. The noise is much reduced by the action of
the limiter

4) FM DEMODULATION

The function of a frequency to amplitude changer or FM detector is to change the frequency deviation
of the incoming carrier to an AF amplitude variation.

The FM detector is more complex and different from an AM detector. The circuits include:

i) Foster-seelay phase shifter discriminator

ii) Ratio detector

5)DE-EMPHASIS NETWORK

If two modulating signals have the same initial amplitude and one of them is pre-emphasized to twice
this amplitude. Whereas the other is unaffected, then the receiver will have to de-emphasize the first
signal by a factor of two to ensure that both signals have the same amplitude in the output of the
receiver.

AM DIODE DETECTION

This is the most commonly used method in AM receivers. The detector chops the incoming waveform in
half. The capacitor due to load, discharges on the non-conducting portion of the a.c input and the result
is a d.c output which has an a.c ripple superimposed on it. Capacitor C, charges to the speaker value of
the RF input and R1 provides the discharge path on non-conducting half cycles so that the waveform of
voltage across C1R1 follows the modulation envelope. The output is an AF signal with an RF ripple and
also a D.C component superimposed.

To avoid distortion due to curvature of semi-conductor diode characteristics, the diode detector needs a
fairly large signal applied to it of the order of a few volts. Also the current through the input tuned
circuit as detection takes place has the effect of dampling the tuned circuit thus reducing its gain and
selectively. Therefore the signal needs amplification before reaching the diode detector hence the two
stages of amplification. The unwanted RF and the components are removed by a filter consisting of R2
and C2 connected across C1R1.

These components form a potential divider their being such that the resistance of C2 is much less than
P2 so that the unwanted AF components is developed across C2.The voltage across C2 is applied to the
next stage via C3 which blocks D.D components. The input of the Af amplifier is the required AF
component

AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL(AGC)

This is used to compensate for the fluctuations in strength of the radio signal. The control signal is taken
from the output of the detector stage where the mean level of the signal proportion to the strength of
the input RF signals. Feedback of the output signal from the detector can be used to control the gain of
the IF amplifiers.

The increasingly negative voltage reduces the bias on the first frequencies of the respective circuits. To
assist correct tracking both C1 and C2 are supplemented by trimmers.

The frequency of local oscillator may be above or below the carrier frequency by the amount of the
desired intermediate frequency .In practice the IF is 455KHZ and the oscillator frequency is above the
carrier frequency.

The signal is then passed to the IF amplifier via a transformer. The output from the second IF
transformer is then detected by a diode and the resultant audio signal processed by the AF amplifier in
the conventional manner.

A semiconductor diode in series with a resistive load has non-linear inpiy-output characteristics in the
forward direction.
Where i is the output current ,v is input voltage and a & b are arbitrary constants. For small input
voltages, the device can be used to detect weak signals as in radar

ENVELOPE DETECTOR

Since the shape of the envelope of an AM signal is similar to that of the modulating signal a circuit which
can follow the envelope waveform is the linear diode detector. Though the diode is a non-linear, its
voltage-current characteristics may be regarded liner for large input signals. The output signal is
therefore proportional to the input signals.

The basic circuit consists of a diode (crystal or valve) in series with an RC load. It behaves as a half-wave
rectifier and the capacitor is initially charged and then discharged with a time-constant RC

If the time constant is correct, the output voltage will follow the modulation envelope and consists of
the audio signal together with the d.c voltage. The latter is removed by the blocking capacitor C1 and
the audio signal across the resistor R1.
RECEIVER SPECIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

1. SENSITIVITY is the characteristic which determines the minimum strength of signal input
capable of causing a standard or desired value of signal output.

2. SELECTIVITY: Is a characteristic which determines that extent to which it is capable of

differentiating between the desired and the disturbances of other frequencies. The select
system chooses only the carrier with the required information.

3. TYPICAL SELECTIVITY CURVE

The ratio of voltage required of response to the voltage required when the generator is tuned
to the receiver’s frequency is calculated at a number of points and then plotted in decibels to
give the above curve.
 Selectivity is determined by the number of response of the I.F section with the mixer and
R.F amplifier input circuits playing a small but significant part. Selectivity determines the
adjacent channels rejection of a receiver.

3. FIDELITY: Is the degree with which a system or portion of a system accurately reproduces at
its output the essentials characteristics of the signals which is impressed upon its input.

As opposed to the selectivity, the quality factor level must be flat and wide- bandwidth is
essential.

4.SIGNALS TO NOISE RATIO Is the ratio of signal power output to the noise power output at a
specified value of modulated camel voltage applied to input terminals? Of the signal to noise
ratio is high, then the message is unlikely to be impaired; if it is low the signal may be impaired.

5. IMAGE FREQUENCY AND ITS REJECTION

The image frequency is defined as the signal frequency plus twice the I.F .If a frequency
manager to reach the mixer such that fs = Fs + 2 Fi; then this frequency will also reproduce Fi
when mixed with For. This spurious signal will also be amplified by the I.F stage and will
therefore provide interference.

The local oscillator frequency is made higher than the incoming signal frequency.

Fo = Fs +Fi or Fs = Fo – Fi

When Fs and Fso are mixed in the frequency changer [mixer] the difference which is one of
the byproducts is equal to Fi and is the only one passed and amplified by the I.F stages.

Image rejection depends on the frontend selectivity of the receiver and must be achieved
before the I.F stage.
6 STABILITY : Is ability of a radio receiver to deliver a constant amount of output for a given
period of time when the receiver is supplied with a signal of constant amplitude and frequency.
The factors affecting stability include:

a) Temperature variation.
b) Features of mechanical construction.

7)NOISE FACTOR: Is defined as the ratio of the total noise output [No] from a receiver to that
noise output due to the input source along. It is indicative of the noise contributed by the
receiver in which processes of amplification and frequency translation are linear.

Since the noise output due to the noise at the source is equal to the product of the source noise
[Ni] and the receiver [G] the noise factor maybe expressed as:

Nf =No\Ni * G

RECEIVER TECHNIQUES
1)AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL [AGC]
This is a system by means of which the overall gain of a radio receiver is varied automatically
with the changing strength of the received signal but keeps the output constant.
ADC bias voltage derived from the detector is applied to selected number of RF, IF and Mixer
stages. The AGC permits tuning to stations of varying strength without change in size of the
output signal. The AGC also helps in smoothing out the fading which may occur with long
distance short-wave reception and prevents overloading of the last If amplifier.

SIMPLE AGC
The simple AGC system above shows that even weak signal do not escape reduction.

With zero and small signal delay diodes D2 conducts so that the AGC bias just equal the
potential of cathode of the diode thus AGC remains fixed at a low positive value As the input