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Regenerative Receiver Theory
Regenerative Receiver Theory
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In 1912, the available triode tubes only allowed very low amplification. Edwin Howard Armstrong
(1890-1954) in empirical tests suddenly obtained considerable amplification. He had just discovered
the phenomenon of feedback: by reapplying part of the output signal to the input of an amplifier, the
total amplification is considerably increased.
This considerable gain, combined with an increase in selectivity, led to a major development of
radio in the 1920s, before being gradually replaced by superheterodyne technology in the 1930s.
The extraordinary results of the feedback explain that some amateur radio amateurs still use this
technique to make simple receivers, but allowing receiving stations from America or Oceania
sometimes with 3 or 4 transistors.
1 Amplification
Let be a gain amplifier stage K in the absence of feedback. Let's reapply to the input a percentage r
of the output voltage.
The gain Gr with feedback corresponds to the ratio Uout / Uin therefore Gr = K / ( 1 - K r)
Let's take an example. Let's say an amplifier with a gain of 10. Let's apply a feedback of 0.095
(9.5%). The gain increases to 200! Let's increase the feedback even further by applying 10%. The
gain becomes infinite, i.e. the circuit oscillates.
The feedback thus considerably increases the gain of an amplifier. The limit is reached when the
amplifier starts to oscillate.
2 Selectivity
Let's add a resonant circuit to the amplifier input. Without feedback, the selectivity is that of its
impedance curve. For example, if at a frequency F1 the impedance Z of the circuit is half that of the
resonance frequency Fo, the frequency signal F1 is attenuated by 2 at the output of the resonant
circuit with respect to a frequency signal Fo. The relative attenuation persists at the amplifier
output.
Let's add the feedback. The percentage r of the output reapplied to the input will also vary
according to frequency. This explains the increase in selectivity.
Let us take again our example: that of a gain stage k = 10 without feedback and a value of r at
resonance Fo of 9.5%. Let be two stations, the desired one of frequency Fo on which the receiver is
set, and a second station of frequency F1 for which the resonant circuit gives the attenuation of 2 (-
6dB) without any feedback. With the feedback, the gain becomes 200 for the Fo frequency. On the
other hand, the reaction is only 4.75% for F1. The gain therefore becomes equal to 19. The
feedback therefore provided a relative attenuation of the frequency F1 compared to Fo of 200/19 or
10.5 (-20db).
This gain in selectivity should be understood as follows: the more the feedback is increased, the
greater the amplification difference between Fo and F1. The most important selectivity is therefore
obtained in the immediate vicinity of the oscillation.
This mechanism explains a major defect in the regenerative receivers: if station F1 is already
received without feedback, the application of the feedback will not eliminate it. It will even be
received more and more loudly by increasing the feedback.
The only way to mitigate this problem is to attenuate the signals at the receiver input so that no
stations are received without feedback. Only the extra gain provided by the feedback will allow the
different stations to be received.
To obtain good selectivity, any regenerative receiver connected to an "effective" antenna must
therefore be preceded by a variable RF attenuator.
If one station is really much stronger than the others, as is sometimes the case with broadcasting
stations close to amateur bands, it will sometimes be almost impossible to eliminate it completely.
On a well-designed receiver, this must remain exceptional.
4 L/C ratio
The considerations in this paragraph relate to SSB listening or telegraphy.
An oscillator is all the more stable when it is tuned by a large capacity. Imagine a 0.1 pF variation
in the capacity of a 14 MHz resonant circuit. This can be caused by a temperature variation, a
voltage variation, a hand effect, a variation of the antenna coupling etc. If the tuning capacity is 470
pF, this corresponds to a frequency variation of 1.4 kHz. On the other hand, if the tuning capacity is
47 pF, this results in a frequency variation of 14 kHz. This simple example illustrates the
importance of using a low L/C ratio. At the same time, selectivity will be improved. Above the
oscillation threshold, the sensitivity is almost constant, regardless of the L/C ratio. It is therefore
essential to use a high value capacity, say more than 470 pF. This is possible up to 21 MHz with
bipolar transistors, and up to 14 MHz with tubes.
In older books, on the other hand, it is often advisable to use a coil of high value, therefore with a
low tuning capacity. Forty years of experience have shown me that this is not true. A low tuning
capacity made it possible to easily obtain the oscillation point, which was useful with tubes that
were not very efficient in short waves and assemblies with a lot of losses. In fact, the only limit to a
very high capacity value is the difficulty, if not impossibility, of obtaining oscillations.
To make this 50 Hz noise disappear, several solutions are possible. The easiest way is to increase
the coupling capacity Cc. If this capacitance is 100 nF, the 50 Hz voltage at the detector input will
only be 2 µV. If the polarization of the detector stage allows it, for example for a FET, the easiest
way is to remove the Cc capacitor. Another way is to shunt the coupling capacitor Cc with a resistor
with the lowest possible value. In all cases, the 50 Hz impedance between the detector input and
ground should be as low as possible.
Olivier ERNST
F5LVG
12-2019