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RADIO PRINCIPLES
RADIO RECEIVERS

1.0. INTRODUCTION
In communications, a radio receiver is an electronic device that receives desired radio waves
and rejects the unwanted signals and converts the information carried by radio waves to a
usable or original form. Since modulation took place at the transmitter, the reverse process,
demodulation is performed in the receiver to recover the original modulated signal. It is used
with an antenna. The antenna intercepts radio waves (electromagnetic waves) and converts
them to tiny alternating currents which are applied to the receiver, and the receiver extracts the
desired information. The receiver uses electronic filters to separate the desired radio frequency
signal from all the other signals picked up by the antenna, an electronic amplifier to increase
the power of the signal for further processing, and finally recovers the desired information
through demodulation.

The information produced by the receiver may be in the form of sound (an audio signal),
images (a video signal) or data (a digital signal). A radio receiver may be a separate piece of
electronic equipment, or an electronic circuit within another device. Devices that contain radio
receivers include television sets, radar equipment, two-way radios, cell phones, wireless
computer networks, GPS navigation devices, satellite dishes, radio telescopes, bluetooth
enabled devices, garage door openers, baby monitors..etc

Function of Radio Receivers includes;

 Intercept the incoming modulated signal

 Select desired signal and reject unwanted signals
 Amplify selected R.F signal
 Detect modulated signal to get back original modulating signal
 Amplify modulating frequency signal
Some of the design requirements for a receiver include;

 The radio receiver has to be cost effective

 Has to work according to application as for AM or FM signals
 Tune to and amplify desired radio station
 Filter out all other stations
 Demodulator has to work with all radio stations regardless of carrier frequency

2.0. CLASSIFICATION OF RADIO RECEIVERS

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Receivers can be classified depending on the type of modulation employed, be it AM, FM,
SSB, PM, e.t.c, the application, e.g. like communication receiver and by the type of a receiver.

There are two types of receivers;

a) Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receiver

This type of receiver is a simple logical receiver. It is composed of RF amplifiers stage,

detectors stage and A.F amplifiers stage. In this type of receiver, there is no frequency
conversion. It is not often used because of it is difficult to design tunable RF stages
and also to obtain high gain RF amplifiers except as a fixed-frequency receiver in
special applications.

 RF section (Receiver front end)

- Used to detect the signal and amplifying the received RF signal and is band
limited the received RF signal
- Two or three RF amplifiers are required to filter and amplify the received
signal to a level sufficient to drive the detector stage.
 Detector

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- Demodulates the received signal and converts it to the original information

signal.
 Audio section
- Used to amplify the recovered signal
Advantages of TRF

 TRF receivers are simple to design and allow the broadcast frequency 535 KHz
to 1640 KHz.
 High sensitivity.
Disadvantages of TRF

 At the higher frequency, it produces difficulty in design.

 It has poor audio quality.
 Drawbacks/problems
- Instability
- Variation in BW
- Poor Selectivity/insufficient adjacent-frequency rejection

b) Superheterodyne Receiver

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Heterodyne means to mix two frequencies together in a nonlinear device (such as

transistor, diode mixer e.t.c.) or to transmit one frequency to another using nonlinear
mixing. Mixing two frequencies creates two new frequencies, one at the sum of the two
frequencies mixed and the other at their difference.

Heterodyne receiver is a telecommunication receiver which uses this effect to produce

frequency shifts. The receiver also known as frequency conversion, the high frequency
is down converted to low frequency (IF) and the main amplification takes place at IF
stage. A super heterodyne receiver converts all incoming radio frequency (RF) signals
to a lower frequency known as an intermediate frequency (IF). Super-heterodyne
receivers have superior characteristics to simpler receiver types in frequency stability
and selectivity. The shortcomings of the TRF receiver are overcome by the super
heterodyne receiver. These drawbacks overcomed are;

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- Stability – as high frequency is down converted to IF the reactance of stray

capacitances will not decrease as it was at higher frequencies resulting in increased
feedback.
- No variation in BW- as IF range is 438 to 465 KHz (in case of AM receivers)
mostly 455 KHz, appropriate for Q limit (120).
- Better selectivity- as no adjacent channels are picked due to variation in BW.

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 RF section
- Consists of a pre-selector and an amplifier
- Pre-selector is a broad-tuned bandpass filter with an adjustable center
frequency used to reject unwanted radio frequency and to reduce the noise
bandwidth.
- RF amplifier determines the sensitivity of the receiver and a predominant
factor in determining the noise figure for the receiver.
 Mixer/converter section
- Consists of a radio-frequency oscillator and a mixer.
- Choice of oscillator depends on the stability and accuracy desired.
- Mixer is a nonlinear device to convert radio frequency to intermediate
frequencies (i.e. heterodyning process). The frequency conversion in the
mixer stage is identical to the frequency conversion in the modulator except
that in the receiver, the frequencies are down-converted rather that up-
converted. In the mixer, RF signals are combined with the local oscillator
frequency. The local oscillator is designed such that its frequency of
oscillation is always above or below the desired RF carrier by an amount
equal to the IF center frequency. Therefore the difference of RF and oscillator
frequency is always equal to the IF frequency. The adjustment for the center
frequency of the pre-selector and the local oscillator frequency are gang-tune
(the two adjustments are tied together so that single adjustment will change
the center frequency of the pre-selector and at the same time change the local
oscillator). when local oscillator frequency is tuned above the RF, we have
high side injection and when local oscillator frequency is tuned below the RF
we have low side injection both Mathematically expressed as:
High side injection

Low side injection

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- The shape of the envelope, the bandwidth and the original information
contained in the envelope remains unchanged although the carrier and
sideband frequencies are translated from RF to IF.
 IF section
- Consists of a series of IF amplifiers and bandpass filter to achieve most of the
receiver gain and selectivity.
- The IF is always lower than the RF because it is easier and less expensive to
construct high-gain, stable amplifiers for low frequency signals.
- IF amplifiers are also less likely to oscillate than their RF counterparts.
 Detector section
- To convert the IF signals back to the original source information
(demodulation).
- Can be as simple as a single diode or as complex as a PLL or balanced
demodulator.
 Audio amplifier section
- Comprises several cascaded audio amplifiers and one or more speakers

 AGC ( Automatic Gain Control )

- AGC circuit is used to adjust and stabilize the frequency of local oscillator. It
is a system by means of which the overall gain of radio receiver is varied
automatically with the variations in the strength of received signals, to
maintain the output constant

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- A dc level proportional to the received signal strength is extracted from the detector
stage and fed back to the IF and sometimes to the mixer and or the RF amplifier.
This is the Automatic gain control (AGC) level, which allows relatively constant
receiver output for widely variable received signals.
- Without AGC, to not miss a weak station, you would probably blow out your
speaker while a weak station may not be audible.
- The received signal from the tuned station is constantly changing as a result of
changing weather and atmospheric conditions.
- The AGC allows you to listen to a station without constantly monitoring the
volume control.
COMPARISON

TRF Receiver Super heterodyne Receiver

 No frequency conversion  Frequency conversion

 No IF frequency
 Instability, variation in BW and poor
selectivity due to high frequencies
 Difficult to design tunable RF stages
 Rarely used
 Down convert RF signal to lower IF frequency
 No Instability, variation in BW and poor
selectivity as IF introduced
 Main amplification takes place at IF
 Mostly used

3.0. AM RECEIVERS

a) Simple AM Radio Receiver

A simple AM radio receiver consists of five main functional blocks as shown below:

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 Antenna
Every radio receiver requires an antenna (aerial) as the input, to convert the incoming
radio waves into tiny alternating currents. Unlike the transmitting aerial which may
only be transmitting one frequency from the radio station, the aerial will pick up all of
the different radio broadcasts at different carrier frequencies within range. The actual
current variation in the aerial will be a complex mixture of all these signals and so the
first thing the receiver has to be designed to do is select one broadcast from among the
many, and then extract its audio information.

 The tuning circuit

A tuning circuit is essentially a band pass filter designed to pick up carrier frequencies
typically in the range 300 kHz to 3MHz. The frequency range (i.e. the frequency band
it passes) can be altered by means of a variable capacitor. The frequency response of
the tuning circuit is the gain as a function of frequency, where

output voltage
gain 
input voltage

(a) is the block diagram, (b) is the frequency

response.

If this frequency response is now superimposed on the multi-carrier signal picked up by

the aerial, then we have the graph shown below (where it is assumed that all
transmissions are AM).

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The frequency response curves for two types of tuning circuit are shown. Tuning
circuit 1 has a pass band that has a high Q factor that just encompasses the carrier and
sidebands, and so this tuner will be very selective, i.e. it will pick out just one station
and reject the rest. Tuning circuit 2 has a much larger pass band and a lower Q-factor
so is insufficiently selective; interference will occur between neighbouring
transmissions. The tuning circuit pass band is centred on the desired carrier frequency
and the very small currents from this particular station are converted into very small
voltages (typically µV or mV). Thus a very small copy of the original AM signal will
be produced.

 The detector
The function of the detector is to extract (i.e. detect) the audio signal. It does this by
first rectifying the AM carrier with a diode circuit, so that the average value of the AM
signal is no longer zero. As the received signals are very small, special diodes with a
very low turn-on voltage are used for this purpose. They are usually made with
germanium and have a turn-on voltage of approximately 0.2V instead of the 0.7V for a
silicon diode. Even so, unljess the received signal is well above 200mV then this
simple radio receiver will not be able to receive it as the signal will not be able to turn-
on the diode in the detector.

 The RF filter

The half wave Rectified pulses are then smoothed with a low pass filter, so that the
remaining carrier frequency is lost and the slowly changing envelope (i.e. the audio
signal) is obtained as output. The break frequency is given by the same formula i.e.

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1
fb  . In practice the received signal would never be perfectly reproduced, the
2RC
following diagrams show a more realistic output from the RF filter.

The values of R and C need to be chosen carefully to produce:

- a break frequency just above the audio range of the information signal
- a time constant that is short compared with the period of the audio signal so the
output follows the audio signal faithfully
- a time constant that is long compared with the period of the carrier so that C does
not discharge appreciably and give a saw tooth effect superimposed on the audio
signal
- a high impedance so that it does not draw a large current from the tuned circuit
As a rule of thumb compromise, R is usually chosen to be greater than 50 kΩ along
with a corresponding value of C in the range 20 to 1000pF.

 The High Impedance Headphones

This is a transducer that converts the audio signal into small displacements of a
diaphragm, so that the original audio information is recreated. The minor fluctuations
in the audio signal tend to be ignored by most headphones. As this radio receives all of

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its power from the received radio signal it is unable to drive any output device other
than very high impedance (~1MΩ) headphones.

b) Simple AM Circuit diagram

The circuit diagram for a simple radio receiver is shown below.

Note: Sometimes the resistor in the RF filter is omitted from the circuit diagram
because the internal impedance of the headphones is sufficient to work with the fixed
capacitor to form the low pass filter. This circuit is powered only by the signal picked
up by the antenna, no batteries or power supplies are needed. If you wanted to replace
the headphones with a loudspeaker you would have to add an audio amplifier which
would need a power source after the RF Filter?

There are only a couple of calculations that can be performed on this circuit, which are
as follows:

- Using the tuned circuit components to calculate the range of frequencies that can be
received by the radio, or given the frequency of a radio station, calculate the setting
of the variable capacitor to ensure that this frequency is the one received.
- Calculating suitable values for the RF filter circuit, so that it has a high impedance
to the audio signal, and low impedance to the RF carrier.
Example

The following circuit shows a simple radio receiver

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(a) Calculate the minimum and maximum frequency that the tuned circuit of this
radio can respond to.

(b) (i) Calculate the break frequency of the RF Filter.

(ii) Comment on the suitability of the break frequency for this particular
radio receiver.

Solution:

(a) To calculate the resonant frequency of the tuned circuit for minimum and
maximum values of the variable capacitor we must apply the formula
1
fo  twice for the two extremes of capacitance value. The minimum
2 LC
frequency will be obtained when C is at its maximum value i.e. 60pF, so

1
fo 
2 LC
1
f o (min) 
2 10  103  60  1012
1
f o (min)   205468 Hz  205 kHz
2 6  1013

The maximum frequency will be obtained when C is at its minimum value i.e.
20pF, so

1
fo 
2 LC
1
f o (max) 
2 10  10  20  10 12
3

1
f o (max)   355881 Hz  356 kHz
2 2  1013

The tuning range of this tuned circuit is therefore 205 kHz – 356 kHz

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(b) i. The break frequency of the RF filter is given by the following formula
1
fb 
2RC

1
fb 
2  100  103  100  1012
 15915.49 Hz
 16 kHz

ii. The audio frequency range broadcast on an AM transmission is limited

to approximately 5 kHz. The break frequency is higher than the highest
audio frequency so any audio signal that is broadcast will pass through
the RF filter. In addition the break frequency is much lower than any RF
frequency that can be picked up by the receiver. The RF filter is
therefore suitable for this radio receiver.

Major problems with the Simple Radio Receiver

The simple radio receiver has two major problems;

- It is not very sensitive – radio stations have to be very strong, to generate a large
enough voltage in the antenna (aerial) to switch on the germanium diode. That is it
cannot pick up weak stations.
- It is not very selective – using a single tuned circuit it is difficult to obtain a high Q-
factor which makes it difficult for the radio to select a single station without
picking up a signal from any neighbouring stations and thus causing interference
where two overlapping sounds can be heard.

c) Improved AM Radio receiver

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The improved AM receiver block diagram consists of RF stage, Mixer stage, I.F stages,
Detector stage and A.G.C circuit utilizing a superheterodyne receiver.

4.0. FM RECEIVER
In order to be able to receive FM a receiver must be sensitive to the frequency variations of the
incoming signals and these may be wide or narrow band. However the set is made insensitive
to the amplitude variations. This is achieved by having a high gain IF amplifier. Here the
signals are amplified to such a degree that the amplifier runs into limiting. In this way any
amplitude variations are removed.

In order to be able to convert the frequency variations into voltage variations, the demodulator
must be frequency dependent. The ideal response is a perfectly linear voltage to frequency
characteristic.

Characteristic "S" curve of an FM demodulator

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Here it can be seen that the centre frequency is in the middle of the response curve and this is
where the un-modulated carrier would be located when the receiver is correctly tuned into the
signal. In other words there would be no offset DC voltage present. The ideal response is not
achievable because all systems have a finite bandwidth and as a result a response curve known
as an "S" curve is obtained. Outside the bandwidth of the system, the response falls, as would
be expected. It can be seen that the frequency variations of the signal are converted into
voltage variations which can be amplified by an audio amplifier before being passed into
headphones, a loudspeaker, or passed into other electronic circuitry for the appropriate
processing.

To enable the best detection to take place the signal should be centered about the middle of the
curve. If it moves off too far then the characteristic becomes less linear and higher levels of
distortion result. Often the linear region is designed to extend well beyond the bandwidth of a
signal so that this does not occur. In this way the optimum linearity is achieved. Typically the
bandwidth of a circuit for receiving VHF FM broadcasts may be about 1 MHz whereas the
signal is only 200 kHz wide.

Description of FM receiver block diagram and each block function is given below;

 RF Amplifier
- Strengthens the signal captured by the antenna before forwarded to block Mixer
(mixer).
 Local Oscillator
- Produces a vibration frequency higher than the frequency of the RF output
signal which is forwarded to the mixer block.
 Mixer

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- Contribute to mix the two frequencies derived from the RF amplifier and the
Local Oscillator. Results from the mixer is processed to Intermediate Frequency
(IF)
 IF amplifier
- Used to strengthen the intermediate frequency (IF) before forwarded to the
limiter block.
 Limiter (delimiter)
- The function is to remove noise peaks and amplitude-changes before detection
of the FM signal.
 FM discriminator / Detector /FM demodulators
- Used to detect the signal information (Audio).There are a number of circuits
that can be used to demodulate FM. Some of the main types of FM detector are;
 Slope FM detector: This form of detector uses the slope of a tuned circuit
to convert the frequency variations into amplitude variations. As the
frequency of the FM signal varies, it changes its position on the slope of
the tuned circuit, so the amplitude will vary. This signal can then be
converted into a baseband signal by using an AM diode detector circuit.
 Ratio detector: This FM demodulator circuit was widely used with
discrete components, providing a good level of performance. It was
characterized by the transformer with three windings that was required.
 Foster-Seeley FM detector: Like the Ratio detector the Foster Seeley
detector or discriminator was used with discrete components, providing
excellent performance in many FM radios.
 PLL, Phase locked loop FM demodulator: FM demodulators using phase
locked loops, PLLs cna provide high levels of performance. They do not
require a costly transformer and can easily be incorporated within FM
radio ICs.
 Quadrature FM demodulator: This form of FM demodulator is very
convenient for use within integrated circuits. It provides high levels of
linearity, while not requiring many external components.
 Coincidence FM demodulator: This form of demodulator has many
similarities to the quadrature detector. It uses digital technology and
replaces a mixer with a logic NAND gate.
 De-emphasis
- Used to suppress excessive amount of audio frequency (high) sent by the
transmitter
 AGC (Automatic Gain)
- Function to adjust gain automatically to remain stable.
 Audio Amplifier

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- Used to rectify the vibration / AF signal and enhance the audio signal level and
then forwarded to an AF amplifier speakers.
 Other blocks that can be included are;
- Stereo Decoder - Stereo signal processing used forward the signal to two pieces
of AF amplifier (FM Stereo).
- Squelch - In order to be able to receive FM a receiver must be sensitive to the
frequency variations of the incoming signals which may be wide or narrow
band. However the set is made insensitive to the amplitude variations. This is
achieved by having a high gain IF amplifier. Here the signals are amplified to
such a degree that the amplifier runs into limiting. In this way any amplitude
variations are removed and this improves the signal to noise ratio after the point
when the signal limits in the IF stages. However the high levels of gain
associated with the limiting process mean that when no signal is present, very
high levels of noise appear at the output of the FM demodulator. To overcome
the problem of the high noise levels when no signal is present a circuit known
as "squelch" is normally used. This detects when no signal is present and cuts
the audio, thereby removing the noise under these conditions. The level for this
is normally present in domestic radios, but there is often a level adjustment for
PMR or handheld transceivers, or for scanners and professional receivers.
Important aspects of FM receivers

a) Quieting specification
One of the advantages of FM is its resilience to noise. This is one of the main reasons
why it is used for high quality audio broadcasts. However when no signal is present, a
high noise level is present at the output of the receiver. If a low level FM signal is
introduced and its level slowly increased it will be found that the noise level reduces.
From this the quieting level can be deduced. It is the reduction in noise level expressed
in decibels when a signal of a given strength is introduced to the input of the set.
Typically a broadcast tuner should give a quieting level of 30 dB for an input level of
around a microvolt.
b) Capture effect
Another effect that is often associated with FM is called the capture effect. This can be
demonstrated when two signals are present on the same frequency. When this occurs it
is found that only the stronger signal will heard at the output This can be compared to
AM where a mixture of the two signals is heard, along with a heterodyne if there is a
frequency difference.

A capture ratio is often defined in receiver specifications. It is the ratio between the
wanted and unwanted signal to give a certain reduction in level of the unwanted signal
at the output. Normally a reduction of the unwanted signal of 30 dB is used. To give an
example of this the capture ratio may be 2 dB for a typical tuner to give a reduction of
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30 dB in the unwanted signal. In other words if the wanted signal is only 2 dB stronger
than the unwanted one, the audio level of the unwanted one will be suppressed by 30
dB.

5.0. CHARACTERISTICS OF RADIO RECEIVERS

a) Sensitivity

Ability to detected weak signals or the minimum RF signal that can be detected at the
input of a receiver and still produce a usable demodulated information signal and it is
also called receiver threshold.

Broadcast receivers/ radio receivers should have reasonably high sensitivity so that it
may have good response to the desired signal but should not have excessively high
sensitivity otherwise it will pick up all undesired noise signals
Sensitivity of a receiver is expressed in microvolts of the received signal. Typical
sensitivity for commercial broadcast-band AM receiver is 50 μV.

Sensitivity of the receiver depends on:

- Noise power present at the input to the receiver

- Receiver noise figure
- Bandwidth improvement factor of the receiver
The best way to improve the sensitivity is to reduce the noise level. Reduce
temperature; reduce bandwidth of the receiver, or improving receiving noise figure

b) Selectivity
Selectivity of radio receiver is its ability to differentiate desired signal from unwanted
signals and hence accepts a given frequency and rejects all others.

Selectivity (Q) is obtained by using tuned circuits, which are tuned to desired
frequency. The quality factor of these LC circuits determines the selectivity. It is given
by,

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Q=XL/R

The bandwidth curve from the tuned circuit is given by

BW=fr/Q

The higher Q the narrower the BW and the better the selectivity

Example;

High Q-tuned circuit are used to keep the BW narrow to ensure that only desired signal
is passed. Assumed that 10µH coil with resistance of 20Ω is connected in parallel with
101.4pF variable capacitor.

(i) The circuit resonates at what frequency

(ii) What is the inductive reactance?
(iii) What is the selectivity of the circuit?
(iv) The bandwidth of the tuned circuit
(v) Find the upper and lower cut-off frequencies
Solutions

c) Fidelity

Fidelity is defined as – a measure of the ability of a communication system to produce

an exact replica of the original source information at the output of the receiver.
Any variations in the demodulated signal that are not in the original information signal
is considered as distortion.

Radio receiver should have high fidelity or accuracy. Example- In an A.M. broadcast
the maximum audio frequency is 5 KHz hence receiver with good fidelity must
produce entire frequency up to 5 KHz.

d) Image Frequency

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In radio reception using heterodyning in the tuning process, an undesired input

frequency that is capable of producing the same intermediate frequency (IF) that the
desired input frequency produces.

Image frequency is any frequency other than the selected radio frequency carrier that
will produce a cross-product frequency that is equal to the intermediate frequency if
allowed to enter a receiver and mix with the local oscillator

It is given by signal frequency plus twice the intermediate frequency

fsi = fs + 2fif

It is equivalent to a second radio frequency that will produce an IF that will interfere
with the IF from the desired radio frequency.

 if the selected RF carrier and its image frequency enter a receiver at a same
time, they both mix with the local oscillator frequency and produce different
frequencies that are equal to the IF. Consequently, two different stations are
received and demodulated simultaneously.

 The higher the IF, the farther away the image frequency is from the desired
radio frequency. Therefore, for better image frequency rejection, a high IF is
preferred.

 However, the higher the IF, it is more difficult to build a stable amplifier with
high gain. i.e. there is a trade-off when selecting the IF for a radio receiver
(image frequency rejection vs IF gain and stability)

 Once an image frequency has down-converted to IF, it cannot be removed. In

order to reject the image frequency, it has to be blocked prior to the mixer stage.
i.e. the bandwidth of the pre-selector must be sufficiently narrow to prevent
image frequency from entering the receiver.

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Example;

Determine the image frequency for a standard broadcast band receiver using
455 kHz IF and tuned to station at 620kHz.

Solution;

First determine the frequency of the LO. The LO frequency minus the desired
station’s frequency of 620 kHz should equal the IF of 455 kHz. Hence;
fLO-620kHz=455kHz
fLO=620kHz+455kHz
fLO=1075kHz
Now determine what othe frequency, when mixed with 1075 kHz, yields an
output component at 455 kHz;

X-1075kHz=455kHz

X=1075+455 kHz = 1530 kHz

Thus, 1530 kHz is the image frequency in this situation.

More examples

(i) The following diagram shows an incomplete simple radio receiver.

(a) Complete the circuit diagram for a simple radio receiver, (component values are
not required).

(b) The simple radio receiver is tuned to receive a radio station broadcasting on a
carrier frequency of 1170 kHz.

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(i) Calculate the value of impedance of the inductor at 1170 kHz.

(ii) State the value of impedance of the capacitor at 1170 kHz.
(iii) Calculate the value of C set on the variable capacitor to receive the radio
station transmitting at 1170 kHz.
(c) The user would like to re-tune the radio to receive a radio station transmitting
on a carrier frequency of 450 kHz. Show by calculation if this is possible.

Solution

(a)

(b) (i) The impedance of the inductor at resonance is given by the formula
X L  2f o L , where the resonant frequency = 1170 kHz.

X L  2 f o L
 2    1170  103  2.2  10 3
 16172.91 
 16173 

(ii) At resonance, the impedance of the capacitor will be the same as the
impedance of the inductor, therefore XC = 16173Ω
(iii) Either using the or re-arranging the
formula for XC resonance formula.

(c) Either : calculate the lowest or

calculate the value of
frequency the circuit C required to receive
can receive. the required station.

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1
fo 
2 LC
1

2 2.2  103  50  10 12
 479870 Hz
 480 kHz
1
C 
4 2 f o 2 L
1

4 2  (450  103 ) 2  2.2  103
 5.685  1011 F
 57 pF

Either method shows that the station transmitting on 450 kHz cannot be
received. The lowest frequency that can be received is 480 kHz, and the second
method shows that C would have to be set at 57 pF to make the resonant
frequency 450 kHz.

(ii) The following diagram shows an incomplete radio receiver.

(a) Complete the circuit diagram for the simple radio receiver. (Component values
are not required)
(b) The radio receiver must receive radio signals broadcast over the frequency
range 350 kHz – 1350 kHz
(i) Calculate the break frequency of the RF Filter.
(ii) Comment on the suitability of the break frequency for this particular
radio receiver.
Solution:

(a)

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(b) i. The break frequency of the RF filter is given by the following formula
1
fb 
2RC

1
fb 
2  150  103  470  1012
 2257.5 Hz
 2.3 kHz

ii. The audio frequency range broadcast on an AM transmission is limited

to approximately 5 kHz. The break frequency is much lower than the
highest audio frequency transmitted, therefore frequencies above 2.3
kHz will be attenuated. The RF filter is therefore un-suitable for this
radio receiver.

1. The functions of a radio receiver is:

a. To select the wanted signal from all the signals

Picked by the aerial, whilst rejecting all others.

b. To extract the intelligence in the undulate signal.

c. To produce an audio – frequency output of

Sufficient power to operate the load speaker or other receiving devices.

3. Basic One – Transistor Radio Receiver: 0 - voc

R1 ----
VVVvvCC

T1
L1 C3
C1 25 C2
 RESTRICTED

D1

L2

4. The AF output power of the simple receiver can be increased if an audio frequency
amplifier is used as shown. The wanted signal is selected by the parallel resonant circuit L2C1
and C2 by passes the a.f components of the detected output. Capacitor C3 prevents the DC
component of the detector output reacting the amplifier and upsetting the bias arrangements.
Further increase in the sound power delivered by the receiver could possibly be provided if a
second and perhaps a third stage of a.f gain were employed, but there are two stages with such
a proposal:

a. The output signal to noise ratio may be rather poor.

b. Distortion of the output waveform could be reduced if a line at diode detector

were used instead of the non-linear detector.

5. A better method, therefore, of increasing the a.f power output is to employ one move
stages of a.f gain.

NEED FOR SCREENING AND DECOUPLING BETWEEN STAGES WORKING AT

THE SAME FREQ

9. Unwanted feedback of radio frequency energy

From one stage to another can take place because of magnetic coupling. Magnetic inter
stage coupling can be avoided by mounting each stage within a metal case or screen. The
magnetic field set up by a stage will induce an e.m.f into the screen and cause eddy current
to flow. These oddly currents set up another magnetic flux that is in the opposite direction
to the original flux and hence opposite. As a result little is any magnetic field exists
outside of the screened enclosure. If the screen is connected to earth it will also screen
electric field. It is also possible for individual stages to be coupled together by the
impendence of the power supply. In order to reduce power supply coupling to a negligible
level, circuit is used. A simple decoupling circuit consists of a resistor connected in series
with the power supply and capacitor connected from the amplifier end of the resistor to

26
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earth, The capacitor present a low impedance path to earth or a higher impedance route
through the resistor and the power supply earth when signal frequency do not enter the
power supply. The disadvantage of the de coupling set is that d c voltage is dropped across
the series resistor, which reduces the collector supply voltage of the stage .

+ vcc
R

R1
C2

Power supply decoupling

C1 L1 L2

AM RECEIVERS

RF SECTION AND CHARACTERSTICS

RF SECTION

11. A radio receiver and always has our RF section, which is tunable circuit connected to
the antenna terminals. Its function is to select the wanted frequency and reject some of the
unwanted frequencies. However, such a receiver need not have an RF amplifier following this
tuned Cct. If there is an amplifier, its output is fed to the mixer, at whose input another
tunable circuit is present. In many instances, however, the tuned circuit connected to the
antenna is the actual input of the mixer, the receiver is hen said to have no RF amplifier or
simply, No RF stage.

REASONS FOR USE AND FUNCTIONS OF RF AMPLIFIER.

13. The receiver having an RF stage is understanding

superior in performance to the receiver without one. There are some instances in which an
RF amplifier is un economical. The best example of the kind of he receiver is a domestic
one used in high signal strength area, such as the metropolitan area of any large city.

14 The advantages of having an RF amplifier are as follows (4 –7 are either more

specialized or less important):

a. Greater gain signal i.e. better selectivity.

b. improved signal to noise ration.

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c. Improved image frequency reflection.

d. Improved reflection of adjacent unwanted signals

i.e. better selectivity.

e. Better coupling of the receiver to the antenna (at VHF and above.

g. Prevention of spurious frequency from entering the mixer and heterodyning

there to produce an interfering frequency equal to the IF from the desired signal.

h. Prevention of re-radiation of the local oscillator through the antenna of the

receiver (relatively rare).

15. The single tuned, transformer – coupled type is the most commonly amplified used for
RF amplification. The RF amplifier in practice has the input and output tuning capacitors
ganged to each other and the one tuning the local oscillator. A medium frequency transistor
RF amplifier is as shown below.

CB

RD RK

RD RD

+ VCC
CB
RF gains

The RF gain control is very rare with domestic receivers but quite common in communication
receivers.

CB - Bypass capacitor

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AM RECEIVERS
FREQUENCY CHANGING AND TRACKING
FREQUENY CONVERSION CIRCUITS

18. A typical receiver front end circuit is as shown below. Q1 is the RF amplifier, Q2 is
the mixer and Q3 is the local oscillator . The RF amplifier is tuned to the desired input
frequency by C1. As shown in the schematic, C1 is also mechanically coupled to C2,
therefore, C2 resonates will L1 to form the tank for the oscillator while L2 provides the
regenerative feedback. L3 couples the local oscillator signal to the emitter of Q2 , while the
input RF signal is coupled to the base. Their two signals are then mixed across the nonlinear
resistance of Q2. The output of the mixer is applied to the primary of T5, which is tuned to
the intermediate frequency. Thus, the difference signal, which is the intermediate frequency, is
separated and applied to the IF stages where. It is further amplified

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T1
T3

Antenna Q1

cct
C1

C4 cct
RF2
Bias
cct T2
L/3 L1 L1 L2 +v
+V

CCT
L3

7v

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SUPER HETRODYNE TRACKING

19. The super heterodyne……receiver (any receiver) has a number of tunable circuits
which must all be turned correctly if any given station is to be received The various
turned circuits are mechanically coupled so that only one tuning coil and dial are
required. RF And mixer input tuned circuits must be turned to it. The local oscillator
must be simultaneously be turned to frequency precisely higher than this by the
intermediate frequency , any errors that exist in this frequency must be avoided . The
errors that exist are called tracking errors and they result in stations appearing away from
the current position from the dial, keeping a consistent frequency difference between the
local oscillator and the front-end circuits is not possible, and this tracking errors must
always occur, What can be accomplished is normally is only a different frequency that is
equal to IF at two preselected points on the dial, along with some errors at other points .
How ever, if an coil is placed in series with the local oscillator gauged capacitor or a
capacitor in series with the oscillator coil, called a padder. A slant capacitor is also
connected in parallel with the coil and is called a trimmer. The padder and the trimmer
capacitors are required to minimize, the tracking error as the receiver is turned over the
whole of tuning range. The diagram below illustrates the connections.

Oscillation Circuit

RF Circuit

Trimmer

Trimmer

Ganging

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THE LOCAL OSCILLATOR FREQUENCY

20. In reconverts operation up to the limit of local

oscillator broadcasting, is 36 MHZ , the most common types culprits, clap oscillators
are used at the top of the range and above, with the faulty also having some use if
frequencies do not execute 120 MHZ. The frequency range of a broadcast receiver
local oscillator is calculated on the bases of a signal frequency range from 535 – 1605
KHZ, and an intermediate frequency of 455 KHZ. For usual case, the local oscillator
frequency above signal freq for has to range from 99 t0 2060 KHZ, giving a ratio of
maximum to minimum of 22:1. If the local oscillator had been designed to below
signal freq range would be go to 1150 KHZ, and the ratio would be 14:1. The
normal tunable capacitor has a capacitance ratio of a capacitance ratio of appropriate,
10;1 GIVING frequency ratio of 3.2:1 . Hence the 2.2:1 ratio or required of the local
oscillator operating above signal frequency is well within range, whereas the other
system has a frequency range that cannot be covered in one sweep. This the main
reason why the local oscillator frequency is always higher than the signal frequency
in receiver variable frequency oscillators.

INTERMEDIETE FREQUENCIES AND

AMPLIFIERS

CHOICE OF FREQUENCY

21. The intermediate frequency ( IF) of receiving system is usually a compromise

since there are reasons it should be either low or high or in a certain range between the
two, the following are the major factors influencing the choice of the SF in any particular
system.

a. If the IF is too high, poor selectivity and poor adjacent-channel rejection

result unless sharp cut of filters are used in IF ranges.

b. A high value of intermediate frequency increases tracking difficulties

c. As the intermediate frequency is lowered. Image frequency becomes

poorer.

d. A very low intermediate frequency can make the selectivity too sharp,
cutting off the side bands.

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e. If the IF is very low, the stability of the oscillator must be made

correspondility higher because any frequency higher draft is now a larger
proportion of the low IF than of a high IF.

f. The intermediate frequency must not fall within the tuning range of the
receiver or else instability will occur and heterodyne wishes will be heard,
making it impossible to tune to the frequency band immediately adjacent to the
intermediate frequency

INTERMEDIATE USED

22. The following are the standardized frequencies worldwide:

a. Standard broadcast AM receiver (Tuning to 540 to 1650 KHZ perhaps 6 to

18 MHZ and possibly even the European long wave band (150 to 350 KHZ) use
and IF within the 438 to 465 KHZ range, with 455 K
HZ by far the most popular frequency.

b. AM, SSB and other receivers employed for short tune or VHF reception
have a first IF often in the range from about 1.6 to 2.3 MHZ, or else above 30
MHZ

c. Fm receivers using the standard 88 to 108 meters

band have an IF which is almost always 10.7

d. Television receivers in the VHC band (54 to 223 MHZ) and UHF band
(470 to 950 MHZ) use an IF between 26 and 46 MHZ, wit approximately 36 and
46 MHZ the most popular values.

e. Microwave and radar receiver operating on frequencies in the 1 to 10 GHZ

range, use intermediate frequencies depending on the application, with 30, 60 and
70 MHZ among the most popular.

INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY AMPLIFIERS

23. The IF amplifier is a fixed frequency amplifier with the very important function
of rejecting adjacent unwanted frequencies. It should have a frequency response with
steep skirts. When the desire for a flat – topped response added, the resulting recipe for
a double-tuned transformers to T1 and T2. the resonant circuits in both primary and
secondary improve the selectivity and circuit gain. Apart from this, the circuit is a
straightforward RF amplifier with C1 providing neutralization for added stability.

34
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+v
T1

R1
C1 C5
c4
Output
T1 C5

c3

Input
C2

R3
C6

R2

DETECTION AND AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL (AGC) OPERATION OF

DIODE DETECTOR

24. The diode is by far the most common device used for AM demodulation
(detector) …….. the figure below illustrate the simple diode detector cct C is a small
capacitance and R is a large resistance, the parallel combination of R and C is the load
resistance across which the rectified output voltage(VO) accurately up to a potential
almost equal to the peak of the RF cycle, C charges between peaks a little of the charge in
C decays through R , to be replenished at the next positive peak. The result is the voltage
VO, which reproduces the modulating voltage accurately, except for a small RF ripple .
Note that the time constant of RC combination must be slow enough to keep the RF
ripple as small as possible, but sufficient fast for the detector circuit to follow the fastest
modulation variations. This simple diode has the disadvantages that VO, in addition to
being proportional to the modulating voltage, also has adc component, which represents
the average envelope amplitude, and small RF ripple. However, the unwanted
components are removed in a practical detector leaving only the intelligence and some
second harmonic of the modulating signal.

35
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VO

IF D
In

C R VO VS

PRACTICAL DIODE DETECTOR

25. An number of additions have been made to the simple detector, and its
practical version is as shown below. The CCT Operates In The Following Manner.
The diode has been reverse, …… so that now the negative envelop is demodulated .
This has no effect on detection, but it does ensure that a negative AGC voltage will be
viable, as will be shown. The resistor of the basic cct has been split into two pats (R 1 +
R2) to ensure that there is a series DC part to ground for the diode, but at the same time
a low pass filter has been added, in form of R 1 C1. This has the function of removing
any R.F ripple that might still be present. Capacitor C2 coupling capacitor from a
reaching the volume control R4. The combination R3-C3 is a low – pass filter designed
to remove AF components, thus providing a dc voltage where amplitude is proportional
to the carrier strength, and which may be used for automatic gain control.

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26.

C3
Page out

R1 R3

AF OUT
C2
R4
C1
IF
C2

PRINCIPLES OF SIMPLE AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL

27. Simple AGS is a system by means of which the overall gain of a radio
receiver automatically with the changing strength of the received signal,
to keep the output substantially constant. A de bias voltage, revived
from the detector as shown above is applied to a selected number of the
RF, if and mixer stages. The devices used in these stages are ones
whose trans conductance and hence gain depends on the applied bias
voltage or current. At modern receivers are furnished with AGC, which
enables tuning to station of varying signal strength without appreciable
change in the size of the output signal, thus AGC ‘’Irons out’’ input
signal amplitude variations and the gain control does not have to be i.e.
adjusted every time the receiver is tuned from one station to another
except when the change is signal strength is enormous. In addition AGS
helps to smooth out the rapid fading which may occur with long distance
short wave reception and prevents overloading of the last IF amplifier
which might otherwise have occurred.

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THE FREUENCY CHANGERS

31. The oscillator circuits takes any of the usual forms of culprits and clap
predominant being suited to VHF operation, tracking is not normally much of a problem I
n fm broadcasting receiver. This is because the tuning frequency is only 1:25:1 much
less than in AM broadcasting. A very satisfactory arrangement for the four end of an FM
receiver consists of FETS for the RF amplifier and mixer, self exited oscillators are used.

INTERMIDIATE FREQUENCY AND IF AMPLIFICATION

32. The types and operation do not differ much from AM receivers. However, the
intermediate frequency and the bandwidth required are for higher than in the AM
Broadcast Receiver. Typical figures for receivers operating in the 88 to 108 MHZ band
are an if of 10.7 MHZ and a bandwidth of 2000 KHZ.

AMPLITUDE MODULATION

33. In order to make full use of the advantages offered by FM, a demodulator (but not
a ratio detector) must be followed proceeded by an amplitude limiter on the ground that
any amplitude changes must therefore be removed to avoid distortion. This is because
fm modulators react to amplitude changes as well as frequency changes. The limiter is a
form of chipping device, a circuit whose output tends to remain constant despite changes
in the input signal. The common type of limiter uses two separate electrical effects to
provide a relatively constant output which are leak type bias and early (collector)
saturation.

OPERATION OF THE AMPLITUDE LIMITER

34. The figure below illustrates a typical FET amplitude limiter. The DC condition
shows that the drain supply voltage has been dropped through resistor RD. Also, the
bias on the gate is leak – type bias supplied by parallel Rg – Cg combination. Finally,
the FET is neutralized by means of capacitor CN. IN Consideration of the high frequency
of operation. Leak – type bias provide limiting as follows; when input signal voltage
rises, current flows in the Rg, Cg bias circuit and a negative voltage is developed across
the capacitor. The bias on the FET is increased in proportion to the size of the input
voltage. As a result the gain of the amplifier is lowered and he output voltage tends to
remain constant. Although some limiting is achieved by this process it is insufficient by
itself and the action could occur only with rather large input voltages. To over come this,

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early saturation of the output current is used, achieved by means of a low. Drain supply
voltage. This is the reason of the drain dropping resistor of the fig below. The supply
voltage for voltage. The result of early saturation is to ensure it is possible for the gate
drain section to become forward based under saturation conditions, causing a short
circuit. A few hundred ohms are placed between the drain and its tank. This R as shown

R Out

IN

Cg RD
RK

VOD
CB

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BASIC FM DEMODUALATIONS

35. The function of a frequency to amplitude charger, or fm demodulator, is to change

the frequency deviation of the incoming carrier into an AF amplitude variation (identical
to the one that originally caused the frequency variation). This conversion should be
done efficiently and linearly. In addition and should not be too critical in its adjustment
to amplitude changes and should not be too critical in its adjustment and operation. This
type of circuit converts the frequency modulated if voltage of constant amplitude into a
voltage that is both frequency and amplitude modulated. This latter voltage is then
applied to detector which reacts to the amplitude change but ignores the frequency
variations.

BASIC SLOPE DETECTOR

THE SLOPE DETECTOR OR DOUBLE TUNNED

36. The circuit diagram of a balanced slope detector is shown below. The circuit uses
two slope detectors which are connected back to back to the opposite ends of a center
tapped transformer, and hence fed 1800 out off phase. The top secondary circuit is tuned
above the IF b y an amount which, in fm receiver is with a deviation of 75 KHZ, is 100
KHZ. The bottom circuit is similarly tuned below the IF by the same amount. Each
tuned cct is connected to a diode detector with an RC load. The amount is taken from
across the series combination of the two loads, so that it is the sum of the individual
outputs.

Let fc be the IF to which the primary circuit is tuned, and let fe + sf and fc – sf be the
resonant frequencies of the upper secondary and lower secondary circuits T’ and T’’
respectively, When the input frequency is instantaneously equal to fe, the voltage across
T, that is the input to diode D1, will have a value some what below the resonant
frequency of T’. A similar condition exists across T’’ and the voltage applied to D2 will
be the same as that at D1 is positive and that of D2 is negative. Now consider the
instantaneous frequency to be equal to fc+sf. Since T’ is tuned to this frequency, the
output of d1 will be quite large on the other hand, the output of d2 will be very small
since the frequency fc+sf is quite large on the other hand, the output of D2 will be very
small since the frequency fc + sf is quite a long away from fc –sf similarly when the input
frequency is instantenously equal to fc –sf the output of D2 will be large negative
voltage, and that of D1 a small positive voltage. Thus in the first case the overall output
will be positive and maximum, and in the second it will be negative and maximum.
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When the instantaneous frequency is between these two extremes, the output will have
some intermediate value. It will be then be positive or negative, depending on which side
of the input frequency happens to be. Finally if the input frequency goes outside the
range described, the output will fall because of the behaviour of the tuned circuit
response. The required 5-shaped frequency modulation characteristics also show below
is thus obtained. Although thus detector is considerably more efficient, it is even trickier
to align, because there are now three different .

THE SLOPE DEFECTOR

37. The simplest FM detector is called a slope detector and is shown. The two
parallel resonant tank circuits L1 C1 and l2 l3 have an overall response curve as in Fig 3.
Note that the response curve does not peak at the center frequency of the IF signal.
Instead the center frequency falls half way up the side of the curve.

Amplitude

L2
L1 IF Center
Freq

FM
C2
Input

R1

41
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When the IF signal is at its center freq, an average amplitude signal reaches D1 . When
the IP swings above the center frequency, it approaches the peak of the response curve.
Consequently, a higher amplitudes signal is applied to the diode. When the IF swings
below the center frequency, a low amplitude signal is applied to the diode. In effect, the
tuned circuit changes the frequency modulated IF signal to a signal which varies in
amplitude. That is, is changes the FM signal to an AM signal. The diode then detects the
AM signal just like the AM detector.

The disadvantage of this technique is that the response curve of the IF amplifier which
proceeds this stage must also consider having the IF amplifiers response curve offset is
undesirable because receiver gain is obviously reduced. Also acceptance linearly is very
difficult to achieve during the FM to AM conservation. Consequently, this technique is
seldom used in practical applications. Frequencies to which the various tuned circuits of
the transformer must be adjusted. Amplitude limiting is still not provided, and the
linearity, although better than that of the single slope detector, is still not good enough.

Fc+sf
Useful
T’’ R1 C1 fcsf fc
Range
IN VO

T’’ fc + sf

fc -sf R2 C2

D2 Characteristic

PHASE DISCRINATIONS (FOSTER-SELLEY)

42
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38. A more popular FM detector is as shown below. It is called the foster – sealey
discriminator.
C2 D1

R1 Audio
C5
Output
IF R2
INPUT
C4

The input of the circuit is IF signal which is varying + - 75 KHZ at the audio rates the out
put is selected audio signal. The two diodes and their associated RC networks,
operate similar to their a counter parts in the double tuned detected. That is, when both
diodes conduct, equal but opposite polarity voltages are developed across R1 and R2 to
two cancel, and output is 0 volts. However, IF D1 conducts harder.
. The audio signal can be recovered from the IF signal.

a. Both diodes conduct equally at the center

frequency .

b. D1 conducts harder above the center frequency.

c. D2 conducts harder below to center frequency

By transformer action L2 couples the IF signal to L2 and L3 as connected L2 and L3 acts

as center topped secondary. This the voltage developed across L2 (El2) is 180 0 out of
phase with the voltage developed across L3 (EL2) . EL2 controls the conduction of D1
while B2 EL2 controls the conduction of D2.

The IF signal is also capacitive coupled through C2 to L4 and a voltage EL4 controls id
developed across L4. EL4 controls the conduction of the both diodes.

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The circuit is arranged so that EL4 is 900 out of phase with both EL3 when the IF signal
is at its center. Frequency and leads EL3 by 900 but lags behind EL2 by 900 . Note at the
center frequency both diodes conducts equally and the output voltage is zero since each
diode voltage is zero since each diode voltage is a vector sum of EL4 and the voltage
that determines its conduction. The parallel resonant circuit is resonant at the center for
egg, where XL exactly cancels XC and resonant at the center and the resonant circuits
acts resistive. However, above resonance, XL, is larger than XC. Thus there is a net
reactance that shifts the phase of EL2 and EL3. EL2 is shifted more in phase with EL4,
while EL3 IS shifted more out of phase with EL4 since EL2 but tends to subtract from
EL3. Thus D1 conducts harder than D2. The net result is that the output swings above
the center frequency. Below resonance XC is larger than XL, the net reactance shifts the
phase of EL2 and EL3 in the opposite direction. This tune, EL3 is shifted more in phase
with EL4. Hence thus, the input swings negative each time the IF signal swings below
the center.

THE RATIO DETECTOR

39. The ratio detector is a further improvement over foster- sealey discriminator and
is shown below. The circuit is one of the most popular type of fm detectors because it
has a significant advantage. It provides its own limiting action and requires no preceding
limiter stage. C2

AGC
C3 c4
R2 C6
IC + +
IF 222R1
I/P C5
2

Audio
Output
D2

The difference with the foster-sealey discriminator is that the ratio detector Diode D1 is
reversed and that the output configuration is deferent. With D1 reversed, the two diodes
are in series across the entire secondary . Conduction of the two diodes ids controlled by
the same factors as in foster – sealey discriminator. At the center frequency, the two

44
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diodes conduct equally. In this circuit, the voltages build up across C4 and C5 in series.
The key to the unique operation of the ratio detector is C6. C6 is a large value capacitor.
After several cycles of the input signal, this capacitor charges to a voltage which is
proportional to the average received signal strength . C6 is large enough to hold the
voltage constant across the series combination of C4 and C5. U does this even ,if there
are momentary amplitude variations noises). This is the reason that the ratio detector is
relatively insensitive to noise. C6 also provides a convenient AGL voltage since the
voltage across it is directly proportional to the input signal amplitude. The voltage across
L5 plus the voltage across C4 must always equal the voltage across C6 . At the center
frequency the two diodes conducts equally and the voltage across L5 is tapped from R1.
This is the audio output. This output will be at some negative DC level. As in the
discriminator, D1 and D2 alternatively conduct harder as the IP signal swings above and
below. The center frequency when the diodes conducts equally, the difference current
flows through L4, when D1 conducts harder, the voltage across C4 exceeds that across
C5. However voltage a across C5 must decrease. When D2 conducts harder, a higher
voltage developed across C5, therefore the output voltage increases.

As it can be seen the output voltage swings in step with the frequency increases the
output voltage increases, when the frequency decreases, the output voltage decreases.
The primary advantage of the ratio detector is its self limiting action and it also provides
AGC voltage.

AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL (AFC)

When an FM receiver is operated at VHF, at its in FM broadcasting the local oscillator

must be extremely stable. Any frequency drift will cause the IF to drift and the result is a
serious distortion of the demodulated wave. In FM broadcasting, an automatic frequency
control cct is usually used to ‘’lock’’ the local oscillator onto the incoming signal. The
fig below shows the block diagram of an FM receiver that uses AFC.

RF MIXER IF Limiter FM
Detect
Audio
AMP AMP Detector
or
LI Amp

Local Oscillator
AFC

Tuning
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The basic principles of AFC are to use a varactor as part of the local oscillator tank. The
varactor’s capacitance is controlled by an’’ error ’’ voltage that is produced when the
oscillator goes off frequency. This error voltage is obtained from the output of the
discriminator or ratio detector if the frequency drifts to one side or the other, an error
voltage is produced. The polarity of this voltage indicates the direction of drift and the
amplitude of the frequency drift. Note that the output of the discriminator also contains
the demodulated audio wave. Therefore, before this voltage can be used to control the
oscillator, the audio components must be removed, otherwise, the AFC action would
cancel the frequency modulation. The audio can be removed by using a low pass filter
which removes the audio while allowing DC and the very low frequency error signal to
pass on the varactor. The figure below shows a simplified AFC circuit Q1 and its
associated circuitry form the local oscillator C2 is the main receiver's tuning control,
while D2 is a varactor which is in parallel with the oscillator tank . In this cct the output
of the fm detector is coupled to both t he audio amplifiers and the AFC circuit. R1 and
C1 form pass filter removes the action component. Then this OC error voltage either
adds to or subtracts from the varactor bias provided by R2, R, R4 is used to isolate the
AGC filter from the oscillator. As the varactor’s capacitance changes, so do the local
oscillator frequency.

MIXER IF AMP
FM DETECTOR

0.4V
R2

R1

Q1 46 R3
LOCAL
OSCILLATOR
 RESTRICTED

D1
CI

PRE- EMPHASIS AND DE-EMPHASIS

40. This is a method of reducing noise in FM broadcasting. A pre-emphasis is need at

the transmitter and de-emphasis at the receiver. Pre-emphasis means that the higher
audio frequency is increased in amplitude. De- emphasis means that the reason for this is
to overcome the noise level and there by increase the system’s signal to noise ratio.

Noise is always present in any system, low ever as the audio frequency increases, so does
the noise level. There fore, if the audio signal is increased proportionately to the noise
level, the signal to noise ratio will improve greatly at the higher frequencies. This
diagram below illustrates both.

Pre-emphasis
AF(from Pre-emphasis
discriminator
)

L/R=75,µs

c + 4dB

47
De-emphasis 2120
Pre-emphasis
15Khz
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Pre-emphasized 3dB

AF out

30Hz

The pre-emphasis network consists of an RR in series whose time constant must be 75,µs
and the de-emphasis network consists of an R-C in parallel whose time constant also
equal to 75,µs.

NOISE IN RECEIVERS

41. Noise may be defied as any unwanted form of energy tending to interfere with the
proper and easy reception and reproduction of wanted signals . Many disturbances of an
electrical nature produce noise in receivers, modifying the signal in the un-wanted
manner. In radio receivers for example noise may produce in the loud speaker output,
where less in TV receivers ‘’snow’’ becomes superimposed on the picture. There are two
groups of noise:

a. External noise.

b. Internal noise.

(1) External Noise. These are various forms of noise created outside
the receiver and includes:

(a). Atmospheric noise

(b) Extra terrestrial noise.

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(2). Atmospheric Noise. This noise also called static noise which is
caused by lightning discharges in thunderstorms and other natural
electrical disturbances occurring in the atmosphere. Owing to its origin it
is the form of impulses, and because such processes are random in the
nature, it is spread overall the radio spectrum normally used for
broadcasting atmospheric noise thus consists of spurious radio signals
with components distributed over a wide range of frequencies. It is
propagated over the same frequencies, so that at any point on the ground,
static will be received, from all thunderstorms, local and distance.

(3) Extraterrestrial Noise.

These are of two types.

(a). Solar Noise. The sum throws so many things our way
that we should not be too surprised to find that noise is noticeable
among them, these are two types. Under normal quiet conditions,
there is constant radiation from the sum simply because it is a large
body at a very high temperature over 6000 0c on the surface). It
therefore radiates over a very broad frequency spectrum which
however, the sum is a variable star and undergoes cycles at the
peak of which electrical disturbances erupt such as corona flares
and sunspots. The solar cycle repeats those periods of great
electrical disturbance approximately every 11 years. Evidence
shows that the year 1957 was not only a peak but also the highest
peak on record.

(4) Cosmic Noise. Some distant stars are also sums and have
high temperature, they radiate noise in the same manner as our sun, the
noise received is called thermal black body) noise and distributed fairly
uniformly over the entire sky.

(5) Internal Noise. This is noise created by any of the active or

passive devices found in receivers. This noise is random, and is
impossible to treat on an individual voltage basis. The following are types
of internal noise.

i. Thermal agitation noise.

ii. Short noise.

iii. Transit time noise.

iv. Miscellaneous noise. Flicker, resistance, noise mixers.

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(5) Thermal Agitation Noise.(Voltage Noise). The noise generated

in a resistance or the resistance or the resister components of any
impedance is random and is referred to viciously as thermal agitation,
white or Johnson noise. It is due to the rapid and random motion of the
molecules atoms and electrons of which any such resistor is made up.

(6) Short (Current) Noise. This is caused by random variations

in the arrival of electrons (or holes) at the output electrode off an
amplifying device and thus appears as a randomly varying noise current
superimposed on the output. When amplified it is supposed to sound as
though a shower of lead shot were falling on a metal sheet hence the name
shot noise.

(7) Transit – Time Noise. If the time taken by an election to

travel from the emitter to the collector of a transistor becomes comparable
to the period of the signal being amplified, i.e. the frequencies in the
upper VHF range and beyond, the so called transit – time effect takes
place, and the noise admittance of the transistor increases.

(8) Miscellaneous Noise. Flicker at the low frequencies a poorly

understood form of noise called flicker or modulation noise is found in
transistors. It is proportional to emitter current and junction temperature,
but since it is inversely proportional to freq. It may be completely ignored
above 500 HZ.

(9) Resistance. Thermal noise, sometimes called resistance noise, is

also present in transistors. It is due to the base, emitter, and collector
resistances, and most circumstances the base resistance makes largest
contribution.

(10) Noise in Mixers. Mixers are much noise than amplifiers

using indented devices except in µ waves frequencies, where the situation
is rather complex. This high value noise in mixers is caused by separate
effects;

(a) Conversion trans conductance is much lower than the trans

conductance of amplifiers.

(b) Image Frequency rejection is

inadequate, as often happens at short wave frequencies thus noise
is accepted.

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COMMUNICATION RECEIVERS

49. A communications receiver is one whose main function is the reception of signals
used for communication rather than for entertainment. It is a radio receiver designed to
perform the type of set found in the average house HOLD. It is often operated by
electronically qualified people, so that any added detrimental as they would be in a
receiver to be used by the general public

DOUBLE FREQUENCY CONVERSION

50. The double frequency conversion uses two mixers, two local oscillators, and two
intermediate frequencies. The basic block diagram of communication receiver using the
double conversion is shown below. The first IF is high, several megahertz or even
higher, and come times not even a fixed frequency. The high IF is then amplified by the
high frequency IF amplifier, and the output is fed to a second mixer and mixed with that
of a second local oscillator. Since the second local oscillator frequency is normally fixed
IF is amplified by an LF IF amplifier and then detected in the usual manner.

The high first IF pushes the image frequency farther away from the signal frequency and
therefore permits much better attenuation of it. The low second IF on the other hand, has
all the virtues of a low fixed operating frequency particularly sharp selectivity and hence
good adjacent channel rejection.

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FIRST MIXER
AE RF AMP 2 to 16 2nd Mixer 2 ND DETECTOR
2 STAGE DETECTOR
COUPLING 2-16 MHZ MHZ 1.7 MHZ STAGE IF
IF AMP
OUT 200 KHZ
1.7
Off

CRSTAL OSC BEAT

LOCAL OSC FREQUENCY
3.7 TO 17.7 MHZ 1.5 MHZ
OSC

POWER
AUDIO AMPLIFIER SQUELCH
AMPLIFIER
CIRCUIT

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BEAT FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR (BSO)

A communication receiver should be capable of receiving transmission of Morse code,

i.e. pulse modulated RT carrier. In the diode detector of a normal receiver, there is no
provision for registering the deference between the presence and the obscene of a carrier.
Accordingly, such pulse dots, dashes, and spaces would produce no output whatever from
the detector. In order to make code audible, the receiver has a built in BFOD normally at
the detector as shown in the block diagram. The BFO is not really a beat frequency
oscillator but a merely simple LC oscillator. The hautley RFO is one of favourites,
operating at a frequency of KHZ or 4000 MHZ above or below the last intermediate
frequency. When the IF is present, whistle is heard in the loudspeaker, so that it is the
combination of the receiver, detector input signal and this extra oscillator which has now
become a beat frequency oscillator.. Since signal is present only during a dot or a dash in
Morse codes, only these are heard, thus the code can be received satisfactorily as can
radio telegraphy. To prevent interference, the BFO is switched off when non-telegraph
reception is resumed.

THE SQUELCH (MUTING)

When no carrier is present at the input, i.e. in the obscene of transmission on a given
channel or between stations a sensitive receiver will produce a disagreeable amount of
loud noise. This is because AGC disappears in the absence of any carrier, the receiver
acquires its maximum sensitivity and amplifies the noise present at its input. The squelch
enables the receiver output to remain cut unless the receiver is present and thus increase
the efficiency of the operator squelch is also called muting or quieting.

THE SQUELCH CIRCUIT

The squelch circuit is as shown below, it consists of ADC amplifier to which AGC is
applied and which operates upon the first audio amplifier of the receiver when the AGC
voltage is low or zero, the DC amplifier, Ф2 draws current so that the voltage drops
across its load resistor R1 cuts off the audio amplifier, Ф1, thus no signal or noise passed
when the AGC voltage becomes sufficiently negative to cut off Ф2 this DC amplifier no
longer draws collector current so that the only bias now on Ф1 is its self bias, furnished
by the by passed emitter resistor R 2 and also by the base potentiometer resistor. The
audio amplifier now functions as though the squelch circuit wave not there.

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Resistor R3 is a dropping resistor, whose functions it is to ensure that the Ф/c voltage
supplied to the collector and base potentiometer of Ф1 is higher than DC voltage supplied
(indirectly) to its emitter. Manual adjustment of R 3 will allow the cut in bias of Ф2 to be
varied so that quieting may be applied for a selected range of AGC values. This facility
must be provided, otherwise weak stations, not generating sufficient AGC, might be cut
off. The squelch circuit is normally inserted immediately after the detector.

TYPICAL SQUELCH CICUIT

FIRST AF AMPLIFIER
CC
CC Q1
AF Out
RD R2

BD RL
CB CB

CB +VCC
CB
R1 R4

Q2 R3
Level
DC Am Adjustment
BD

AGC IN

FREQUENCY SYNTHESIZER
Synthesis is the making up of a whole by combining the element, and this is just how a
frequency synthesizer produces its output frequency. It is a piece of equipment cct of
generating of generating a very large number of extremely state frequencies systems

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with same design range, while generating employing only one crystal. There are two
methods of frequency systems that can be used namely:

a. Direct synthesis

b. Indirect Synthesis:

(1) Direct synthesis.

(2) Indirect Synthesis

c. Indirect synthesis. This type of synthesis use a

variable voltage. controlled oscillator (VCO) whose output is corrected by
comparison with that of a reference. The phase comparator obtains an output
from the VCO, compares it with the output of the stable reference source and
procedures a dc controlling output voltage whenever the VCO output is incorrect.
The DC correcting voltage forms the basis of the automatic phase correction
(APC) loop, whose output is applied to a voltage – variable capacitance, which in
turns pulls the VCO into line.

Phase
CRSTAL Voltage
Companies
Oscillator Controlled
(Synthesizer) VCO

Phase locked
(APC)
Loop

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RADIO TRANSMITTERS
1.0. INTRODUCTION

The fundamental equipment used in communication and telecommunication system is the

transmitter and receiver. Transmitters and receivers must each perform two basic
functions.

Block diagram of communication system

The transmitter must generate a Radio Frequency (RF) signal of sufficient power at the
desired frequency and must also have some means of varying (or modulating) the basic
frequency so that it can carry an intelligible signal.

The receiver must select the desired frequency you want to receive and reject all
unwanted frequencies. In addition, receivers must be able to amplify the weak incoming
signal to overcome the losses the signal suffers in its journey through space.

1.1. Transmitter Fundamentals

A transmitter is an electronic unit which accepts the information signal to be
communicated or transmitted in electrical form and converts it into an electronic
signal (RF signal) compatible with the communication medium and also capable
of being transmitted over long distances.

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The basic blocks of transmitter are explained as follows

a) Information source e.g. a Microphone which converts sounds into electrical
signals in wires.
b) Modulator (Mixers): The audio signal is modulated into the radio frequency
carrier in this modulator stage. Two frequencies can be combined in a mixer
circuit and the result is the creation of sum and difference frequencies;

Mixer may be used as an AM modulator. AM has carrier and two sidebands

and most power is in the carrier signal

c) RF oscillator / Frequency generator: The frequency generation stage will

decide the frequency on which the transmitter will operate.
 LC Oscillator
- Circuit of a Colpitts LC oscillator
- L1 and C1 determine frequency

LC oscillator (VFO)
- Varying L or C changes frequency

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- Needs to be calibrated, either by adjusting the dial or by adjusting

L & C with trimmers.
-
 Crystal Oscillator
- XL1 determines frequency

Circuit of a crystal oscillator

- Crystal determines frequency of oscillation; it is made out of

piezoelectric quartz rock which is very stable compared to LC
oscillator. It has little drift with temperature, supply etc. it provides
fixed frequency and hence cannot be tuned
- Synthesisers are stable frequency sources as they use crystal
oscillator as a reference.

d) RF power amplifier: The power amplification of the radio signal is carried

out in the final stage. It makes the signal stronger so that it can be transmitted
through the channel over long distances.

1.2. Basic Functions of Transmitter

The transmitter has three basic functions as follows:
e) Carrier generation - The transmitter must generate a signal of
correct frequency at a desired point in the spectrum
f) Modulation - Secondly it must provide some form of modulation to
modulate the carrier.
g) Amplification (Power) - Third it must provide sufficient power
amplification in order to carry the modulated signal to a long
distance.

1.3. Transmitter Requirements

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A transmitter must generate a signal with the following criteria:

h) The correct modulation type
i) Must have sufficient power
j) Must generate at the correct carrier frequency
k) Should be reasonably efficient

1.4. The transmitter characteristics

(a) Frequency Accuracy and Stability
 The accuracy and stability of the transmitter is fixed by the
carrier oscillator
 Exact requirements are determined by the application of the
transmitter and by regulatory agencies
(b) Frequency Agility
 Frequency agility is the ability to change operating
frequency rapidly, without extensive retuning
 Broadcast transmitters are rarely retuned
 Some services require rapid and accurate retuning to other
channels
(c) Spectral Purity
 Spectral purity is a measure of the spurious signals
generated by a transmitter
 All transmitters generate frequencies other than the carrier
and the sidebands required for the modulation scheme in use
 All frequencies except the assigned transmitting frequency
must be filtered out to avoid interference with other
transmissions
(d) Power Output
 There are a number of ways to measure transmitter power,
depending upon the modulation scheme employed
 Transmitters for full-carrier AM are rated in terms of carrier
power
 Suppressed-carrier AM transmitters are rated by peak-
envelope power (PEP)
 FM transmitters are rated by total power output
(e) Efficiency
 There are two important reasons for efficient transmitter
operation:
 Most obvious is energy conservation
 Power that enters the transmitter but does not exit via the
transmitter output is converted into heat

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 Large amounts of heat require significant amounts of

additional hardware to remove the heat, adding to the cost of
the equipment
(f) Modulation Fidelity
 An ideal communication system allows the original
information signal to be recovered exactly, except for a time
delay
 Compression is often used to raise the overall modulation
level of the signal
 Compression distorts the overall dynamic range of the
original signal, but results in an improved signal-to-noise
ratio
 Other types of distortion such as intermodulation and
harmonic distortion must also be kept at a minimum
1.5. Classification of Radio Transmitters
(a) Classification based on transmitted frequency
 Low frequency (LF) transmitters (30 KHZ- 300KHZ)
 Medium frequency (MF) transmitters ( 300 KHZ-3 MHZ)
 High frequency (HF) transmitters (3 MHZ- 30MHZ)
 Very high frequency (VHF) transmitters (30MHZ-300
MHZ)
 Ultra high frequency (UHF) transmitters (300 MHZ- 3GHZ)
 Microwave transmitters (>3GHZ)
(b) Classification based on type of service involved
 Radio broadcast transmitters
 Radio telephony transmitters
 Radio telegraph transmitters
 Television transmitters
 Radar transmitters
 Navigational transmitters
(c) Classification based on types of modulation
 CW Transmitters
 AM Transmitters
 FM Transmitters
 SSB Transmitters

2.0. CONTINUOUS WAVE (CW) TRANSMITTERS

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The CW Transmitter is the simplest type of transmitter. It has is a simple crystal

oscillator circuit that generates a carrier signal of the desired frequency. Information to be
transmitted is expressed in a special form of code using dots and dashes to represent
letters of the alphabet and numbers.

CW transmission was the first type of radio communication used, and it is still used
extensively for long-range communications. The continuous wave is used principally for
radiotelegraphy; that is, for the transmission of short or long pulses of RF energy to form
the dots and dashes of the Morse code characters. This type of transmission is sometimes
referred to as interrupted continuous wave.

2.1. BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN AM TRANSMITTER

A CW transmitter requires four essential components. These are a generator,
amplifier, keyer, and antenna.

The oscillator generates RF oscillations or the RF carrier at a preset frequency and

maintains it within close tolerances. The oscillator may be a self-excited type,
such as an electron-coupled oscillator, or a quartz crystal type, which uses a
crystal cut to vibrate at a certain frequency when electrically excited. In both
types, voltage and current delivered by the oscillator are weak. The amplifier
provides means of amplifying these oscillations outputs many times to be radiated
any distance. The key is used is a method of turning the RF output on and off
(keying) in accordance with the intelligence to be transmitted and an antenna to
radiate the keyed output of the transmitter.

CW operation;
The key is a simple hand operated switch connected in emitter of the transistor.
By closing the key we can turn on the crystal oscillator on and by opening the key
the oscillator is turned off. When the key is closed, the oscillator produces a
sinusoidal signal at a frequency equal to the crystal frequency, whereas with the
key open, the output of oscillator is zero.

The key is opened and closed in order to produce zero output and dots or dashes.
Dots correspond to the short duration output whereas a dash corresponds to a long
duration output. The required messages can be transmitted using different
combinations of dots and dashes for different alphabets and letters.

ADVANTAGES OF CW TRANSMITTER

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 Simple to construct
 Degree of intelligibility is high even under severe noise conditions. (For
example, when the receiver is in the vicinity of rotating machinery or
thunderstorms)
 Compact and portable
 Requires less output power as it can be operated on batteries
 Requires a narrow bandwidth

DISADVANTAGES
 A skilled operator is required to convert the message to be sent into a coded
form of dots and dashes.
 Long distance communication is not possible.
 Voice or picture cannot be sent.

3.0. AMPLITUDE MODULATED TRANSMITTER

In AM transmitters, amplitude of carrier is varied Ain proportion with the instantaneous

amplitude of the modulating signal, keeping its frequency and phase constant. AM
transmitters are used in;
 Standard AM broadcast stations (radio) - These transmitters are used in
medium wave (MW) and short wave (SW) frequency bands for AM
broadcast. The MW band has frequencies between 550 KHz and 1650 KHz,
and the SW band has frequencies ranging from 3 MHz to 30 MHz.
 Standard AM broadcast stations (TV)
 VHF aircraft radio

3.1. BLOCK DIAGRAM OF AN AM TRANSMITTER

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Figure above gives a simple block diagram of an AM transmitter. The oscillator

and power amplifier serve the same purpose as those in the CW transmitter. The
microphone converts the audio frequency (AF) input (a person’s voice) into
corresponding electrical energy. The AF amplifies the audio into the modulator
and combines it with the modulating RF carrier. The output of the modulator is
applied to the power amplifier to produce the amplitude-modulated signal output
for transmission. All of the stages of a transmitter (except the power amplifier)
operate at low power levels. This part of the transmitter, exclusive of the power-
handling stages, is called the exciter

3.2. TYPES OF AM TRANSMITTERS

The various types of AM transmitters that are used are based on modulation
schemes and their transmitting powers.

(a) Low Level Modulation Transmitters

Low level transmitters use low level modulation. The generation of AM wave
takes place at a low power level where only a few watts of transmitting power are
required as shown in the below simple diagram and then the generated AM signal
amplified.

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The generated AM signal is can be amplified using a chain of linear amplifier (A,
AB or B) as shown in figure below;

Block diagram explanation

Oscillator - The RF oscillator produces the carrier signal. The RF oscillator is
stabilized in order to maintain the frequency deviation within the prescribed limit.
The carrier frequency is equal to the transmitter frequency. Usually the transmitter
operates on assigned frequencies or channels. Crystal provides the best way to
obtain the described frequency with good stability. LC oscillator cannot be used
because they have low frequency stability.

Modulator - The carrier signal from the crystal oscillator is applied to the
modulator with a modulating signal. At the output of the modulator we get the
AM wave. The modulating signal is obtained from a source such as a microphone
and applied to a buffer processing unit. The transistorized modulator circuits can
be used for low level modulator due to the low power which is to be handled.

Amplifiers - The buffer is a class A amplifier which isolates the AF source from
the rest of high power circuit and amplifies it to an adequate level. The amplified
modulating signal is applied to the modulator along with the carrier. At the output
of the modulator we get the AM wave. The AM signal is then amplified using a
chain of linear amplifier to raise the power level. The linear amplifier can be class

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A, AB or B type amplifiers. The linear amplifiers are used in order to avoid the
wave form distortion in AM wave. The amplitude modulated signal is then
transmitted using transmitted antenna.

Audio Processing -The low level transmitter does not require a large AF
modulator power and hence its design is simplified. The AF modulating signal is
passed through an audio processing unit before applying it to the modulator. This
block carries out some form of “speech processing” in the form of filtering and
amplitude control. The weak signals amplified automatically with a higher gain
and strong signals are amplified with smaller gain. This will bring all the signals
to a sufficient level.

(b) High Level Modulation Transmitters

High level transmitters use high level modulation. In broadcast transmitters,
where the transmitting power may be of the order of kilowatts, high level
modulation is employed. Many of the AM transmitters use the high level
modulation technique.
A simple High level transmitters diagram is shown below;

In high level modulation, highly efficient class C amplifier are used shown in
figure below and hence makes it more efficiency than low level modulation.

The crystal oscillator produces the required carrier signal. The class A amplifier
following the oscillator acts as a buffer which isolates the oscillator from the high
power circuit. The output of this class A amplifier is applied to a class C power
amplifier. It raises the power level of the carrier to an intermediately high value.
The AF modulating signal is applied to the audio processing unit which processes
this signal as discussed in the previous section.

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Comparison between Low-Level and High-Level Modulation

Low-Level High-Level Modulation
Power level :
Modulation is carried out at low power Modulation is carried out at high power
level. level.
Amplifier stages:
Need lesser amplifier stages. Need more amplifier stages.
Power efficiency :
After modulation only linear amplifiers can Non linear amplifiers can also be used.
be used. This gives lower power efficiency. This leads to higher power efficiency.
Power losses :
Power losses is less, the cooling problem is Power losses in amplifiers is higher, the
not severe. cooling problem is severe.
Applications
Used in TV transmitters. Used as higher power broadcast
transmitters

(c) Single-Sideband (SSB) AM Transmitters

In amplitude-modulated (AM) transmitters, the carrier and both sidebands are
transmitted. In a single-sideband transmitter (SSB), only one of the sidebands,
the upper or the lower, is transmitted while the remaining sideband and the
carrier are suppressed. Suppression is the elimination of the undesired portions
of the signal. SSB typically uses much lower power levels than are found in AM
broadcast transmtv th th thitters. SSB is usually used for point-to-point
communications.

A typical SSB AM transmitter block diagrams are illustrated below:

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RF Oscillator - This is the stage where the carrier frequency intended to be used
is generated by means of Crystal Oscillator Circuitry or capacitance-inductance
based Variable Frequency Oscillator (VFO). The RF oscillator is designed to have
frequency stability and power delivered from it is of little importance, hence can
be operated with low voltage power supply with little dissipation of heat.

Modulator - Audio information is impressed upon the carrier frequency at this

stage.
The SSB generator (modulator) combines its audio input and its carrier input to
produce the two sidebands. The two sidebands are then fed to a filter that selects
the desired sideband and suppresses the other one. In most cases SSB generators
operate at very low frequencies when compared with the normally transmitted
frequencies. For that reason, we must convert (or translate) the filter output to the
desired frequency. This is the purpose of the mixer stage. A second output is
obtained from the frequency generator and fed to a frequency multiplier to obtain
a higher carrier frequency for the mixer stage.

Side-band filter - Mixing produces two sidebands. One sideband may be selected
by bandpass filtering. The filter discards out any one of the side band. By
eliminating one of the sidebands, intelligence is transmitted at a savings in power
and frequency bandwidth.

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SSB has a number of advantages

- No carrier, so power is not wasted
- Half the bandwidth of AM
- Less heat

RF linear Amplifier - Power amplification in a SSB transmitter must be linear.

The output from the mixer is fed to a linear power amplifier to build up the level
of the signal for transmission. The output of power amplification stage is coupled
to the antenna system through antenna impedance matching circuitry. Care is
taken at this stage so that no harmonic frequency is generated which will cause
interference in adjacent bands.

(i) Suppressed Carrier

In a single-sideband suppressed carrier, no carrier is present in the transmitted
signal. It is eliminated after modulation is accomplished and is reinserted at the
receiver during the demodulation process. After the carrier is eliminated, the
upper and lower sidebands remain. If one of the two sidebands is filtered out
before it reaches the power amplifier stage of the transmitter, the same
intelligence can be transmitted on the remaining sideband. All power is then
transmitted in one sideband.
This provision gives an increase in power for the wanted sideband. Note in figure
2-8 that the bandwidth required for the SSB suppressed carrier, view B, is
approximately half that needed for conventional AM, view A. This enables us to
place more signals in a smaller portion of the frequency spectrum and permits a
narrower receiver bandpass.

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(ii) Balanced Modulators for Double-Sideband Suppressed-Carrier

Generation
Balanced modulators are used for DSSC generation. The output of a balanced
modulator is shown here:

Mixing in a DSBSC AM transmitter is done by a carrier oscillator and a balanced

modulator as shown below:

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(iii) Independent sideband

4.0. FM TRANSMITTERS

In frequency modulation (FM) the modulating signal combines with the carrier to cause
the frequency of the resultant wave to vary with the instantaneous amplitude of the
modulating signal keeping the carrier amplitude constant. The information is contained in
its frequency variation.
Frequency modulation is used in radio and TV broadcasting & police wireless
transmission. The CCK has assigned a band of 20 MHz to the commercial FM broad cast
service. This band extends from 88 MHz to 108 MHz. This 20 MHz band is divided in
100 channels, each having a bandwidth of 200 KHz. For providing high quality reliable
music the maximum frequency deviation allowed is 75 KHz, with a maximum
modulating signal frequency of 15 KHz.

4.1. FM Transmitter Block Diagram

The figure below show various block diagrams of frequency-modulated
transmitters.

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Pre-emphasis

In FM transmission, before information is applied to the modulator, the signal is

passed through a pre-emphasis stage. Pre-emphasis distorts the signal by

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amplifying high frequencies more than low frequencies. i.e, high frequencies are
emphasized before modulation. The purpose of this signal distortion in the FM
transmitter is to facilitate later on in the FM receiver the detection of these high
frequencies of the signal in the presence of much high frequency noise generated
in the FM demodulator in the receiver. This has the effect of improving the
signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver for higher audio frequencies.

Pre-emphasis is used at the transmitter to boost the modulating audio frequencies

above 1 KHz. It increases the average deviation of a transmitter resulting in better
signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, the effect of higher frequency noise is less
noticeable. De-emphasis in the receiver attenuates the high audio frequencies in
the receiver to restore the original audio as closely as possible.

Frequency Multipliers
Frequency multipliers are special power amplifiers that multiply the input
frequency. The stages of frequency multiplier are put to increase the operating
frequency. Designing and building a stable crystal oscillator is difficult. As
operating frequencies increase, the crystal must be ground so thin that it often
cracks while vibrating. To get around this problem the oscillators in most
transmitters are operated at comparatively low frequencies, sometimes as low as
1/100 (.01) of the output frequency and raise the oscillator frequency to the
required output frequency by passing it through one or more frequency
multipliers. After going through a number of multipliers, the attenuation of signal
level is compensated by the final stage power amplifier which restores the FM
signal strength to desired level.

Stages that multiply the frequency by two are called doublers; those that multiply
by three are triplers; and those multiplying by four are quadruplers. The main
difference between low-frequency and high-frequency transmitters is the number
of frequency-multiplying stages used. Figure below shows the block diagram of
the frequency multiplying stages of a typical UHF/VHF transmitter. The oscillator
in this transmitter is tunable from 18 megahertz to 32 megahertz. There are
multiplier stages that increase the oscillator frequency by a factor of 12 through
successive multiplications of 2 and 3.

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Figure below is a block diagram of an FM transmitter showing waveforms found

at various test points. In high-power applications one or more intermediate
amplifiers are often added between the second doubler and the final power
amplifier.

4.2. METHODS OF FM GENERATION

(a) DIRECT FM

In direct FM generation the frequency of the carrier is changed directly in

proportion with the modulating signal amplitude. When the variable reactance of
the device varies with the modulating signal the oscillator generator the
corresponding FM signal.

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Therefore we have to use a scheme in which we can use the crystal oscillator to
control the carrier frequency. This requires the use the automatic frequency
control system.

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Types of Direct FM
(i) Reactance modulator
In the reactance modulator, a transistor or FET is operated as a variable
reactance (inductive or capacitive) device. This device is connected across
the tuned circuit of an oscillator. As the instantaneous value of modulating
voltage changes, the reactance offered by the transistor or FET will change
proportionally.

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(ii) Varactor diode modulator

These methods use a varactor diode or a reactance transistor for presenting
a variable reactance across the frequency determining circuit of an
oscillator. Here the voltage applied across the varactor diode varies in
proportion with the modulating voltage. This will vary the junction
capacitance of the varactor diode. The varactor diode appears in parallel
with the oscillator tuned circuit. Hence the oscillator frequency will
change with change in varactor diode capacitance and FM wave is
produced.

(iii) V.C.O. modulator.

This is the use of voltage to control the frequency of an oscillator. The

potentiometer (variable resistor with a center tap) is adjusted to bring
about small changes in frequency of quartz crystal.

(iv) Stabilized reactance modulator.

(v) Cross by direct FM transmitters.

Advantages of Direct FM Modulation

The main advantage of direct FM generation is the simplicity of the modulators
and their low cost.

Disadvantages of Direct Method

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In the direct method of FM generation we have to use the LC oscillator. The LC

oscillator frequency is not stable. It’s not possible to use such oscillator for
communication or broadcast purpose.

(b) INDIRECT METHOD ( ARMSTRONG METHOD)

Here FM is obtained through phase modulation. The Phase Modulation (PM) is

generated instead of FM. Since changing of a signal (PM) indirectly causes its
frequency to be changed simultaneously, the generation of PM indirectly
produces FM. The major reason of using indirect FM method is to improve the
frequency stability of carrier oscillator.
A Crystal oscillator is used and hence the frequency stability is very high.

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COMPARISION OF AM AND FM BROADCASTING
AM Broadcasting
 It requires smaller transmission bandwidth
 It can be operated in low, medium and high
frequency bands.
 It has wider coverage.
 The demodulation is simple.
 The stereophonic transmission is not
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FM Broadcasting
 It requires larger bandwidth.
 It needs to be operated in very high and
frequency bands.
 Its range is restricted to 50 km.
 The process of demodulation is complex.
 In this, stereophonic transmission is
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possible possible.
 The system has poor noise performance.  It has an improved noise performance.
5.0. OTHER TRANSMITTER PARAMETERS

a) Transmitter Power Measurements

Power measurements are typically quite ordinary but require attention to safety. High
voltages and the possibility of RF burns are dangers to the technician.

b) Harmonics
Harmonics are multiples of the wanted frequency. Oscillators, mixers, and amplifiers
generate harmonics. Harmonics can be radiated and interfere with other radio users
True harmonics are always exact multiples of the basic or fundamental frequency
generated by an oscillator and is created in amplifiers and their associated circuits. Even
harmonics are 2, 4, 6, and so on, times the fundamental; odd harmonics are 3, 5, 7, and so
on, times the fundamental. If an oscillator has a fundamental frequency of 2,500
kilohertz, the harmonically related frequencies are;

The basic frequency and the first harmonic are one and the same. The series ascends
indefinitely until the intensity is too weak to be detected. In general, the energy in
frequencies above the third harmonic is too weak to be significant. The term
SUBHARMONIC refers to a sine wave quantity (for example, an oscillator output) that
has a frequency that is a submultiple of the frequency of some other sine wave quantity it
helped make. For example, a wave that is half the fundamental frequency of another
wave is called the second subharmonic of that wave; one with a third of the fundamental
frequency is called a third subharmonic; and so forth.

c) Lowpass filters
Pass low frequencies only and attenuate high frequencies. They can be used to suppress
harmonics

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d) Bandpass filters
Pass only a selected range of frequencies and attenuate other frequencies. Can be used to
suppress harmonics as well.

e) Highpass filters
Pass high frequencies only and attenuate low frequencies. It is not so useful for
suppressing harmonics.

f) Output Impedance Matching

Most practical transmitters are designed to operate into a 50- Ohm resistive load to match
the impedance of the coaxial cable that is used to carry the power to the transmitter.
Transmitter output circuitry must be designed to transform the standard load resistance at
the output terminal to whatever is required by the active device or devices.

g) Tuning the Transmitter

Transmitter tuning is done when changing from one frequency to another. Tuning a
transmitter is largely a matter of following a routine of turning dials, and closing and
opening switches. Unlike receiver operation, the operation of transmitter controls MUST
be in the PROPER SEQUENCE, otherwise you will damage the transmitter.

h) FM Stereo Transmitters
Generation of FM Stereo

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i) Phase-Locked Loop FM Generators

j) Digital FM Modulators

SELF-TUNNING TRANSMITTER

Low – level Un tuned wide

Amplitude modulated
band amplifiers Class B Carrier wave
Tuned Amplifier

The basic block diagram of self-tuning high frequency communication transmitter is as

shown above.
Modulated The frequency of the input signal provided by the drive unit is sensed by the control
wave circuit (not shown) and this and this circuitry automatically tunes the class B output stage
to the input frequency.

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