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Superheterodyne receiver
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In electronics, a superheterodyne receiver (often
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shortened to superhet) uses frequency mixing to convert
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a received signal to a fixed intermediate frequency (IF)
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which can be more conveniently processed than the

original radio carrier frequency. It was invented by US
engineer Edwin Armstrong in 1918 during World War I.[1]
Virtually all modern radio receivers use the
superheterodyne principle. At the cost of an extra
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frequency converter stage, the superheterodyne receiver
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provides superior selectivity and sensitivity compared with
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simpler designs.
A 5-tube superheterodyne receiver

made in Japan around 1955
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1 History
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1.1 Background
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1.2 Invention
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1.3 Development
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2 Design and principle of operation

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2.1 Circuit description
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2.2 Local oscillator and mixer
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2.3 Intermediate frequency amplifier
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2.4 Bandpass filter

2.5 Demodulation
3 Advanced designs
3.1 Other uses
3.2 Modern designs
4 Advantages and drawbacks of the superheterodyne
Catal
design
Dansk
4.1 Image frequency (fimg)

4.2 Local oscillator radiation
Deutsch
4.3 Local oscillator sideband noise
etina
Eesti
5 See also
Espaol
6 References
Franais
Gaeilge
Superheterodyne transistor radio circuit

around 1975
7 Further reading
8 External links
Italiano
Lietuvi
Nederlands
History
[edit]
Background [edit]
"Superheterodyne" is a contraction of
Norsk bokml
"supersonic heterodyne", where
Polski
Portugus
Slovenina
"supersonic" indicates frequencies above

the range of human hearing. The word
heterodyne is derived from the Greek
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Svenska
roots hetero- "different", and -dyne
"power". In radio applications the term
Edit links
derives from the "heterodyne detector"

pioneered by Canadian inventor
Reginald Fessenden in 1905, describing
One of the prototype superheterodyne receivers built at

Armstrong's Signal Corps laboratory in Paris during World
War I. It is constructed in two sections, the mixer and local
oscillator (left) and three IF amplification stages and a
detector stage (right). The intermediate frequency was 75
kHz.
his proposed method of producing an

audible signal from the Morse code transmissions of the new continuous wave transmitters. With
the older spark gap transmitters then in use, the Morse code signal consisted of short bursts of a
heavily modulated carrier wave, which could be clearly heard as a series of short chirps or buzzes
in the receiver's headphones. However, the signal from a continuous wave transmitter did not have
any such inherent modulation and Morse Code from one of those would only be heard as a series
of clicks or thumps. Fessenden's idea was to run two Alexanderson alternators, one producing a
carrier frequency 3 kHz higher than the other. In the receiver's detector the two carriers would beat
together to produce a 3 kHz tone thus in the headphones the Morse signals would then be heard
as a series of 3 kHz beeps. For this he coined the term "heterodyne" meaning "generated by a
difference" (in frequency).
Invention [edit]
The superheterodyne principle was devised in 1918 by U.S. Army Major Edwin Armstrong in
France during World War I.[2][3] He invented this receiver as a means of overcoming the
deficiencies of early vacuum tube triodes used as high-frequency amplifiers in radio direction
finding equipment. Unlike simple radio communication, which only needs to make transmitted
signals audible, direction-finders measure the received signal strength, which necessitates linear
amplification of the actual carrier wave.
In a triode radio-frequency (RF) amplifier, if both the plate
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(anode) and grid are connected to resonant circuits tuned

to the same frequency, stray capacitive coupling between
the grid and the plate will cause the amplifier to go into
oscillation if the stage gain is much more than unity. In
early designs, dozens (in some cases over 100) low-gain
triode stages had to be connected in cascade to make
workable equipment, which drew enormous amounts of
power in operation and required a team of maintenance
engineers. The strategic value was so high, however, that
the British Admiralty felt the high cost was justified.
Armstrong realized that if radio direction-finding (RDF)
receivers could be operated at a higher frequency, this
would allow better detection of enemy shipping. However,
at that time, no practical "short wave" (defined then as any
frequency above 500 kHz) amplifier existed, due to the
limitations of existing triodes.
One of the first amateur

superheterodyne receivers, built in
1920 even before Armstrong published
his paper. Due to the low gain of early
triodes it required 9 tubes, with 5 IF
amplification stages, and used an IF of
around 50 kHz.
It had been noticed some time before that if a regenerative

receiver was allowed to go into oscillation, other receivers nearby would suddenly start picking up
stations on frequencies different from those that the stations were actually transmitted on.
Armstrong (and others) eventually deduced that this was caused by a "supersonic heterodyne"
between the station's carrier frequency and the oscillator frequency. Thus if a station was
transmitting on 300 kHz and the oscillating receiver was set to 400 kHz, the station would be heard
not only at the original 300 kHz, but also at 100 kHz and 700 kHz.
Armstrong realized that this was a potential solution to the "short wave" amplification problem,
since the beat frequency still retained its original modulation, but on a lower carrier frequency. To
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monitor a frequency of 1500 kHz for example, he could set up an oscillator at, for example,
1560 kHz, which would produce a heterodyne difference frequency of 60 kHz, a frequency that
could then be more conveniently amplified by the triodes of the day. He termed this the
"Intermediate Frequency" often abbreviated to "IF".
In December 1919, Major E. H. Armstrong gave publicity to an indirect method of
obtaining short-wave amplification, called the super-heterodyne. The idea is to reduce
the incoming frequency, which may be, say 1,500,000 cycles (200 meters), to some
suitable super-audible frequency that can be amplified efficiently, then passing this
current through a radio frequency amplifier and finally rectifying and carrying on to
one or two stages of audio frequency amplification.[4]
Development [edit]
Armstrong was able to put his ideas into
practice, and the technique was soon adopted
by the military. However, it was less popular
when commercial radio broadcasting began in
the 1920s, mostly due to the need for an extra
tube (for the oscillator), the generally higher
cost of the receiver, and the level of technical
skill required to operate it. For early domestic
radios, tuned radio frequency receivers
("TRF"), also called the Neutrodyne, were more
popular because they were cheaper, easier for
a non-technical owner to use, and less costly to
The first commercial superheterodyne

receiver,[5] the RCA Radiola AR-812, brought out
March 4, 1924 priced at $286. It used 6 triodes: a
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operate. Armstrong eventually sold his

superheterodyne patent to Westinghouse, who
then sold it to RCA, the latter monopolizing the
market for superheterodyne receivers until
1930.[6]
March 4, 1924 priced at $286. It used 6 triodes: a

mixer, local oscillator, two IF and two audio amplifier
stages, with an IF of 45 kHz. It was a commercial
success, with better performance than competing
receivers. In an apparent attempt to prevent
competitors from "reverse engineering" it, the
innards were encased in solid wax.
Early superheterodyne receivers used IFs as

low as 20 kHz, often based on the self-resonance of iron-cored transformers. This made them
extremely susceptible to image frequency interference, but at the time, the main objective was
sensitivity rather than selectivity. Using this technique, a small number of triodes could be made to
do the work that formerly required dozens of triodes.
In the 1920s, commercial IF filters looked very similar to 1920s audio interstage coupling
transformers, had very similar construction and were wired up in an almost identical manner, and
so they were referred to as "IF Transformers". By the mid-1930s however, superheterodynes were
using much higher intermediate frequencies, (typically around 440470 kHz), with tuned coils
similar in construction to the aerial and oscillator coils. However, the name "IF Transformer" was
retained and is still used today. Modern receivers typically use a mixture of ceramic resonator or
SAW (surface-acoustic wave) resonators as well as traditional tuned-inductor IF transformers.
By the 1930s, improvements in vacuum tube
technology rapidly eroded the TRF receiver's
cost advantages, and the explosion in the
number of broadcasting stations created a
demand for cheaper, higher-performance
receivers.
The development of the tetrode vacuum tube
By the 1940s the vacuum-tube superheterodyne AM

broadcast receiver was refined into a cheap-to-
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containing a screen grid led to a multielement tube in which the mixer and oscillator
functions could be combined, first used in the
so-called autodyne mixer. This was rapidly
manufacture design called the "All American Five",

because it only used five vacuum tubes: usually a
converter (mixer/local oscillator), an IF amplifier, a
detector/audio amp, audio power amp, and a rectifier.
followed by the introduction of tubes

specifically designed for superheterodyne operation, most notably the pentagrid converter. By
reducing the tube count, this further reduced the advantage of preceding receiver designs.
By the mid-1930s, commercial production of TRF receivers was largely replaced by
superheterodyne receivers. The superheterodyne principle was eventually taken up for virtually all
commercial radio and TV designs.
Design and principle of operation
[edit]
The principle of operation of the superheterodyne receiver depends on the use of heterodyning or
frequency mixing. The signal from the antenna is filtered sufficiently at least to reject the image
frequency (see below) and possibly amplified. A local oscillator in the receiver produces a sine
wave, which mixes with that signal, shifting it to a specific intermediate frequency (IF), usually a
lower frequency. The IF signal is itself filtered and amplified and possibly processed in additional
ways. The demodulator uses the IF signal rather than the original radio frequency to recreate a
copy of the original information (such as audio).
The diagram
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The diagram
at right shows
the minimum
requirements
for a singleconversion
Block diagram of a typical superheterodyne receiver
superheterodyne receiver design. The following essential elements are common to all
superheterodyne circuits:[7] a receiving antenna; a tuned stage, which may optionally contain
amplification (RF amplifier); a variable frequency local oscillator; a frequency mixer; a band pass
filter and intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier; and a demodulator plus additional circuitry to
amplify or process the original audio signal (or other transmitted information).
Circuit description [edit]

To receive a radio signal, a suitable antenna is required. This is often built into a receiver,
especially in the case of AM broadcast band radios. The output of the antenna may be very small,
often only a few microvolts. The signal from the antenna is tuned and may be amplified in a socalled radio frequency (RF) amplifier, although this stage is often omitted. One or more tuned
circuits at this stage block frequencies that are far removed from the intended reception
frequency. In order to tune the receiver to a particular station, the frequency of the local oscillator
is controlled by the tuning knob (for instance). Tuning of the local oscillator and the RF stage may
use a variable capacitor, or varicap diode.[8] The tuning of one (or more) tuned circuits in the RF
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stage must track the tuning of the local oscillator.

Notice that the accompanying diagram shows a fixed-frequency local oscillator, as the symbol is for
a fixed-frequency crystal frequency-determining device. A tuneable receiver would show a
variable-frequency oscillator with operational connection to the tuned circuits of the antenna and
radio-frequency amplifier stages.
Local oscillator and mixer [edit]

The signal is then fed into a circuit where it is mixed with a sine wave from a variable frequency
oscillator known as the local oscillator (LO). The mixer uses a non-linear component to produce
both sum and difference beat frequencies signals,[9] each one containing the modulation
contained in the desired signal. The output of the mixer may include the original RF signal at fRF,
the local oscillator signal at fLO, and the two new heterodyne frequencies fRF + fLO and fRF fLO.
The mixer may inadvertently produce additional frequencies such as third- and higher-order
intermodulation products. Ideally, the IF bandpass filter removes all but the desired IF signal at fIF.
The IF signal contains the original modulation (transmitted information) that the received radio
signal had at fRF.
Historically, vacuum tubes were expensive, so broadcast AM receivers would save costs by
employing a single tube as both a mixer and also as the local oscillator. The pentagrid converter
tube would oscillate and also provide signal amplification as well as frequency shifting.[10]
The frequency of the local oscillator fLO is set so the desired reception radio frequency fRF mixes to
fIF. There are two choices for the local oscillator frequency because the dominant mixer products
are at fRF fLO. If the local oscillator frequency is less than the desired reception frequency, it is
called low-side injection (fIF = fRF fLO); if the local oscillator is higher, then it is called high-side
injection (fIF = fLO fRF).
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The mixer will process not only the desired input signal at fRF, but also all signals present at its
inputs. There will be many mixer products (heterodynes). Most other signals produced by the mixer
(such as due to stations at nearby frequencies) can be filtered out in the IF amplifier; that gives the
superheterodyne receiver its superior performance. However, if fLO is set to fRF + fIF, then an
incoming radio signal at fLO + fIF will also produce a heterodyne at fIF; this is called the image
frequency and must be rejected by the tuned circuits in the RF stage. The image frequency is 2 fIF
higher (or lower) than fRF, so employing a higher IF frequency fIF increases the receiver's image
rejection without requiring additional selectivity in the RF stage.
To suppress the unwanted image, the tuning of the RF stage and the LO may need to "track" each
other. In some cases, a narrow-band receiver can have a fixed tuned RF amplifier. In that case,
only the local oscillator frequency is changed. In most cases, a receiver's input band is wider than
its IF center frequency. For example, a typical AM broadcast band receiver covers 510 kHz to
1655 kHz (a roughly 1160 kHz input band) with a 455 kHz IF frequency; an FM broadcast band
receiver covers 88 MHz to 108 MHz band with a 10.7 MHz IF frequency. In that situation, the RF
amplifier must be tuned so the IF amplifier does not see two stations at the same time. If the AM
broadcast band receiver LO were set at 1200 kHz, it would see stations at both 745 kHz
(1200455 kHz) and 1655 kHz. Consequently, the RF stage must be designed so that any stations
that are twice the IF frequency away are significantly attenuated.. The tracking can be done with a
multi-section variable capacitor or some varactors driven by a common control voltage. An RF
amplifier may have tuned circuits at both its input and its output, so three or more tuned circuits
may be tracked. In practice, the RF and LO frequencies need to track closely but not
perfectly.[11][12]
Intermediate frequency amplifier [edit]

The stages of an intermediate frequency amplifier ("IF amplifier" or "IF strip") are tuned to a fixed
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frequency that does not change as the receiving frequency changes. The fixed frequency
simplifies optimization of the IF amplifier.[7] The IF amplifier is selective around its center frequency
fIF. The fixed center frequency allows the stages of the IF amplifier to be carefully tuned for best
performance (this tuning is called "aligning" the IF amplifier). If the center frequency changed with
the receiving frequency, then the IF stages would have had to track their tuning. That is not the
case with the superheterodyne.
Typically, the IF center frequency fIF is chosen to be less than the desired reception frequency fRF.
The choice has some performance advantages. First, it is easier and less expensive to get high
selectivity at a lower frequency. For the same bandwidth, a tuned circuit at a lower frequency
needs a lower Q. Stated another way, for the same filter technology, a higher center frequency will
take more IF filter stages to achieve the same selectivity bandwidth. Second, it is easier and less
expensive to get high gain at a lower frequency. When used at high frequencies, many amplifiers
show a constant gainbandwidth product (dominant pole) characteristic. If an amplifier has a gain
bandwidth product of 100 MHz, then it would have a voltage gain of 100 at 1 MHz but only 10 at
10 MHz. If the IF amplifier needed a voltage gain of 10,000, then it would need only two stages with
an IF at 1 MHz but four stages at 10 MHz.
Usually the intermediate frequency is lower than the reception frequency fRF, but in some modern
receivers (e.g. scanners and spectrum analyzers) a higher IF frequency is used to minimize
problems with image rejection or gain the benefits of fixed-tuned stages. The Rohde & Schwarz
EK-070 VLF/HF receiver covers 10 kHz to 30 MHz.[13] It has a band switched RF filter and mixes
the input to a first IF of 81.4 MHz. The first LO frequency is 81.4 to 111.4 MHz, so the primary
images are far away. The first IF stage uses a crystal filter with a 12 kHz bandwidth. There is a
second frequency conversion (making a triple-conversion receiver) that mixes the 81.4 MHz first IF
with 80 MHz to create a 1.4 MHz second IF. Image rejection for the second IF is not a major
problem because the first IF provides adequate image rejection and the second mixer is fixed
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tuned.
In order to avoid interference to receivers, licensing authorities will avoid assigning common IF
frequencies to transmitting stations. Standard intermediate frequencies used are 455 kHz for
medium-wave AM radio, 10.7 MHz for broadcast FM receivers, 38.9 MHz (Europe) or 45 MHz (US)
for television, and 70 MHz for satellite and terrestrial microwave equipment. To avoid tooling costs
associated with these components, most manufacturers then tended to design their receivers
around a fixed range of frequencies offered, which resulted in a worldwide de facto standardization
of intermediate frequencies.
In early superhets, the IF stage was often a regenerative stage providing the sensitivity and
selectivity with fewer components. Such superhets were called super-gainers or
regenerodynes.[citation needed]
Bandpass filter [edit]

The IF stage includes a filter and/or multiple tuned circuits in order to achieve the desired
selectivity. This filtering must therefore have a band pass equal to or less than the frequency
spacing between adjacent broadcast channels. Ideally a filter would have a high attenuation to
adjacent channels, but maintain a flat response across the desired signal spectrum in order to
retain the quality of the received signal. This may be obtained using one or more dual tuned IF
transformers, a quartz crystal filter, or a multipole ceramic crystal filter.[14]
Demodulation [edit]
The received signal is now processed by the demodulator stage where the audio signal (or other
baseband signal) is recovered and then further amplified. AM demodulation requires the simple
rectification of the RF signal (so-called envelope detection), and a simple RC low pass filter to
remove remnants of the intermediate frequency.[15] FM signals may be detected using a
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discriminator, ratio detector, or phase-locked loop. Continuous wave (Morse code) and single
sideband signals require a product detector using a so-called beat frequency oscillator, and there
are other techniques used for different types of modulation.[16] The resulting audio signal (for
instance) is then amplified and drives a loudspeaker.
When so-called high-side injection has been used, where the local oscillator is at a higher
frequency than the received signal (as is common), then the frequency spectrum of the original
signal will be reversed. This must be taken into account by the demodulator (and in the IF filtering)
in the case of certain types of modulation such as single sideband.
Advanced designs
[edit]
To overcome obstacles such as image response, in some cases multiple stages with two or more
IFs of different values are used. For example, for a receiver that can tune from 500 kHz to 30 MHz,
three frequency converters might be used, and the radio would be referred to as a triple
conversion superheterodyne;[7]
The reason that this is done is the difficulty in obtaining sufficient selectivity in the front-end tuning
with higher shortwave frequencies.
With a 455 kHz IF it is easy to get adequate front end selectivity with broadcast band (under
1600 kHz) signals. For example, if the station being received is on 600 kHz, the local oscillator will
be set to 600 + 455 = 1055 kHz. But a station on 1510 kHz could also potentially produce an IF of
455 kHz and so cause image interference. However because 600 kHz and 1510 kHz are so far
apart, it is easy to design the front end tuning to reject the 1510 kHz frequency.
However at 30 MHz, things are different. The oscillator would be set to 30.455 MHz to produce a
455 kHz IF, but a station on 30.910 would also produce a 455 kHz beat, so both stations would be
heard at the same time. But it is virtually impossible to design an RF tuned circuit that can
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adequately discriminate between 30 MHz and 30.91 MHz, so one approach is to "bulk
downconvert" whole sections of the shortwave bands to a lower frequency, where adequate frontend tuning is easier to arrange.
For example the ranges 29 MHz to 30 MHz; 28 MHz to 29 MHz etc. might be converted down to
2 MHz to 3 MHz, there they can be tuned more conveniently. This is often done by first converting
each "block" up to a higher frequency (typically 40 MHz) and then using a second mixed to convert
it down to the 2 MHz to 3 MHz range. The 2 MHz to 3 MHz "IF" is basically another self-contained
superheterodyne receiver, most likely with a standard IF of 455 kHz.
Other uses [edit]

In the case of modern television receivers, no other technique was able to produce the precise
bandpass characteristic needed for vestigial sideband reception, similar to that used in the NTSC
system first approved by the U.S. in 1941. By the 1980s these had been replaced with precision
electromechanical surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters. Fabricated by precision laser milling
techniques, SAW filters are cheaper to produce, can be made to extremely close tolerances, and
are very stable in operation.
Modern designs [edit]

Microprocessor technology allows replacing the superheterodyne receiver design by a software
defined radio architecture, where the IF processing after the initial IF filter is implemented in
software. This technique is already in use in certain designs, such as very low-cost FM radios
incorporated into mobile phones, since the system already has the necessary microprocessor.
Radio transmitters may also use a mixer stage to produce an output frequency, working more or
less as the reverse of a superheterodyne receiver.
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Advantages and drawbacks of the superheterodyne design
[edit]
Superheterodyne receivers have essentially replaced all previous receiver designs. The
development of modern semiconductor electronics negated the advantages of designs (such as
the regenerative receiver) that used fewer vacuum tubes. The superheterodyne receiver offers
superior sensitivity, frequency stability and selectivity. Compared with the tuned radio frequency
receiver (TRF) design, superhets offer better stability because a tuneable oscillator is more easily
realized than a tuneable amplifier. Operating at a lower frequency, IF filters can give narrower
passbands at the same Q factor than an equivalent RF filter. A fixed IF also allows the use of a
crystal filter[7] or similar technologies that cannot be tuned. Regenerative and super-regenerative
receivers offered a high sensitivity, but often suffer from stability problems making them difficult to
operate.
Although the advantages of the superhet design are overwhelming, we note a few drawbacks that
need to be tackled in practice.
Image frequency (fimg) [edit]

One major disadvantage to the superheterodyne receiver is the problem of image frequency. In
heterodyne receivers, an image frequency is an undesired input frequency equal to the station
frequency plus twice the intermediate frequency. The image frequency results in two stations being
received at the same time, thus producing interference. Image frequencies can be eliminated by
sufficient attenuation on the incoming signal by the RF amplifier filter of the superheterodyne
receiver.
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For example, an AM broadcast station at 580 kHz is tuned on a receiver with a 455 kHz IF. The
local oscillator is tuned to 580 + 455 = 1035 kHz. But a signal at 580 + 455 + 455 = 1490 kHz is
also 455 kHz away from the local oscillator; so both the desired signal and the image, when mixed
with the local oscillator, will also appear at the intermediate frequency. This image frequency is
within the AM broadcast band. Practical receivers have a tuning stage before the converter, to
greatly reduce the amplitude of image frequency signals; additionally, broadcasting stations in the
same area have their frequencies assigned to avoid such images.
The unwanted frequency is called the image of the wanted frequency, because it is the "mirror
image" of the desired frequency reflected
. A receiver with inadequate filtering at its input will
pick up signals at two different frequencies simultaneously: the desired frequency and the image
frequency. Any noise or random radio station at the image frequency can interfere with reception
of the desired signal.
Early Autodyne receivers typically used IFs of only 150 kHz or so, as it was difficult to maintain
reliable oscillation if higher frequencies were used. As a consequence, most Autodyne receivers
needed quite elaborate antenna tuning networks, often involving double-tuned coils, to avoid
image interference. Later superhets used tubes especially designed for oscillator/mixer use, which
were able to work reliably with much higher IFs, reducing the problem of image interference and so
allowing simpler and cheaper aerial tuning circuitry.
Sensitivity to the image frequency can be minimised only by (1) a filter that precedes the mixer or
(2) a more complex mixer circuit [1]
that suppresses the image. In most receivers this is
accomplished by a bandpass filter in the RF front end. In many tunable receivers, the bandpass
filter is tuned in tandem with the local oscillator.
Image rejection is an important factor in choosing the intermediate frequency of a receiver. The
farther apart the bandpass frequency and the image frequency are, the more the bandpass filter
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will attenuate any interfering image signal. Since the frequency separation between the bandpass
and the image frequency is
, a higher intermediate frequency improves image rejection. It
may be possible to use a high enough first IF that a fixed-tuned RF stage can reject any image
signals.
The ability of a receiver to reject interfering signals at the image frequency is measured by the
image rejection ratio. This is the ratio (in decibels) of the output of the receiver from a signal at the
received frequency, to its output for an equal-strength signal at the image frequency.
Local oscillator radiation [edit]

Further information: Electromagnetic compatibility
It is difficult to keep stray radiation from the local oscillator below the level that a nearby receiver
can detect. The receiver's local oscillator can act like a low-power CW transmitter. Consequently,
there can be mutual interference in the operation of two or more superheterodyne receivers in
close proximity.
In intelligence operations, local oscillator radiation gives a means to detect a covert receiver and
its operating frequency. The method was used by MI-5 during Operation RAFTER.[17] This same
technique is also used in radar detector detectors used by traffic police in jurisdictions where radar
detectors are illegal.
A method of significantly reducing the local oscillator radiation from the receiver's antenna is to
use an RF amplifier between the receiver's antenna and its mixer stage.
Local oscillator sideband noise [edit]

Local oscillators typically generate a single frequency signal that has negligible amplitude
modulation but some random phase modulation. Either of these impurities spreads some of the
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signal's energy into sideband frequencies. That causes a corresponding widening of the receiver's
frequency response, which would defeat the aim to make a very narrow bandwidth receiver such
as to receive low-rate digital signals. Care needs to be taken to minimize oscillator phase noise,
usually by ensuring that the oscillator never enters a non-linear mode.
See also
[edit]
H2X radar
Automatic gain control
Demodulator
Direct conversion receiver
VFO
Single sideband modulation (demodulation)
Tuned radio frequency receiver
Reflectional receiver
Beat frequency
Heterodyne
Optical heterodyne detection
Infradyne - superheterodyne with IF higher than signal frequency
Superheterodyne transmitter
References
[edit]
1. ^ Armstrong, Edwin H. (February 1921). "A new system of short wave amplification"
. Proc. of the
IRE (New York: Institute of Radio Engineers) 9 (1): 311. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
2. ^ "The History of Amateur Radio"
. Luxorion date unknown. Retrieved 19 January 2011.

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3. ^ Sarkar, Tapan K.; Mailloux, Robert J.; Oliner, Arthur A.; Salazar-Palma, Magdalena; Sengupta,
Dipak L. (2006), History of Wireless, John Wiley and Sons, ISBN 0-471-71814-9, p 110?
4. ^ (page 11 of December 1922 QST magazine)
5. ^ Malanowski, Gregory (2011). The Race for Wireless: How Radio Was Invented (or Discovered?) .
Authorhouse. p. 69. ISBN 1463437501.
6. ^ Katz, Eugenii. "Edwin Howard Armstrong"
. History of electrochemistry, electricity, and
electronics. Eugenii Katz homepage, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem
. Archived from the original
on
2009-10-22. Retrieved 2008-05-10.

7. ^ a
bc d
Joseph J. Carr RF Components and Circuits Newnes, 2002 ISBN 978-0-7506-4844-8,
Chapter 3
8. ^ Radio-frequency electronics: circuits and applications By Jon B. Hagen -p.58 l. 12 . Cambridge
University Press, 1996 - Technology & Engineering. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
9. ^ The art of electronics
. Cambridge University Press. 2006. p. 886. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
10. ^ GB 426802 , "Improvements in or relating to superheterodyne radio receivers", published 12

October 1933
11. ^ Terman, Frederick Emmons (1943), Radio Engineers' Handbook, New York: McGraw-Hill. Pages
649652 describes design procedure for tracking with a pad capacitor in the Chebyshev sense.
12. ^ Rohde, Ulrich L.; Bucher, T. T. N. (1988), Communications Receivers: Principles & Design, New
York: McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-053570-1. Pages 155160 discuss frequency tracking. Pages 160
164 discuss image rejection and include an RF filter design that puts transmission zeros at both the
local oscillator frequency and the unwanted image frequency.
13. ^ Rohde & Bucher 1988, pp. 4455
14. ^ "Crystal filer types"
. QSL RF Circuit Design Ideas Date unknown. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
15. ^ "Reception of Amplitude Modulated Signals - AM Demodulation"
(PDF) . BC Internet education
6/14/2007. Retrieved 17 January 2011.

16. ^ "Basic Radio Theory"
. TSCM Handbook Ch.5 date unknown. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
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17. ^ Wright, Peter (1987), Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer,
Penguin Viking, ISBN 0-670-82055-5
Further reading
[edit]
Whitaker, Jerry (1996). The Electronics Handbook. CRC Press. p. 1172. ISBN 0-8493-8345-5.
US 706740 , Fessenden, Reginald A., "Wireless Signaling", published September 28, 1901,
issued August 12, 1902
US 1050441 , Fessenden, Reginald A., "Electric Signaling Apparatus", published July 27,
1905, issued January 14, 1913
US 1050728 , Fessenden, Reginald A., "Method of Signaling", published August 21, 1906,
issued January 14, 1913
External links
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Who Invented the Superheterodyne?
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Superheterodyne circuits.
giving the history of the various inventors working on

the superheterodyne method.
An in-depth introduction to superheterodyne receivers
Superheterodyne receivers from microwaves101.com
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In electronics, a superheterodyne receiver (often

shortened to superhet) uses frequency mixing to convert

a received signal to a fixed intermediate frequency (IF)

which can be more conveniently processed than the

frequency converter stage, the superheterodyne receiver

provides superior selectivity and sensitivity compared with

A 5-tube superheterodyne receiver

2 Design and principle of operation

2.1 Circuit description

2.2 Local oscillator and mixer

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2.3 Intermediate frequency amplifier

2.4 Bandpass filter

4 Advantages and drawbacks of the superheterodyne

4.1 Image frequency (fimg)

4.3 Local oscillator sideband noise

Superheterodyne transistor radio circuit

"supersonic heterodyne", where

"supersonic" indicates frequencies above

roots hetero- "different", and -dyne

"power". In radio applications the term

derives from the "heterodyne detector"

One of the prototype superheterodyne receivers built at

his proposed method of producing an

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(anode) and grid are connected to resonant circuits tuned

One of the first amateur

It had been noticed some time before that if a regenerative

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The first commercial superheterodyne

operate. Armstrong eventually sold his

March 4, 1924 priced at $286. It used 6 triodes: a

Early superheterodyne receivers used IFs as

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By the 1940s the vacuum-tube superheterodyne AM

manufacture design called the "All American Five",

followed by the introduction of tubes

Design and principle of operation

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Block diagram of a typical superheterodyne receiver

Circuit description [edit]

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stage must track the tuning of the local oscillator.

Local oscillator and mixer [edit]

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Intermediate frequency amplifier [edit]

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Bandpass filter [edit]

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Other uses [edit]

Modern designs [edit]

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Advantages and drawbacks of the superheterodyne design

Image frequency (fimg) [edit]

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. A receiver with inadequate filtering at its input will