Radio transmitters In the early days of radio engineering, radio frequency energy was generated using arcs known

as Alexander son alternator or mechanical alternators (of which a rare example survives at the SAQ transmitter in Grimeton, Sweden ! In the "#$%s electronic transmitters, &ased on vacuum tu&es, &egan to &e used! In &roadcasting, and telecommunication, the part which contains the oscillator, modulator, and sometimes audio processor, is called the exciter! 'onfusingly, the high(power amplifier which the exciter then feeds into is often called the )transmitter) &y &roadcast engineers! *he final output is given as transmitter power output (*+, , although this is not what most stations are rated &y! -ffective radiated power (-.+ is used when calculating station

coverage, even for most non(&roadcast stations! It is the *+,, minus any attenuation or radiated loss in the line to the antenna, multiplied &y the gain (magnification which the antenna provides toward the hori/on! *his is important, &ecause the electric utility &ill for the transmitter would &e enormous otherwise, as would the cost of a transmitter! 0or most large stations in the 120( and 320(range, the transmitter power is no more than $%4 of the -.+! 0or 150, 50, 60 and 20 the -.+ is typically not determined separately! In most cases the transmission power found in lists of transmitters is the value for the output of the transmitter! *his is only correct for omni directional aerials with a length of a quarter wavelengths or shorter! 0or other aerial types there are gain factors, which can reach values until 7% for shortwave directional &eams in the direction of maximum &eam intensity!

Since some authors take account of gain factors of aerials of transmitters for frequencies &elow 8% 62/ and others not, there are often discrepancies of the values of transmitted powers! AM Transmitter

6odulation ena&les low frequency audio signals to &e radiated long distances! *his is done &y superimposing the low frequency audio signal on the high frequency carrier wave &y the process of modulation! *he microphone converts sound waves into electrical signals ( a range of $% 2/ to $% k2/ ! *hese signals are amplified &y the audio frequency amplifier! *he carrier frequency is generated &y the radio frequency oscillator! *he audio is superimposed onto the carrier &y the modulator! *he low power modulated carrier is &oosted in amplitude &y the radio frequency power amplifier! *he aerial produces an electromagnetic wave which is radiated into space!

AM Transmitter

*he circuit is in two halfs, an audio amplifier and an .0 oscillator! *he oscillator is &uilt around Q" and associated components! *he tank circuit 5" and 1'" is tuna&le from a&out 7%%k2/ to "9%%:2/! *hese components can &e used from an old 6; radio, if availa&le! Q" needs regenerative feed&ack to oscillate and this is achieved &y connecting the &ase and collector of Q" to opposite ends of the tank circuit! *he "n0 capacitor '<, couples signals from the &ase to the top of 5", and '$, "%%p0 ensures that the oscillation is passed from collector, to the emitter, and via the internal &ase emitter resistance of the transistor, &ack to the &ase again! .esistor .$ has an important role in this circuit! It ensures that the oscillation will not &e shunted to ground via the very low internal emitter resistance, re of Q", and also increases the input impedance so that the modulation signal will not &e shunted! ,scillation frequency is ad=usted with 1'"! Q$ is wired as a common emitter amplifier, '7 decoupling the emitter resistor and realising full gain of this stage! *he microphone is an electret condenser mic and the amount of A6 modulation is ad=usted

with the >!<k preset resistor +"! An antenna is not needed, &ut 8%cm of wire may &e used at the collector to increase transmitter range! AM Receiver: . RECEIVER

*here are signals from thousands of radio transmitters on many different frequencies inducing signal voltages in the aerial! *he .0 filter selects the desired station from the many! It is ad=usta&le so that the selection frequency can &e altered! *his is called *3?I?G! *he selected frequency is applied to the mixer! *he output of an oscillator is also applied to the mixer! *he mixer and oscillator form a 0.-Q3-?'@ '2A?G-. circuit! *he output from the mixer is the intermediate frequency (i!f! ! *he i!f! is a fixed frequency of a&out >77 k2/! ?o matter what the frequency of the selected radio station is, the i!f! is always >77 k2/! *he i!f! signal is fed into the i!f! amplifier! *he advantage of the i!f! amplifier is that its frequency and &andwidth are fixed, no matter what the frequency of the incoming signal is! *his makes the design and operation of the amplifier much simpler! *he amplified i!f! signal is fed to the demodulator! *his circuit recovers the audio signal and discards the r!f! carrier! It usually incorporates a diode in the circuit! Some of the audio is fed &ack to the i!f! amplifier as an A3*,6A*I' GAI? ',?*.,5 voltage! *his ensures that when tuning from a weak station to a strong one, the loudness from the loudspeaker stays the same! *he audio signal voltage is increased in

amplitude &y a voltage amplifier! *he power level is increased sufficiently to drive the loudspeaker &y the power amplifier! FM TRANSMITTER

*he microphone converts sound pressure wave to electrical signals! *hese audio voltages are amplified &y the audio amplifier! *he amplified audio is used to control the deviation of the frequency controlled oscillator! *he oscillator frequency is at the carrier frequency, in the AA("%A 62/ 06 &and! *he low power of the frequency modulated carrier is &oosted &y the .adio 0requency amplifier! *he aerial is driven &y the amplifier and produces an electromagnetic wave! 3nder normal conditions the transmitted signal will travel as far as the hori/on! FM Receiver:

*he 0!6! &and covers AA("%A 62/! *here are signals from many radio transmitters in this &and inducing signal voltages in the aerial! *he rf amplifier selects and amplifies the desired station from the many! It is ad=usta&le so that the selection frequency can &e altered! *his is called *3?I?G! In cheaper receivers the tuning is fixed and the tuning filter is wide enough to pass all signals in the 0!6! &and! *he selected frequency is applied to the mixer! *he output of an oscillator is also applied to the mixer! *he mixer and oscillator form a 0.-Q3-?'@ '2A?G-. circuit! *he output from the mixer is the intermediate frequency (i!f! ! *he i!f! is a fixed frequency of "%!< 62/! *he i!f! signal is fed into the i!f! amplifier! *he advantage of the i!f! amplifier is that its frequency and &andwidth are fixed, no matter what the frequency of the incoming signal is! *his makes the design and operation of the amplifier much simpler! *he amplified i!f! signal is fed to the demodulator! *his circuit recovers the audio signal and discards the r!f! carrier! Some of the audio is fed &ack to the oscillator as an A3*,6A*I' 0.-Q3-?'@ ',?*.,5 voltage! *his ensures that the oscillator frequency is sta&le in spite of temperature changes! *he audio signal voltage is increased in amplitude &y a voltage amplifier! *he power level is increased sufficiently to drive the loudspeaker &y the power amplifier!

FM Transmitter:

*he circuit is &asically a radio frequency (.0 oscillator that operates around "%% 62/! Audio picked up and amplified &y the electret microphone is fed into the audio amplifier stage &uilt around the first transistor! ,utput from the collector is fed into the &ase of the second transistor where it modulates the resonant frequency of the tank circuit (the 7 turn coil and the trimcap &y varying the =unction capacitance of the transistor! Bunction capacitance is a function of the potential difference applied to the &ase of the transistor! *he tank circuit is connected in a 'olpitts oscillator circuit!

The electret microphoneC an electret is a permanently charged dielectric! It is made &y heating a ceramic material, placing it in a magnetic field then allowing it to cool while still in the magnetic field! It is the electrostatic equivalent of a permanent magnet! In the electret microphone a slice of this material is used as part of the dielectric of a

capacitor in which the diaphram of the microphone forms one plate! Sound pressure moves one of its plates! *he movement of the plate changes the capacitance! *he electret capacitor is connected to an 0-* amplifier! *hese microphones are small, have excellent sensitivity, a wide frequency response and a very low cost! First amplification stageC this is a standard self(&iasing common emitter amplifier! *he $$n0 capacitor isolates the microphone from the &ase voltage of the transistor and only allows alternating current (A' signals to pass! The tank ( !" circ#itC every 06 transmitter needs an oscillator to generate the radio 0requency (.0 carrier waves! *he tank (5' circuit, the D'7>< and the feed&ack 7p0 capacitor are the oscillator in the 'adre! An input signal is not needed to sustain the oscillation! *he feed&ack signal makes the &ase(emitter current of the transistor vary at the resonant frequency! *his causes the emitter(collector current to vary at the same frequency! *his signal fed to the aerial and radiated as radio waves! *he $<p0 coupling capacitor on the aerial is to minimi/e the effect of the aerial capacitance on the 5' circuit! *he name EtankE circuit comes from the a&ility of the 5' circuit to store energy for oscillations! In a pure 5' circuit (one with no resistance energy cannot &e lost! ?ote that the tank circuit does not oscillate =ust &y having a F' potential put across it! +ositive feed&ack must &e provided! Radio transmitter design Radio transmitter design is a complex topic which can &e &roken down into a series of smaller topics! A radio communication system requires two tuned circuits each at the transmitter and receiver, all four tuned to the same frequency! *he transmitter is an electronic device which, usually with the aid of an antenna, propagates an

electromagnetic

signal

such

as

radio,

television,

or

other

telecommunications! Methods *here were four chief methods of arranging the transmitting circuits "! *he transmitting system consists of two tuned circuits such that the one containing the spark(gap is a persistent oscillatorG the other, containing the aerial structure, is a free radiator maintained in oscillation &y &eing coupled to the first ! $! *he oscillating system, including the aerial structure with its associated inductance(coils and condensers, is designed to &e &oth a sufficiently persistent oscillator and a sufficiently active radiator! 8! *he transmitting system consists of two electrically coupled circuits, one of which, containing the air(gap, is a powerful &ut not persistent oscillator, &eing provided with a device for quenching the spark so soon as it has imparted sufficient energy to the other circuit containing the aerial structure, this second circuit then independently radiating the train of slightly damped waves at its own period! >! *he transmitting system, &y means either of an oscillating arc or a high(frequency alternator, emits a persistent train of undamped waves interrupted only &y &eing &roken up into long and short groups &y the operatorEs key! Fre$#enc% s%nthesis Fixed fre$#enc% s%stems

0or a fixed frequency transmitter one commonly used method is to use a resonant quart/ crystal in a 'rystal oscillator to fix the frequency! ;here the frequency has to &e varia&le, several options can &e used! &aria'le fre$#enc% s%stems

An array of crystals H used to ena&le a transmitter to &e used on several different frequenciesG rather than &eing a truly varia&le frequency system, it is a system which is fixed to several different frequencies!

1aria&le(frequency oscillator (10, +hase(locked loop frequency synthesiser Firect digital synthesis

&aria'le(fre$#enc% oscillator A varia'le fre$#enc% oscillator (&F)" in electronics is a oscillator with an oscillation frequency that can &e electronically changed (hence, varia&le ! It is a necessary component in any radio receiver or transmitter that works &y the super heterodyne principle, and controls the frequency to which the apparatus is tuned! *h% do radios need a &F)+ In a simple superhet radio receiver, incoming radio frequencies from the antenna are made to mix (or multiply with an internally generated radio frequency from the 10, in a process called mixing! *he mixing process can produce a range of output signalsC

at all the original frequencies, at frequencies that are the sum of each two mixed frequencies

at frequencies that equal the difference &etween two of the mixed frequencies at other, usually higher, frequencies!

If the required incoming radio frequency and the 10, frequency were &oth rather high (.0 &ut quite similar, then &y far the lowest frequency produced from the mixer will &e their difference! In very simple radios, it is relatively straightforward to separate this from all the other spurious signals using a filter, to amplify it and then further to process it into an audi&le signal! In more complex situations, many enhancements and complications get added to this simple process, &ut this mixing or heterodyning principle remains at the heart of it! ,hase(locked loop A phase(locked loop or phase lock loop (+55 is a control system that generates a signal that has a fixed relation to the phase of a )reference) signal! A phase(locked loop circuit responds to &oth the frequency and the phase of the input signals, automatically raising or lowering the frequency of a controlled oscillator until it is matched to the reference in &oth frequency and phase! A phase(locked loop is an example of a control system using negative feed&ack! In simpler terms, a +55 compares the frequencies of two signals and produces an error signal which is proportional to the difference &etween the input frequencies! *he error signal is then low(pass filtered and used to drive a voltage(controlled oscillator (1', which creates an output frequency! *he output frequency is fed through a frequency divider &ack to the input of the system, producing a negative feed&ack loop! If the output frequency drifts, the error signal will increase, driving the frequency in the opposite direction so as to reduce the error! *hus the output is locked to the frequency at the other input! *his input is called

the reference and is often derived from a crystal oscillator, which is very sta&le in frequency!

+hase(locked loops are widely used in radio, telecommunications, computers and other electronic applications! *hey may generate sta&le frequencies, recover a signal from a noisy communication channel, or distri&ute clock timing pulses in digital logic designs such as microprocessors! Since a single integrated circuit can provide a complete phase(locked(loop &uilding &lock, the technique is widely used in modern electronic devices, with output frequencies from a fraction of a cycle per second up to many gigahert/! -irect digital s%nthesis Firect Figital Synthesis (FFS is an electronic method for digitally

creating ar&itrary waveforms and frequencies from a single, fixed source frequency! A &asic FFS circuit consists of an electronic controller, a random(access memory, a frequency reference, a counter and a digital( to(analog converter (FA' !