Fixed-Frequency Receiver

the principle of a resonant circuit; the output level of the circuit is a function of the
frequency of the input signal. The maximum output occurs at the resonant fre-
quency fr determined by the crystal, and decreases as the signal frequency moves
away from this frequency, as shown in Figure 6-4.

Figure 6-4. Output level of a resonant circuit as a function of input frequency.

Therefore, whenever the frequency of the input signal (the carrier frequency) is
slightly different from the resonant frequency, any frequency variation Af of this
carrier is translated into a change in amplitude AA. -

Figure 6-5. Response of the crystal discriminator.

So that the resonant frequency of the circuit is stable, a crystal is used. The quality
factor Q is then high, and the roll-off is quite sharp. A small frequency variation if
leads to a large amplitude change AA. This effect limits the frequency deviation; for
this reason, the crystal discriminator is used only for narrow band frequency
modulation.

6-5