DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH

Name : N. Ramanjaneyulu.
Designation : Lecturer.
Branch : ECE.
Institute : G.P.W., Hindupur.
semester : Third.
Subject : Analog communication.
Code : EC-305.
Topic : Transmitters& receivers.
Sub-topic : Receivers-Heterodyne Receiver
Duration : 50Mts.
Teaching aids : PPTs,diagrams.

EC305.49 1
Recap

In the previous topic, you have leant about

• TRF receiver block diagram
• TRF receiver operation
• TRF receiver merits and demerits
• Principle of heterodyning

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Objectives:

• To Know the Basic blocks in super heterodyne receiver.

• To know the principle of operation of super heterodyne
receiver.
• To know the Function of each block.
• To know the Advantages of super heterodyne receiver.
• To know the Applications of super heterodyne receiver.

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Block diagram of super heterodyne receiver

Fig :Super Heterodyne Receiver

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 Various blocks in super heterodyne receiver

• Receiving antenna.
• RF amplifier.
• Mixer .
• local oscillator.
• IF amplifier.

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 Super heterodyne receiver
• Detector.
• Audio amplifier.
• power amplifier.
• Loud speaker.

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 Principle of operation

• In the super heterodyne receiver, the incoming signal

combines with the local oscilator frequency.

• The output of mixer is nothing but the difference of

incoming RF signal frequency and local oscilator
frequency and is called as” intermediate frequency.”

• It is amplified and detected to produce the original

information.

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 Principle of operation

• A constant frequency difference is maintained between

the local oscillator and the RF input normally through
the ganged capacitor.

• The IF amplifier provides most of the gain and B.W

requirements of the receiver.

• The RF circuits are used mainly to select the wanted

frequency and to reject all other unwanted frquencies.

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 Function of each block

Receiving antenna:

• The receiving antenna is used to receive the EM wave.

• The received EM wave is converted into RF signal.

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RF amplifier:

• Single tuned transformer coupled type is most commonly

used for RF amplification.

• It takes the signal received through the antenna.

• It selects the desired frequency and rejects all unwanted

frequencies.

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• It provides sufficient gain to the received signal.

• Practical RF amplifier have the input and output tuning

capacitors ganged each other and to the local oscillator.

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 Mixer and local oscillator

• This stage converts the RF signal in to the IF.

• The output signal from the RF amplifier is coupled to the

mixer.

• The other input to the mixer is from the local oscillator.

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• The mixer produces a frequency equal to the difference
between local oscillator and the incoming RF signal
frequency called as IF .

• The IF is always constant irrespective of the incoming

signal frequency.

• In case of AM receivers IF is 455KHz.

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 IF amplifier

• The output of the mixer is the IF frequency and is applied

to the IF amplifier.

• The IF amplifiers are tuned circuits that selects the

difference signal only.

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• The IF stage in a practical receiver has two or three
separate amplifiers, all tuned to the same frequency.

• The IF amplifier provides most of the gain and B.W

requirements of the receiver.

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 Detector

• The output of the last IF stage is fed to the detector.

• The detector recovers the original message signal from

the modulated signal which is in IF .

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• The detector basically consists of a diode rectifier and a
low pass filter.

• The output of the detector contains a DC component of

the wave along with the message signal.

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 Audio amplifier
• The message signal recovered is applied to the audio
amplifier.

• It amplifies the signal to the sufficient level.

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 Power amplifier

• The output of the audio amplifier is given to the power

amplifier.

• It raise the power level of message signal to the

sufficient level.

• The amplified signal is applied to the loud speaker.

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Loud speaker:

• The loud speaker converts the electrical signal into the

sound to reproduce the original information.

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Advantages:

• Uniform selectivity and sensitivity throughout the tuning

band.

• No variation in B.W over the tuning range.

• Sufficient adjacent channel frequency rejection.

• Good fidelity.

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Applications:

• AM broad cast receivers.

• FM broad cast receivers.
• T.V receivers.
• Communication receivers.
• Radar receivers.
• ISB and SSB receivers.
• Satellite receivers

Invariably all the modern receivers of various applications

employ super heterodyne process.

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Summary:

After completion of this topic we have learnt about:

• Block diagram of super heterodyne receiver.

• Working principle of super heterodyne receiver.

• Various blocks in the super heterodyne receiver.

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• Function of each block in the super heterodyne receiver.

• Advantages of super heterodyne receiver.

• Applications of super heterodyne receiver.

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 Quiz

1) Higher intermediate frequency in a super heterodyne

receiver
a) increase tracking problems
b) reduce adjacent channel rejection
c) improves selectivity
d) both ‘a’ and ‘b’
Ans. a

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2) The standard IF value for AM receiver is
a)455MHz
b)455KHz
c)10.7KHz
d)10.7MHz

Ans. b

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 Frequently asked questions

• Draw the block diagram of super heterodyne receiver

and explain?

• List the advantages of super heterodyne receiver ?

• List the applications of super heterodyne receiver ?

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