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Heising Reactor vs Modulation Reactor

Discussion in 'Amplitude Modulation - AM Fans' started by N1BCG, Mar 4, 2019.

Tags: heising modulation reactor

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Setting the record straight on these terms:

"It is important to remember Heising modulation does NOT use a

modulation transformer. Contrary to popular misuse on AM phone forums and
on the air, a dc current bypass choke or modulation reactor used in conjunction
with a transformer is NOT a Heising modulation system! The modulation choke or
N1BCG reactor in a transformer coupled systems prevents power amplifier steady-state
Ham Member current from flowing in the modulation transformer and biasing the modulation
QRZ Page transformer core. While this is often called "Heising modulation" and the choke is
sometimes referred to as a "Heising reactor", the use of "Heising" is incorrect."

https://www.w8ji.com/Heising modulation.htm

From the 1976 Amateur Radio Handbook:

N1BCG, Mar 4, 2019 #1

And, W8JI never identifies his Point “C” nor voltages at any nodes which would
have helped future modifiers and experimenters. In addition, all L1’s in the Globe
Scouts I have seen are 7H. He also swapped R101 and R106 in his discussion.

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Heising's original paper: Heising, R.A., Modulation in Radio Telephony, Presented

before The Institute of Radio Engineers, New York, December 1, 1920.

Raymond A. Heising was born August 10, 1888, at Albert Lea, Minn. He received a
degree in electrical engineering from the University of North Dakota in 1912 and the
AC0OB master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1914. After graduation, Heising
Subscriber began his work with the Western Electric Company and then Bell Telephone
QRZ Page Laboratories. He played a major role in the development of radio-telephone systems
for military use in World War I, and for transoceanic and ship-to-shore public
service use. He invented several modulation systems which are still in wide use
today: the grid modulation system for radio, the rectifier modulation system used in
carrier telephony, the Class C stage, and in particular, the constant-current or
Heising modulation system. He was a member of the I.R.E. (forerunner of the IEEE)
and the American Physical Society. (See: Physics Today. 18 (4): 105. April 1965).

Pheel

AC0OB, Mar 4, 2019 #2

Seems like "modified Heising" just might be a little easier to say and quickly
understood on the air than " a parallel-feed modulator circuit with modulation
reactor "
A gold standard reference :

http://amwindow.org/tech/htm/modheising.htm
W2NBC W2NBC, Mar 4, 2019 #3
Ham Member
QRZ Page AC0OB likes this.

There seems to be a renewed interest in building AM rigs, even among younger

amateurs, which is a fantastic trend so the design discussions should use terms that
accurately describe the circuits.

The definition of Heising modulation and the application of an inductor to provide a

constant current form of modulation render any other reference as inaccurate and
N1BCG misleading.
Ham Member
QRZ Page The term "modified Heising" as it's commonly used suggests the role of the inductor
as well outside its function as a Heising reactor. Modulation reactors are used to take
the D.C. supply off the secondary of a modulation transformer and do not carry
current for the modulator supply. This is likely what is meant in the majority of
discussions.

Heising reactors carry the D.C. supply for both a single ended modulator and the
modulated stage. The current supplied to the circuit remains constant due to the
modulating signal causing it to shift between the modulator and modulated RF stage
through the Heising reactor.

Easiest way to remember: There's either a mod transformer, possibly with a reactor
-or- a Heising reactor.

"I use a modified dipole and feed it at one end". Nope.

Last edited: Mar 4, 2019

N1BCG, Mar 4, 2019 #4

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Yo'all just don't choke on it...

73DG

W7TFO, Mar 4, 2019 #5

W7TFO
Premium Subscriber

QRZ Page

An intermediate form of "modified Heising" would be to use a mid-tapped choke

(reactor), with the +HV applied to the mid-tap, and a second modulator tube in
push-pull with the normal modulator tube, with its plate connected to the other end
of the mid-tapped reactor. The two tubes in push-pull could be class A, AB or B. You
would have essentially a push-pull plate modulator, using a modulation
autotransformer with a 2:1 plate-to-plate step-down ratio, or a 4:1 impedance ratio.
K4KYV This would allow for cleaner audio, since a push-pull stage in any class of service is
Subscriber more linear than a single-ended stage. The series resistor shunted by a by-pass
QRZ Page capacitor (C110 and R106 in the W8JI schematic) would still be necessary to achieve
100% modulation. UTC offered such a mid-tapped reactor in their early 1930s
catalogue, with at least one version rated up to 500 watts of audio to modulate a
kilowatt input.

Hams have successfully used this circuit when no modulation transformer was
available, by employing the HV mid-tapped winding of a power transformer.
However, to avoid core saturation and allow satisfactory performance, a separate
modulation reactor is needed to take the DC current flow off one side of the mid-
tapped winding, or else the transformer could be taken apart and the laminations re-
stacked to form a gap in the core to accommodate the unbalanced DC. The separate
modulation reactor could be a power supply filter choke, at least 10 henries or so,
rated at the plate current the final amplifier stage is drawing. Not broadcast quality,
but using readily available power supply iron, at least "ham radio quality" on par
with a DX-100 or Viking I/II.

If a real modulation transformer eventually becomes available, it could easily replace

the mid-tapped choke, and the need for C11o/R106 eliminated. This demonstrates
how Heising modulation eventually morphed into regular plate modulation, but it
took Loy Barton's treatise on class-B audio amplification circa 1930 to make this
scheme widely known.
K4KYV, Mar 4, 2019 #6

W2VW, AC0OB, W2NBC and 1 other person like this.

N1BCG said: ↑

There seems to be a renewed interest in building AM rigs, even among younger amateurs, which is a
fantastic trend so the design discussions should use terms that accurately describe the circuits.

N1BCG said: ↑
AC0OB
Subscriber 1) The definition of Heising modulation and the application of an inductor to provide a constant current form
of modulation render any other reference as inaccurate and misleading.
QRZ Page

2) The term "modified Heising" as it's commonly used suggests the role of the inductor as[is] well outside its
function as a Heising reactor. Modulation reactors are used to take the D.C. supply off the secondary of a
modulation transformer and do not carry current for the modulator supply. This is likely what is meant in
the majority of discussions...

1) I have Heising's original paper and he never stated the reactor could not be used

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with other modulator/modulation circuits.

2) The modulation reactor does divert dc away from the modulation transformer's
secondary to reduce core saturation, but the modulation reactor itself still carries DC
current as well as an ac component.

So the Heising inductor still carries dc current, whether by itself in a class A

modulator, or as a capacitive-coupled inductor in a combination with a Class B
modulation circuit.

I.e., I think a delineation is being attempted that is not necessary.

Pheel
AC0OB, Mar 4, 2019 #7

See also Electric Radio issue #353 October/2018.

Pheel

AC0OB, Mar 4, 2019 #8

AC0OB
Subscriber
QRZ Page

K4KYV said: ↑

An intermediate form of "modified Heising" would be to use a mid-tapped choke (reactor), with
the +HV applied to the mid-tap, and a second modulator tube in push-pull with the normal
modulator tube, with its plate connected to the other end of the mid-tapped reactor

SM0GLD
Ham Member
QRZ Page

Or maybe not in push-pull, just single ended like this.

How would this set up perform, is it of any use?
It would be possible to use an old audio transformer and have the dc magnetizing
current canceled out.

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SM0GLD, Mar 5, 2019 #9

The PA plate loading to the antenna would have to be adjusted so that the PA plate
current is identical to the total modulator plate current, to fully cancel the
magnetizing current in the transformer winding; this would be consistent with the
classic case of "constant current" Heising modulation in which modulator and PA
plate currents are the same. A high power audio output transformer, or a power
transformer could be used.
K4KYV
Subscriber The tap on the reactor could be located slightly to one side of the mid-point, towards
QRZ Page the modulator plate(s), to boost the peak audio voltage output from the modulator,
thus eliminating the need for the 470Ω/47mfd R-C combination in the PA plate lead.
This would, in effect, turn the tapped reactor into an autotransformer.

What exactly is the purpose of the tap on the 470Ω cathode resistor and the 1N4007?
The DC screen voltage on the 6146 would be much higher than the voltage at the tap
on the cathode resistor of the 6L6s, so it would conduct only on negative peaks near
100%, thus brick-wall limiting negative peak modulation of the screen. Wouldn't this
produce distortion right at the crest of negative peaks approaching 100%, since the
plate would still be getting the full negative peak with no similar limiting,
introducing a discontinuity to the ratio of plate and screen modulation on negative
peaks?
K4KYV, Mar 5, 2019 #10

AC0OB likes this.

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