Radio Receivers

Introduction of Radio Receiver

 In a communication system, a radio transmitter radiates or transmits a modulated

carrier signal. This modulated carrier signal travels down the channel. i.e.
transmission medium and reaches at the input of radio receiver. This means that the
modulated carrier signal is picked up by the antenna of the radio receiver.
 This modulated signal so received is generally very weak, therefore, inside the
receiver; this weak signal is first amplified in an R.F. amplifier stage of the radio
receiver. Also since the received modulated signal contains a lot of noise or unwanted
signals at adjacent frequencies, it must be selected and the noise must be rejected.
 Finally, in the receiver, the R.F. carrier or modulated signal must be demodulated to
get back the original, modulating or baseband signal (i.e. audio signal in case of the
broadcast receiver) is generally weak, it has to amplify in one or more stage of an
audio amplifier.
Function of Receiver

1. Picks up the incoming modulated signal (i.e. electromagnetic waves) by the receiving
antenna.
2. Select the desired signal and reject the unwanted signals.
3. Amplify this selected R.F. signal.
4. Detect the modulated signal to get back the original modulating or baseband signal.
5. Amplify the modulating frequency signal.

Classification of Radio Receiver

 We can classify the radio receivers in two ways:

(A) Depending upon the applications, the radio receivers nmay be classified as follows:

1. Amplitude modulation (A.M.) Broadcast Receivers: These receivers are used to

receive the broadcast of speech or music transmitted from amplitude modulation
broadcast transmitters which operate on long wave, medium wave and short
wavebands.
2. Frequency Modulation (F.M.) Broadcast Receivers: These receivers are used to
receive the broadcast programs of F.M. broadcast transmitters which operate in VHF
or UHF bands.
3. Communication Receivers: Communication receivers are used for the reception of
telegraphs and short-wave telephone signals. This means that communication
receivers are used for various purposes other than broadcast services.
4. Television Receivers: Television receivers are used to receive television broadcasts in
VHF or in UHF bands.
5. Radar Receivers: Radar receivers are used to receive Radar signals.
(B) Depending upon the fundamental aspects, the radio receivers may also be classified
as under:

1. Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Receivers

2. Superheterodyne Receiver
 Presently, the superheterodyne receiver is the most popular and most widely used.
The TRF receiver was used earlier in the 1940s. The TRF receiver had some inherent
drawbacks which were removed in the superheterodyne.
TRF Receiver
The full form of the TRF receiver is a Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) Reciever. A tuned radio
frequency (TRF) receiver is the simplest radio receiver among all receivers.
TRF Receiver Block Diagram

 The very first block of this receiver is an RF stage. This stage generally contains two
or three RF amplifiers. Actually, these RF (radio frequency) amplifiers are tuned
amplifiers i.e. they have variable tuned circuits at the input and output sides.
 At the input of the receiver, there is a receiving antenna as shown in the block
diagram in the figure. At this antenna, signals from different sources (i.e. stations) are
present. However, with the help of the input variable tuned circuit of RF amplifiers
the desired signal (i.e. station) is selected. But this selected signal is usually very
weak in the order of µV. This selected weak signal is amplified by the RF amplifier
(i.e. R.F stage).
 After this, the amplified incoming modulated signal is applied to the demodulator.
The demodulator or detector demodulates the modulated signal and thus at the output
of the demodulator, we get modulating or baseband signal (i.e. audio signal). This
audio signal is amplified by an audio amplifier.
 After that, this audio signal is further amplified by a power amplifier up to desired
power level to drive the loudspeaker. The last stage of this receiver is the loudspeaker.
A loudspeaker is a transducer that changes the electrical signals into sound signals.

Drawbacks of TRF Receiver

 Although the TRF receiver is cheaper and the simplest one, it has certain drawbacks
as:
1. The TRF receiver suffers from a tendency to oscillate at higher frequencies from the
multistage RF amplifiers with high gain and operating at the same frequency. If such
 an amplifier has a gain of 20,000 then if a small portion of the output leaked back to
the input of the RF stage, then positive feedback and oscillation will result. This type
of leakage could result from power supply coupling, stray capacitance coupling,
radiation coupling, or coupling through any other element common to the input and
output stages, definitely, this type of condition is undesirable for a good receiver. This
problem is also termed instability of the receiver.
2. The selectivity of a receiver is its ability to distinguish between the desired signal and
an undesired signal. The selectivity of the TRF receivers is poor. In fact, it is difficult
to achieve sufficient selectivity at high frequencies due to the enforced use of single-
tuned circuits. The receiver couldn't use double-tuned RF amplifiers, even though
they would have improved selectivity. The problem was that these amplifiers needed
to be adjustable, and it was too challenging to make multiple double-tuned amplifiers
tune together perfectly.
3. Another problem associated with the TRF receiver is the bandwidth variation over the
tuning range. For example, in AM broadcast (535 to 1640 kHz) system, let us
consider that a tuned circuit is required to have a bandwidth of 10 kHz at a centre
frequency of 535 kHz.
 According to the definition, the Quality factor Q of this tuned circuit must be
Q = Resonance frequency/Bandwidth = 535/10KHz = 53.5.

 Now, at the other end of this AM broadcast band (i.e. 1640 kHz), the Quality factor of
the coil, must increase by a factor of 1640/535 ( 1640/10KHz i.e. 3) to a value of 164.
However, in practice, several losses dependent upon frequency would prevent such a
large increase. Thus, practically, the Quality factor Q of this tuned circuit is unlikely
to exceed 120 and hence: providing a bandwidth of the tuned circuit equal to
f = fr/Q = 1640/120 = 13.7 KHz
 Therefore, due to this increased bandwidth of 13.7 kHz in place of a fixed bandwidth
of 10 kHz, the receiver would pick up or select adjacent frequencies (i.e. stations)
with the desired frequency or station. This means that the bandwidth of the TRF
receiver varies with the incoming frequency.

 Consider again a Tuned Radio Frequency Receiver required to tune to 36.5 MHz,
the upper end of the shortwave band. If the Q required of the RF circuits is again
calculated, still on this basis of a 10-kHz bandwidth, we have Q = 36,500/10 =
3650! It is obvious that such a Q is impossible to obtain with ordinary tuned
circuits.
 The problems of instability, insufficient adjacent-frequency rejection, and bandwidth
variation can all be solved by the use of a superheterodyne receiver.

Superheterodyne Receiver
All the drawbacks in the TRF receiver have been removed in Superheterodyne Receiver. This
basic Superheterodyne Receiver is most widely used in most communication.
This means that the Superheterodyne principle is used in all types of receivers like television
receivers, radar receivers, etc.
The below figure shows the Superheterodyne Receiver Block Diagram.
 The RF circuits are used mainly to select the wanted frequency, to reject interference
such as the image frequency and (especially at high frequencies) to reduce the noise
figure of the receiver.
 In a superheterodyne receiver, the incoming RF signal frequency is combined with the
local oscillator signal frequency through a mixer and is converted into a signal of a
lower fixed frequency. This lower fixed frequency is known as an intermediate
frequency (I.F.).
 However, the intermediate frequency signal contains the same modulation as the
original signal. This intermediate frequency signal is now amplified and demodulated
to reproduce the original signal.
 The word heterodyne stands for mixing. Here we have mixed the incoming signal
frequency with the local oscillator frequency. Therefore this receiver is called the
superheterodyne receiver.

 Thus, in a superheterodyne receiver, a constant frequency difference is

maintained between the local oscillator signal frequency and incoming RF
signals frequency through capacitance tunning in which the capacitances are
ganged together and operated by a common control knob.
 The intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier generally contains a number of
transformers each consisting of a pair of mutually coupled tuned circuits. Thus, with
this large number of double-tuned circuits, operating at a specially chosen frequency,
the IF amplifier provides most of the gain (i.e. sensitivity) and bandwidth
 requirements (i.e. selectivity) of the receiver. This means that the IF amplifier
determines the sensitivity and selectivity of the superheterodyne receiver.

 Because of its narrow bandwidth, the I.F. amplifier rejects all other frequencies except
intermediate frequency (I.F.). Actually, this rejection process reduces the risk of
interference from other stations or sources. In fact, this selection process is the key to
the superheterodyne receiver’s exceptional performance.
 After the I.F. amplifier, the signal is applied at the input of the demodulator which
extracts the original modulating signal (i.e. audio signal). This audio signal is
amplified by an audio amplifier to get a particular voltage level. This amplified audio
signal is further amplified by a power amplifier to get a specified power level so that
it may activate the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker is a transducer that converts this
audio electrical signal into an audio sound signal and thus the original signal is
reproduced i.e. the original transmission is received.
The following example shows the Superheterodyne Receiver tuning process:
540 kHz to 1650 kHz (standard commercial AM band)
1. Select an AM station, i.e., 640 kHz.
2. Tune the RF amplifier to the lower end of the AM band.
3. Tune the RF amplifier. This also tunes the local oscillator to a predetermined
frequency of 1095 kHz.
4. Mix the 1095 kHz and 640 kHz. This produces the following signals at the
output of the mixer circuit; these signals are then fed to the IF amplifier:
1.095-MHz local oscillator frequency
640-kHz AM station carrier frequency
455-kHz difference frequency
1.735-MHz sum frequency
 Because of its narrow bandwidth, the IF amplifier rejects all other frequencies but 455
kHz. This rejection process reduces the risk of interference from other stations. This
selection process is the key to the superheterodyne’s exceptional performance. The
process of tuning the local oscillator to a predetermined frequency for each station
throughout the AM band is known as tracking.

Receiver characteristics
 They are:
1. Sensitivity
2. Selectivity
3. Fidelity
4. Double Spotting
5. Tracking
1. Sensitivity:
The sensitivity of a radio receiver may be defined as its ability to amplify weak
signals.
It is defined in terms of voltage/power that must be applied to the input terminals of the
receiver to produce a standard output power which is measured at the output terminals.
The high value of receiver gain ensures smaller input signal necessary to produce the
desired output power. Thus a receiver with good sensitivity will detect minimum RF
signal at the input and produce useful demodulated signal.
A few factors determining the sensitivity of a receiver are as under:
The gain of the IF amplifier.
The gain of the RF amplifier.
The noise figure of the receiver.
 Selectivity :
The selectivity of a receiver is defined as its ability to accept or select the desired
band of frequency and reject all other unwanted frequencies which can interfere
with the original signals. Hence, the adjacent channel rejection of the receiver can be
obtained from its selectivity parameter. Selectivity depends upon the response of IF
section, mixer and RF section. The signal bandwidth must be narrow for better selectivity.
The selectivity of the receiver depends upon the following factors:
Selectivity varies with receiving frequency and becomes somewhat worse when the
receiving frequency is raised.
In general, it is mainly determined by the response of the IF section, with the mixer and
RF amplifier input circuits.
Selectivity is the main factor that determines the adjacent channel rejection of a
receiver.
Fidelity
Fidelity of a receiver may be defined as its ability to reproduce the exact replica of
the transmitted signals at the receiver output. The amplifier must pass high bandwidth
signals to amplify the frequencies of the outermost sidebands for achieving better fidelity,
while for better selectivity the signal should have narrow bandwidth. Thus, a tradeoff
between selectivity and fidelity is necessary.
Double Spotting
When a receiver picks up the same short wave station at two nearby points on the receiver
dial, the double spotting phenomenon takes place.
The main cause for double spotting is poor front-end electricity, i.e., inadequate image
frequency rejection. The adverse effect of double spotting is that a weak station may be
marked by the reception of a nearby strong station at the spurious point of the dial.
If image frequency rejection is improved, then certainly there will be a corresponding
decrease in the double spotting occurrence.
Tracking or Tunning of a Reciever
In a superheterodyne receiver, the local oscillator frequency is made to track with the
tuned circuits which are tuned to the incoming signal frequency in order to make a
constant frequency difference at the output of the mixer.
For a general, AM broadcast system, the intermediate frequency (I.F.) is 455kHz. This
indicates that the local oscillator should always be set at a frequency that is 455kHz above
the incoming signal frequency.

 AM Receiver RF Section:
RF Amplifier

 RF amplifier is a small signal tuned amplifier with a tuned circuit both on the input
side and the output side. Both this input and output tuned circuits are tuned to the
desired incoming carrier frequency.
 The tuned circuits select the desired carrier frequency and reject all undesired
frequencies including the image frequency. Hence the RF amplifier provides image
frequency rejection. Note: "image frequency" refers to undesired signals that can
interfere with the intended signal
 Also, the gain provided by the RF amplifier will result in an improved signal-to-noise
ratio in the output of the receiver. This is due to the fact that the incoming weak signal
is raised to a higher level with the help of an RF amplifier before it is fed at the input
of the mixer stage which contributes to most of the noise generated at the receiver.
  However, if the incoming weak signal is fed directly to the frequency mixer, the
signal-to-noise ratio at the output of the mixer stage is quite poor and hence any
amount of subsequent amplification cannot improve the Signal to noise ratio. Thus the
one important function of the RF amplifier is to improve the Signal to Noise Ratio.
 There are some cases also where an RF amplifier is not used in the receiver rather its
use is uneconomical there. The best example of this kind of receiver is a domestic
receiver used in a high signal strength area like a metropolitan city. Since in a
metropolitan city like Delhi, several stations are situated and in such places, strength
is obviously very high and thus there is no need for the use of an RF amplifier.
However, a receiver having an RF amplifier is obviously superior in performance to a
receiver without an RF amplifier.
The advantages of having an Transistor RF Amplifier Circuit are as follows:
1. Greater gain, i.e., better sensitivity
2. Improved image-frequency rejection
3. Improved signal-to-noise ratio
4. Improved rejection of adjacent unwanted signals, i.e., better selectivity
5. Better coupling of the receiver to the antenna (important at VHF and above)
6. Prevention of false frequencies from entering the mixer and heterodyning there to
produce an interfering frequency equal to the IF from the desired signal
7. Prevention of re radiation of the local oscillator through the antenna of the receiver
Circuit Diagram of RF Amplifier
 The below figure shows the circuit diagram of single stage RF amplifier using an
NPN transistor. It is a small signal amplifier using parallel tuned circuits as the load
impedance. This parallel output tuned circuit is tuned to the incoming desired signal
frequency.
 The output from the receiving antenna is a transformer coupled to the base of the
transistor.
 In addition to this, small trimmer capacitors are connected in shunt with these tuning
capacitors for the purpose of RF alignment.
 A self-bias is provided with the help of resistors R1 and R2 and RE-CE assembly. A de-
coupling network consisting of resistor Rb and capacitor Cb is placed in the collector
supply lead.
 The amplified R.F. signal developed across the collector tuned circuit is coupled
through a step-down transformer providing the impedance matching between the high
impedance of the R.F. Amplifier collector circuit and the low impedance of the base
to emitter circuit of the following stage.
  Receiver characteristics
Sensitivity:
 The sensitivity of a radio receiver is its ability to amplify weak signals.
 It is often defined in terms of the voltage that must be applied to the receiver input
terminals to give a standard output power, measured at the output terminals.
 Sensitivity is often expressed in micro volts or in decibels.

 It is seen from the sensitivity curve, the sensitivity varies over the tuning band. At
1000 kHz, this particular receiver has a sensitivity of 12.7 μV, or – 98 dBV.
 There is another definition for sensitivity in terms of signal power required to
produce a minimum acceptable output signal with a minimum acceptable signal-
to-noise ratio.
 The most important factors determining the sensitivity of a superheterodyne
receiver are the gain of the IF amplifier(s) and that of the Transistor RF Amplifier
Circuit.
 Portable and other small receivers used only for the broadcast band might have a
sensitivity in the vicinity of 150 μV, whereas the sensitivity of quality
communications receivers may be better than 1 μV in the HF band.
 Selectivity:
 The selectivity of a receiver is its ability to reject unwanted signals.

 Looking at the curve, we see that at 20 kHz below the receiver tuned frequency,
an interfering signal would have to be 60 dB greater than the wanted signal to
come out with the same amplitude.

 Selectivity varies with receiving frequency if ordinary tuned circuits are used in
the IF section, and becomes somewhat worse when the receiving frequency is
raised.

 In general, it is determined by the response of the IF section, with the mixer and
RF amplifier input circuits playing a small but significant part.

 Selectivity determines the adjacent-channel rejection of a receiver.

Image frequency and its rejection:

In a standard broadcast receiver the local oscillator frequency is made higher than the
incoming signal frequency. It is made equal at all times to the signal frequency plus the
intermediate frequency. Thus f0 = fs+fi, or fi = fo-fs. When fs and fo are mixed, the difference
frequency is equal to fi. It is the only one passed and amplified by the IF stage.

If an unwanted signal frequency fsi reach the mixer, such that fsi = fo + fi, that is, fsi = fs+fi +fi=
fs + 2fi, then this frequency will also produce fi when mixed with fo. Unfortunately, this
spurious intermediate-frequency signal will also be amplified by the IF stage and will
therefore provide interference. This has the effect of two stations being received
simultaneously and is naturally undesirable.
The term fsi is called the image frequency and is defined as the signal frequency plus twice
the intermediate frequency.

The rejection of an image frequency by a single-tuned circuit, i.e., the ratio of the gain at the
signal frequency to the gain at the image frequency, is given by
Q = loaded Q of tuned circuit
If the receiver has an RF stage, then there are two tuned circuits, both tuned to fs. The
rejection of each will be calculated by the same formula, and the total rejection will be the
product of the two.
Image rejection depends on the front-end selectivity of the receiver and must be achieved
before the IF stage. Once the false frequency enters the first IF amplifier, it becomes
impossible to remove it from the wanted signal.
if fsi/fs is large, as it is in the AM broadcast band, the use of an RF stage is not essential for
good image-frequency rejection, but it does become necessary above about 3 MHz’s

Adjacent channel selectivity (Double spotting):

Occurs when a receiver pick up the same shortwave station at two nearby points on the
receiver dial. It is caused by poor front-end selectivity, i.e., inadequate image-frequency
rejection. i.e the front end of the receiver does not select different adjacent signals very well,
but the IF stage takes care of eliminating almost all of them.
Consider a receiver at HF, having an IF of 455 kHz. If there is a strong station at 14.7 MHz,
the receiver will naturally pick it up. When it does, the local oscillator frequency will be
15.155 MHz. The receiver will also pick up this strong station when it (the receiver) is tuned
to 13.790 MHz. When the receiver is tuned to the second frequency, its local oscillator will
be adjusted to 14.245 MHz. Since this is exactly 455 kHz below the frequency of the strong
station, the two signals will produce 455 kHz when they are mixed, and the IF amplifier will
not reject this signal.
If there had been an Transistor RF Amplifier Circuit, the 14.7-MHz signal might have been
rejected before reaching the mixer, but without an RF amplifier this receiver cannot
adequately reject 14.7 MHz when it is tuned to 13.79 MHz.
Lack of selectivity is harmful because a weak station may be masked by the reception of a
nearby strong station at the spurious point on the dial.

 Frequency Changing and Tracking in Receivers:

 The mixer is a nonlinear device having two input terminals and one output
terminal. The signal from the antenna or from the preceding RF amplifier is fed to
one of input terminals, and the output of the local oscillator is fed to the other.
 Mixer is a nonlinear circuit, it will have several frequencies present in output,
including the difference between the two input frequencies in AM this was called
the lower sideband.
 The difference frequency is the intermediate Frequency Changing and is the
output circuit of the mixer is tuned.
 The most common types of mixers are the bipolar transistor, FET, dual-gate
metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and integrated
circuit.
Separately excited FET mixer:
  one device acts as a mixer while the other supplies the necessary oscillations.
In this case, T1, the FET, is the mixer, to whose gate is fed the output of T2,
the bipolar transistor Hartley oscillator.
 An FET is well suited for mixer duty, because of the square-law characteristic
of its drain current.
 The ganging together of the tuning capacitors across the mixer and oscillator
coils, andf has a trimmer (CTr) across it for fine .
 The output is taken through a double-tuned transformer (the first IF
transformer) in the drain of the mixer and fed to the IF amplifier.
 This mixer is used at higher frequencies, whereas in domestic receivers a self-
excited mixer is used.

Self-excited Bipolar Transistor mixer:

 Self - excited mixer circuit acts as an RF amplifier, oscillator and mixer.
 In this circuit, the signal is picked up by a antenna. The antenna coil together
with the variable capacitor forms a tuned circuit to enable the input to be tuned
and limit the reception of out of band signals.

 This is applied to the base of the transistor where it is amplified and where it enters the
mixing process.
 The local oscillator signal is generated by the coil assembly connected to the emitter and
collector circuits. Feedback from the collector to the emitter is tuned via the additional
resonant circuit.
 The variable capacitor for this is ganged with that of the RF front end so that when the
radio is tuned, both the local oscillator and RF tuning remain (almost) optimised for the
frequency in use.
 The transformer at the collector circuit is tuned to the intermediate frequency of the radio,
and in this way the local oscillator and RF signals are removed as well as providing the
adjacent channel selectivity for the radio, with the selectivity provided by further IF
stages.
Superheterodyne receiver
 The signal is received by the first-stage RF amplifier (which is a wideband class A
amplifier) whose resonant Frequency Changing response curve can be tuned from 540
kHz to 1650 kHz (the standard broadcast band).
 The modulated signal is amplified and fed to the mixer stage (a class C circuit capable
of producing the sum, difference, and original frequencies), which is receiving signals
from two sources (the RF amplifier and the local oscillator).
 The unmodulated signal from the local oscillator is fed to the mixer simultaneously
with the modulated signal from the RF amplifier (these two circuits are mechanically
linked). The local oscillator (LO) is a tunable circuit with a tuning range that extends
from 995 kHz to 2105 kHz.
 The output from the mixer circuit is connected to the intermediate-frequency
amplifier (IF amp), which amplifies a narrow band of select frequencies (455 kHz ± 3
kHz).
 In some receivers this class A circuit acts not only as an amplifier but also as a filter
for unwanted frequencies which would interfere with the selected one.
 This new IF frequency contains the same modulated information as that transmitted
from the source but at a frequency range lower than the standard broadcast band.
 This conversion process helps reduce unwanted interference from outside sources.
 The signal is rectified and filtered to eliminate one sideband and the carrier
(conversion from RF to AF) and is finally amplified for listening.

To understand the process mathematically, follow these five steps:

1. The receiver is tuned to 550 kHz

2. The local oscillator (because of mechanical linking) will generate a frequency of
1005 kHz (always 455 kHz above the station carrier Frequency Changing)
3. The mixer will produce a usable output of 455 kHz (the difference frequency of
LO — RF, 1005 kHz — 550 kHz)
4. The mixer output is fed to the IF amp (which can respond only to 455 kHz ± 3
kHz; all the other frequencies are rejected
 5. The converted signal is rectified and filtered (detected), to eliminate the unusable
portions, and amplified for listening purposes
 The superheterodyne receiver has a number of tunable circuits which must all be tuned
correctly if any given station is to be received.
 The various tuned circuits are mechanically coupled so that only one tuning control and
dial are required. This means that whatever the received frequency, the RF and mixer
input tuned circuits must be tuned to it. The local oscillator must simultaneously be tuned
to a frequency precisely higher than this by the intermediate frequency.
 Any errors that exist in this frequency difference will result in an incorrect Frequency
Changing being fed to the IF amplifier, and this must naturally be avoided. Such errors as
exist are called tracking errors, and they result in stations appearing away from their
correct position on the dial.
 Keeping a constant frequency difference between the local oscillator and the front-end
circuits is not possible, and some tracking errors must always occur.
The padding capacitor or a padder and is shown (labeled Cp) in Figures 6-6 and 6-7. The
wanted result has been obtained because the variation of the local oscillator coil reactance
with Frequency Changing has been altered. The three frequencies of correct tracking may be
chosen in the design of the receiver and are often as shown in Figure 6-10, just above the.
bottom end of the band (600 kHz), somewhat below the top end (1500 kHz), and at the
geometric mean of the two (950 kHz).

It is entirely possible to keep maximum tracking error below 3 kHz. A value as low as
that is generally considered quite acceptable. Since the padder has a fixed value, it
provides correct three-point tracking only if the adjustable local oscillator coil has been
preadjusted, i.e., aligned, to the correct value. If this has not been done, then incorrect
three-point tracking will result, or the center point may disappear completely, as shown in
Figure 6-10.

Local Oscillator Frequency:

 Most common types of local oscillators are the Armstrong and the Hartley, The
Colpitts, Clapp, or ultra-audio oscillators are also used. All these oscillators are
LC and that each employs only one tuned circuit to determine its Frequency
Changing.
 The frequency stability of the local oscillator must be particularly high, or a
frequency synthesizer may be used.
  The frequency range of a broadcast receiver local oscillator is calculated on the
basis of a signal frequency range from 540 to 1650 kHz, and an intermediate
frequency which is generally 455 kHz.
 For the usual case of local oscillator frequency above signal frequency, this range
is 995 to 2105 kHz, giving a ratio of maximum to minimum frequencies of
2.2:1(2105/995).
 If the local oscillator had been designed to be below signal frequency, the range
would have been 85 to 1195 kHz, and the ratio would have been 14:1.
 The normal tunable capacitor has a capacitance ratio of approximately 10:1,
giving a frequency ratio of 3.2:1. Hence the 2.2:1 ratio required of the local
oscillator operating above signal frequency is well within range, whereas the other
system has a frequency range that cannot be covered in one sweep. This is the
main reason why the local oscillator frequency is always made higher than the
signal frequency in receivers with variable-frequency oscillators.
 It may be shown that tracking difficulties would disappear if the frequency ratio
were made constant. Now, in the usual system, the ratio of local oscillator
frequency to signal frequency is 995/540 = 1.84 at the bottom of, the broadcast
band, and 2105/1650 = 1.28 at the top of the band. In a local-oscillator-below-
signal-frequency system, these ratios would be 6.35 and 1.38, respectively. This is
a much greater variation in frequency ratio and would result in far more
troublesome tracking problems.

 Intermediate Frequency and IF Amplifiers

Choice of frequency: The Intermediate Frequency Amplifier (IF) of a receiving system is
usually a compromise, since there are reasons why it should be neither low nor high, nor
in a certain range between the two.
The following are the major factors influencing the choice of the Intermediate
Frequency Amplifier in any particular system:

1. If the Intermediate Frequency is too high, then a poor selectivity and poor
adjacent-channel rejection result unless sharp cutoff (e.g., crystal or mechanical)
filters are used in the IF stages.
2. A high value of intermediate frequency increases tracking difficulties.
3. As the intermediate frequency is lowered, image-frequency rejection becomes
poorer.

From above Equations showed that image rejection is improved as the ratio of
image frequency to signal frequency is increased, and this requires a high IF. It
 is seen that image-frequency rejection becomes worse as signal frequency is
raised.
4. A very low Intermediate Frequency can make the selectivity too sharp, cutting
off the sidebands.
5. If the IF is very low, the frequency stability of the local oscillator must be made
correspondingly higher because any frequency drift is now a larger proportion
of the low IF than of a high IF.
6. The Intermediate Frequency must not fall within the tuning range of the
receiver, or else instability will occur and heterodyne whistles will be heard,
making it impossible to tune to the frequency band immediately adjacent to the
intermediate frequency.
IF Frequencies used:

1. Standard broadcast AM receivers, which are tuned to 540 to 1650 kHz the IF is
455 kHz.
2. AM, SSB and other receivers employed for shortwave or VHF reception have a
first IF often in the range from about 1.6 to 2.3 MHz, or else above 30 MHz.
(Such receivers have two or more different Intermediate Frequency Amplifier.)
3. FM receivers using the standard 88- to 108-MHz band have an IF which is
almost always 10.7 MHz.
4. Television receivers in the VHF band (54 to 223 MHz) and in the UHF band (470
to 940 MHz) use an IF between 26 and 46 MHz, with approximately 36 and 46
MHz the two most popular values.
5. Microwave and radar receivers, operating on frequencies in the 1- to 10-GHz
range, use intermediate frequencies depending on the application, with 30, 60
and 70 MHz among the most popular.