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Radio Receivers

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

It is hard to imagine what the modern world would look like without the constant exchange of
a huge quantity of information. It is currently disseminated by various means such as
newspapers, telephone and the Internet. However the fastest way, and sometimes the only way,
is by radio. This is where the transfer is by electromagnetic waves, traveling at the speed of
light. In radio communication, a radio transmitter comprises one side of the link and a radio
receiver on the other. No conductor of any kind is needed between them, and that's how the
expression Wireless Link came into being.
In the early days of radio engineering the terms Wireless Telegraph and Wireless Telephone
were also used, but were quickly replaced with Radio Communication, or just Radio.

Radio communication is created by means of electromagnetic waves, of which the existence

and features were theoretically described and predicted by James Maxwell, in 1864.
First experimental proof of this theory was given by Heinrich Hertz in 1888, ten years after
Maxwell's death.
It was already known at that time that electric current exists in oscillatory circuits made of a
capacitor of capacity C and coil of inductance L. It was Thomson, back in 1853 that
determined the frequency of this arrangement to be:

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Hertz used an oscillatory circuit with a capacitor made of two bowls, K1 and K2 (Pic. 1.1), and
the "coil" was made of two straight conductors. The bowls could be moved along the
conductors. In this way the capacitance of the circuit could be altered, and also its resonance
frequency. With every interruption from the battery, a high voltage was produced at the output
of the inductor, creating a spark between the narrow placed balls k1 and k2. According to
Maxwell's theory, as long as there was a spark, i.e. alternating current in the circuitry, there
was an electromagnetic field surrounding the conductors, spreading itself through the
surrounding space. A few metres away from this device Hertz placed a bent conductor with
metal balls k3, k4 placed on the ends, positioned very close to each other.
This also was an oscillatory circuit, called the resonator.
According to Maxwell's theory, voltage induced by the electromagnetic waves should be
created in the resonator. Voltage existence would be shown by a spark between the balls k3
and k4.
And that's the way it was: Whenever there was a spark in the oscillator between the balls k1
and k2, a spark would also be produced by the resonator, between balls k3 and k4.
With various forms of the arrangement in Pic. 1.1, Hertz proved that electromagnetic waves
behave as light since they could also be reflected and refracted.
It was also shown that light is of electromagnetic nature, as stated by Maxwell.
Hertz, however, did not believe in the practical value of his electromagnetic waves
experiments. The range of the link was no further than a few meters. The transmitted signal
was very weak, therefore the signal in the receiver had a very small amplitude and it wasn't
possible to detect it at a greater distance. The possibility of amplifying the signal in the receiver
did not exist at the time.
Besides the short range, another shortcoming of the link was noted: If another similar
transmitter was working nearby, a receiver detected all the signals at the same time. It did not
have the ability of isolation.
However crude and simple these experiments were at the time, they represented the birth of a
new scientific branch - Radio Engineering.
The pioneers of radio were Popov and Marconi, but the place of honor belongs to Nikola Tesla,
who demonstrated wireless broadcasting in 1893, at the Franklin Institute.
Pic.1.2 shows the arrangement of this broadcast system.
Tesla's idea was to produce electromagnetic waves by means of oscillatory circuits and
transmit them over an antenna. A receiver would then receive the waves with another antenna
and oscillatory circuit being in resonance with the oscillatory circuit of the transmitter. This
represented the groundwork of today's radio communications.
In 1904 John Flemming created the diode, and in 1907 Lee De Forest invented the triode. That

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year can be considered the birth of electronics, with the triode being the first electronic
component used in a circuit for signal amplification.

Rapid development of radio engineering over the ensuing years produced many innovations
and after the First World War a huge number of radio stations emerged.
At that time TRF (Tuned Radio Frequency) receivers were used. Compared to modern
receivers they had both poor selectivity and sensitivity, but back then they fulfilled the
demands. The number of radio stations was much less than today and their transmitting power
was much smaller. The majority of listeners were satisfied with the reception of only local
stations. However as the number of stations increased, as well as their transmitting power, the
problem of selecting one station out of the jumble of stations, was becoming increasingly more

It was partially solved with an increase in the number of oscillatory circuits in the receiver and
the introduction of positive feedback, but the true solution was the invention of the
superheterodyne receiver. This was accomplished by Lewy (1917), and improved by E.H.
Armstrong (1918).
An enormous impact on the world of radio was the invention of the transistor by Bardeen,
Bretten & Schockley, in 1948. This reduced the size of the radio receiver and made truly
portable sets a reality.
This was followed by the introduction of the integrated circuit, enabling the construction of

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devices that not only proved better in every way than those using values, but also new designs.
Radio amateurs' contribution to radio engineering should also be emphasized.
In the beginning, radio communication was being conducted in the LW and MW bands. But
achieving long-distance reception required very powerful transmitters. The SW band was
considered to be useless for radio broadcast on long distances and was given to radio amateurs.
The were banned from using LW and MW bands by commercial radio stations.
However, something unexpected happened: Amateurs were able to accomplish extremely long
distance transmissions (thousands of kilometres), by using very low-power transmitters. This
was later explained by the influence of the ionosphere layer, the existence of which was also
predicted by Tesla.
Modern radio receivers differ greatly from the "classical" types, however the working
principles are the same.

The only significant difference is in the way the receiver is tuned to a station. Classical devices
used a variable capacitor, coil or varicap diode, with the frequency read from a scale with
movable pointer. In modern devices, the adjustment is done with a frequency synthesizer
controlled by a microprocessor and the reading is displayed on an optical readout.

The inclusion of a microprocessor enables any one of a large number of pre-tuned stations to
be selected and displayed and the use of a remote control makes the receiver even more user

Chapter 2 Principles of radio transmission

2.1. AM Transmitter
2.2. FM Transmitter
2.3. Wavebands

Transfer of information (speech, music, image, computer data etc.) by radio can be presented
in its simplest form with block - diagram as on Pic.2.1. That is a transmission realized by
amplitude - modulated signal. Since, in our example, the information being transferred is the
sound, the first step of such transmission is converting the sound into electrical signal, this
being accomplished by a microphone. The low - frequency (LF) voltage at microphone output
(Pic.2.1-a), that represents the electrical "image" of the sound being transferred, is being taken
into the transmitter. There, under the effect of LF signal, the procedure called amplitude
modulation is being carried out, and on its output high - frequency (HF) voltage is generated,
its amplitude changing according to the current LF signal value. HF voltage creates HF current

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in the antenna, thus generating electromagnetic field around it. This field spreads through the
ambient space, being symbolically shown on Pic.2.1 with dashed circles. Traveling at the speed
of light (c=300 000 km/s), the electromagnetic field gets to the reception place, inducing the
voltage in the reception antenna, as shown on Pic.2.1-c. This voltage has the same profile as
the one on Pic.2.1-b, except it has much smaller amplitude. In the receiver, the amplification
and detection are carried out first, resulting with the LF voltage on its output, that has the same
profile as the one on Pic.2.1-a. This voltage is then transformed into sound by loudspeaker, that
sound being exactly the same as the sound that acted upon the microphone. This, naturally, is
the way it would be in ideal case. Back to reality, due to device imperfection as well as the
influence of various disturbances, the sound being generated by the loudspeaker differs from
the one that acts upon the microphone membrane. The block - diagram on Pic.2.1 (excluding
the HF signal shape) is also applicable in case of radio transmission being carried out by
frequency modulation. In that case frequency modulation is being carried out in the transmitter,
under the effect of LF signal coming from the microphone, therefore HF signals on Pics.2.1-b
and 2.1-c having constant amplitude, and their frequency being changed in accordance with the
actual value of LF signal from the microphone. In fact, all types of radio transmission can be
presented with Pic.2.1. First, the information being sent is always transformed into electrical
signal through the appropriate converter. In telegraphy this converter is the pushbutton, in
radiophony it's a microphone, in television engineering an image analysis cathode ray tube
(CRT) etc. Then, with this "electrical image" of information, the modulation is being done. The
modulated HF signal is being transferred into antenna and transmitted. On the reception place,
the modulated signal from the reception antenna is being amplified and detected and then,
again with the appropriate converter (pen recorder, loudspeaker, TV CRT etc.), the information
is transformed back into its original form.

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2.1 AM Transmitter

In order to better understand the way the radio transmitter works, block - diagram of a simple
AM (amplitude modulated) signal transmitter is shown on Pic.2.2. The amplitude modulation
is being performed in a stage called the modulator. Two signals are entering it: high frequency
signal called the carrier (or the signal carrier), being created into the HF oscillator and
amplified in the HF amplifier to the required signal level, and the low frequency (modulating)
signal coming from the microphone or some other LF signal source (cassette player, record
player, CD player etc.), being amplified in the LF amplifier. On modulator's output the
amplitude modulated signal UAM is acquired. This signal is then amplified in the power
amplifier, and then led to the emission antenna.

The shape and characteristics of the AM carrier, being taken from the HF amplifier into the
modulator, are shown on Pic.2.3-a. As you can see, it is a HF voltage of constant amplitude US
and frequency fS. On Pic.2.3-b the LF signal that appears at the input of the modulator at the
moment t0 is shown. With this signal the modulation of the carrier's amplitude is being
performed, therefore it is being called the modulating signal. The shape of the AM signal
exiting the modulator is shown on Pic.2.3-c. From the point t0 this voltage has the same shape
as that on Pic.2.3-a. From the moment t0 the amplitude of AM signal is being changed in
accordance with the current value of the modulating signal, in such a way that the signal
envelope (fictive line connecting the voltage peaks) has the same shape as the modulating
Let's take a look at a practical example. Let the LF signal on Pic.2.3-b be, say, an electrical
image of the tone being created by some musical instrument, and that the time gap between the
points t0 and t2 is 1 ms. Suppose that carrier frequency is fS=1 MHz (approximately the
frequency of radio Kladovo, exact value is 999 kHz). In that case, in period from t0 till t2
signals us on Pic.2.3-1 and uAM on 2.3-c should make a thousand oscillations and not just

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eighteen, as shown in the picture. Then It is clear that it isn't possible to draw a realistic
picture, since all the lines would connect into a dark spot. The true picture of AM signal from
this example is given on Pic.2.3-d. That is the picture that appears on screen of the
oscilloscope, connected on the output of the modulator: light coloured lines representing the
AM signal have interconnected, since they are thicker than the gap between them.
Block - diagram on Pic 2.2 is a simplified schematic of an AM transmitter. In reality there are
some additional stages in professional transmitters that provide the necessary work stability,
transmitter power supply, cooling for certain stages etc. For simple use, however, even simpler
block diagrams exist, making the completion of an ordinary AM transmitter possible with just
a few electronic components.

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2.2. FM Transmitter

Block diagram of an FM (frequency modulated) transmitter is given on Pic.2.4. Information

being transferred, i.e. the modulating signal, is a signal from some LF source. it is being
amplified in LF amplifier and then led into the HF oscillator, where the carrier signal is being
created. The carrier is a HF voltage of constant amplitude, whose frequency is, in the absence
of modulating signal, equal to the transmitter's carrier frequency fS. In the oscillatory circuit of
the HF oscillator a varicap (capacitive) diode is located. It is a diode whose capacitance

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depends upon the voltage between its ends, so when being exposed to LF voltage, its
capacitance is changing in accordance with this voltage. Due to that frequency of the oscillator
is also changing, i.e. the frequency modulation is being obtained. The FM signal from the HF
oscillator is being proceeded to the power amplifier that provides the necessary output power
of the transmission signal.
Voltage shapes in FM transmitter are given on Pic.2.5. Pic.2.5-a shows the LF modulating
signal. The frequency modulation begins at moment t0 and the transmission frequency begins
to change, as shown on Pic.2.5-b: Whilst current value of the LF signal is raising so is the
trasmitter frequency, and when it is falling the frequency is also falling. As seen on Pic.2.5-c,
the information (LF signal) is being implied in frequency change of the carrier.
The carrier frequencies of the radio difusion FM transmitters (that emmit the program for
"broad audience") are placed in the waveband from 88 MHz til 108 MHz, the maximum
frequency shift of the transmitter (during the modulation) being ±75 kHz. Because of that the
FM signal should be drawn much "thicker", but it would result in a black-square-shaped

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2.3. Wavebands

While considering problems related to the realization of the long - distance radio links,
significant differences between the electromagnetic waves of various frequencies must be kept
in mind. For example, low frequency waves (below 500 kHz) can bend themselves following
Earth's curvature, while the HF waves are moving in streamlines, just as light. Some waves can
be reverberated from the ionosphere, others are passing through it etc. According to
characteristics of their outspread, radio waves can be classified into several groups or ranges:
long, mid, short and ultra-short. Limits between the wavebands are not precise, with the raise

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of their frequency the waves are gradually losing some features while gaining some others.
This division is shown in Table 1.

* LF low frequencies, MF mid frequencies, HF high frequencies, VHF very high frequencies,
UHF ultra high frequencies, SHF super high frequencies, EHF extra high frequencies. Waves
with wavelength smaller than 30 cm are also called the microwaves.

In the third table column the wavelengths are given. Wavelength (ë) is distance that the wave
passes moving at the speed of light (c=3*103 m/s), during the period that is equal to its
oscillating period (T): ë=c*T. Having in mind that the wave frequency is f=1/T, one can easily
get to the well known expression that gives the relation between the wavelength and the

Using this formula one can calculate the wavelength knowing the frequency and vice versa.
For example, wavelength of an FM transmitter emitting at f=100 MHz frequency is
L=3*108/100*106=3 m. Similar to that, wavelength of Radio Belgrade 1 is L=439 m, which
makes its frequency equal to f=3*108/439=684 kHz.
Radio diffusion is being performed in certain parts of the wavebands given in Table 1, their
boundary frequencies are (rounded values):

LW (long waves) 150 kHz (2km) 300 kHz (1 km)

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MW (mid waves) 500 kHz (600 m) 1500 kHz (200 m)
SW (short waves) 6 MHz (50 m) 20 MHz (15 m)
FM (ultra short waves) 88 MHz (3.4 m) 108 MHz (2.78 m)

In LW, MW and SW the amplitude modulation is used, while in FM range it is the frequency

Here are the frequencies (in kHz) of some radio transmitters from the MW range, that can
serve for tuning of the radio receivers being described in this issue: Timisoara 630, Belgrade1
684, Bucharest 855 .

Chapter 3 Direct (TRF) Radio Receivers

3.1.The Simplest Radio Receiver

3.1.1. Input Circuit
3.1.2. The Antenna
3.1.3. The Ground
3.1.4. Other Components
3.2. The Simplest Amplified Radio Receiver
3.3. Simple Radio Receiver with TDA7050 IC
3.4. Simple Radio Receiver with LM386 IC
3.5. Radio Receiver with Increased Sensitivity Audio Amplifier
3.6. Universal Audio Amplifier
3.7.Receiver with HF Amplifier
3.8. The Audion - Direct Receiver with Drain Detector
3.9.1. Reaction - Type Receiver
3.9.2. Direct SW Receiver for AM, AM-SSB & CW Signals
3.10. Miniature Receiver with ZN414 (ZN414Z) IC
3.11. Pocket Receiver with ZN414 & LM386 IC‟s
3.12. Miniature Receiver with ZN415E IC
3.13. Receiver with ZN415 & LM386 IC‟s
3.14. Mini Receiver with ZN415 & TDA7052 IC‟s
3.15. Direct (TRF) FM Receivers
3.15.1. The Simplest FM Receiver
3.15.2. The Simplest FM Receiver with Audio Amplifier
3.15.3. FM Receiver with One Transistor and Audio Amplifier
3.15.4. FM Receiver with (just) One Transistor

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3.1. The Simplest Radio Receiver

Each radio receiver must have a reception antenna. It is an electrical conductor, where voltages
of various frequencies and amplitudes are being induced, under the influence of
electromagnetic fields from various radio transmitters. Besides these voltages, those induced
by EM fields that are created by various disturbance sources (such as electrical motors, various
household appliances spark-plugs of an automobile and all other devices where electrical
current is being switched on/off during work) are also present in the antenna, as well as those
from fields originating from outer space or the Earth‟s atmosphere. Basic roles that a radio
receiver has are:
a. To separate the signal (voltage) of the radio station that it is tuned at from the multitude of
other voltages, whilst suppressing (weakening) all other signals as much as possible,
b. amplifies the extrapolated signal and take out information from it and
c. reproduces that information, i.e. restores it into its‟ original shape.
Even the simplest radio, the one we are discussing in this chapter, must be able to accomplish
all these tasks. The electronic diagram of one such device is given on Pic.3.1. It is the famous
(years ago) Detector Radio Receiver or shortly, Detector. The signal selection (separation) and
voltage amplification are performed in the oscillatory circuit that is

made of the capacitor C and coil L, the separation of information (speech or music) from the
AM station signal in the detector that comprises the diode D, capacitor C2 and resistance of the

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headphones, and information restoring in the very headphones.
Main advantages of this device lie in its extreme simplicity and the fact that it requires no
additional energy sources for its‟ operation. All the energy required it draws from the antenna,
which therefore has to be at least a dosen metres long for proper operation. It is also useful to
have a good ground. One can do without it but the reception with it is truly better, especially
considering the distant and small-power transmitters.

3.1.1. Input Circuit

The capacitor that takes the signal from the antenna (so-called coupling capacitor) C1, variable
capacitor C and coil L form the input circuit of the radio receiver. Its main role is to separate
the signal of station the receiver is tuned at from multitude of voltages (having various
frequencies and amplitudes) existing in the antenna, amplify that signal and turns it over to the
In order to better understand the requests that are to be fulfilled during the practical realization
of input circuit, it is necessary to know basic characteristics of circuit made of capacitor C and
coil L. It is called „The oscillatory circuit‟ and is shown on pic.3.2-a. The amount of its
impedance (resistance to AC current) between points A and B, which is marked with , depends
on the frequency, as it is shown on the diagram on pic.3.2-b. The most important characteristic
of this circuit is its resonance frequency, being given by the Thomson‟s formula:

As one may notice, the resonance frequency depends on the capacitance of the capacitor C and
inductivity of coil L, and changes if one of them change. In our receiver, a variable capacitor is
used, that can change its capacitance from Cmax to Cmin, therefore changing the resonance
frequency in boundaries from


The area between fd (lower boundary frequency) and fg (upper boundary frequency) is the
reception area of the input circuit, as shown on pic.3.2-b. On this picture, carrier frequencies of
four radio transmitters are being marked with fs1, fs2, fs3 and fs4. The resonance frequency of
the oscillatory circuit is set (by means of C) to be equal to the carrier frequency of the second
station: fs2. In that case, the impedance ZAB - frequency dependance is shown in continuous
line. As one can see, the impedance ZAB for all received signals whose carriers have
frequencies less than fs1 and greater than fs3 is less than 20 kOhms, while for the station that is
tuned it is equal to 200 kOhms. Let us now imagine that the parallel oscillatory circuit is

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connected with the antenna and ground, as shown on pic.3.1-b. Imagine, also, that there are
(only) four voltages in the antenna, that have the same amplitude and are created by four radio

transmitters, having carrier frequencies of fs1, fs2, fs2 and fs4. Since these voltages spread
between the antenna and the ground, four currents will flow through the oscillatory circuit: Is1,
Is2, Is3 and Is4. The voltages that are created by them in the oscillatory circuit, between points
A and B, are equal, acc. to Ohm‟s Law, to the product of current and impedance:
UAB=I*ZAB. Acc. to pic.3.2-b, for Is2, impedance of the circuit is ZAB=200 kOhms, and for
currents Is1 and Is3 it is 10x smaller. That means that the voltage that is being created in the
oscillatory circuit by the station that transmits on frequency fs2 will be ten times greater than
the voltages being created by stations transmitting on frequencies fs1 and fs3. This is how
selection of one station is performed, by means of the oscillatory circuit. Transition to some
other station is performed by changing the capacitance of capacitor C, as long as the resonance
frequency of the oscillatory circuit does not become equal to the carrier frequency of that
station. If its frequency happens to be fs4 (acc. to pic.3.2-b), the impedance of the oscillatory
circuit for that case is shown in dashed line, which causes that on the circuit output voltage of
the station that transmits on frequency fs4 is acquired, while other stations‟ signals are
At first glance, everything is just the way it should be: Parallel oscillatory circuit extrapolates
one and suppresses all other stations. Unfortunately, the reality isn‟t so simple. First of all,
radio transmitters operate with various output (emission) powers and on various geographic
distances from the receiver, therefore making the voltages that their signals create in the
reception antenna very different in amplitude. It is clear that stronger signals will “cover” the
weak ones, thus disabling their reception. E.g. if radio transmitter that emits on the frequency
fs1 is geographically much closer to our radio receiver that the transmitter operating on fs2, the
voltage the former creates in the reception antenna can be even 200 times greater than the one
created by the latter. The oscillatory circuit will do its job as previously described, but on its
ends the voltage of the first transmitter will still be greater (20x) than that of the transmitter the
receiver is tuned at, and normal reception won‟t be possible. There are also other problems

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whose solving will not be discussed herein, and readers that are interested in those can read a
book “Radio Receivers”, written by Momir Filipovic, issued by the National Textbook
Publishing Company from Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
To conclude this chapter, we may say that the simplest radio receiver can cover only signals of
the local and powerful radio transmitters.

3.1.2. The Antenna

Extremely important factor for good work of simple radio receivers is the outside antenna that
has to be long enough, and in which voltages induced by the radio transmitters will be high
enough. At first sight, one can think of using instead some modest antenna made of a piece of
wire, compensating that with supplying the receiver with amplifier strong enough to give the
end result as if much better antenna have been used. That, of course, is not the case, since
every amplifier creates noise that makes the reception worse, if not impossible. This fact is the
cause for a radio-amateur saying that "Antenna is the best HF amplifier." The external
(outside) antenna is being made of copper wire, thick enough to resist strong wind conditions.
In the sense of mechanical strength, the best thing is to use the litz wire (cable), i.e. a cable
made of huge number of thin threaded copper wires. There is no need to remove the wire
isolation if it exists since it doesn't represent an obstacle for the electromagnetic waves. The
length of antenna is being determined in accordance with the "TLTB" law (The Longer, The
Better ). The antenna that we have been using for testing the receivers described herein was 6
metres long (the length of the Radio Receivers Lab at "Tesla" highschool, where it was
spread), but if you are in position, you should make it even longer (the author has a friend
whose antenna is about 30 metres long). It should be moved away from the sources of
electrical disturbances (public electricity cables, various household electrical devices, cars,
electric motors etc.). Considering this, the best place for your antenna should be the building
roof. The wire can be crossed between two chimneys (Pic.3.3), between a chimney and some
pillar, between two purposefully built pillars, between two buildings, a building and a pole in
the yard etc. You should, however, always keep in mind that the wire, however strong it may
be, can snap during some big storm and, in case that happens, under

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NO CIRCUMSTANCES it should fall onto electrical network cables, telephone leads and
similar, or to cause some other damage. if your roof cover is not covered with tin, the attic
could also be a good place for the antenna. You can also stretch it between two stronger laths
attached to two opposite window frames of your apartment. If you have no other options, you
can put your antenna between the walls in your room.
The antenna must be electrically isolated from the carriers being attached to. In amateur
conditions, one can make the isolators of a piece of thick wall plastic pipe where, acc. to
Pic.3.3, an indent should be made with the round rasp, in order for the wire not to slip away.
The antenna lead is another piece of wire which carries the signals from antenna into the
receiver. It should be isolated and placed in such a way not to touch the walls, to be as far from
metal parts as possible (gutters, city grounding etc.).
At the end of this chapter, let's just say that in mobile receivers ferrite antennas are being used,
which we are going to talk about later.

3.1.3. The Ground

As all other sorts of ground, the ground for the radio receivers is being accomplished by
connecting the receiver ground (point Z on Pic.3.1) to Earth over a coper wire. You can live
without the ground but the reception is much better with it though, especially considering
simple devices, such as one at the Pic.3.1-a. Water plumbing is an excellent ground (central
heating pipes are not), but it is most often inappropriate for use. There is no housewife that
would agree to have some dreadful wire stretched across the house, from bathroom to the
living room! House electrical installation's ground is excellent, but it should be used under NO
circumstances, since life-threatenning danger from electrical shock exists. If you live on a
ground floor, and there's plain soil beneath your window you can make your own ground by

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sticking a piece of water plumbing in it, acc. to Pic.3.4. The pipe should be about 80 cm long,
and on its end you should connect the receiver ground, attaching it with a metal ring and a
screw with the nut.

3.1.4. Other Components

a. On Pic.3.1-a with letters A, Z, S1 and S2 the hubs where one can connect the antenna (A),
ground (Z) and the headphones (S1 and S2) are labelled. Since the cabinet for our radio
receiver(s) is being made of material that is the electrical isolator (plywood, plastics etc.), the
simplest metal hubs can be used, although hubs with isolation plates (for metal plate mounting)
can be found in shops more easily, but are significantly more expensive.
b. C1 capacitor is the so-called coupled capacitor, through it the signals from the antenna being
led into the oscillatory circuit. Its capacitance depends upon the length of the antenna, and it
lies within the limits of few pF (antenna longer than 10 m), up to few dozens pF (a couple of
metres long antenna), the optimal value is to be found through experimenting. Every reception
antenna behaves as a voltage generator, having its own internal resistance and capacitance.
Antenna's resistance damps the oscillatory circuit and reduces its selectivity (which manifests
as the "mixing" of stations) and sensitivity (which exerts as signal strength reduction), and
antenna's capacitance reduces the reception bandwidth. More precise, antenna's capacitance
reduces the upper bound frequency of the reception bandwith (Pic.3.2), making reception of
the stations laying close to this frequency impossible. Both these features are undesirable and
manifest themselves as less as the capacitance C1 is smaller. On the other hand, the smaller the
capacitance C1, the weaker the signal that goes through it from the antenna, the reception
therefore getting weaker. As you can see, the compromise solution is a thing to go for, i.e. one
must find the capacitance at which the signals from the antenna won't be much weakened while

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simultaneously keeping the selectivity and the bandwidth big enough. You can start with C1
being about 30 pF. Then,

using C, tune yourself to some radio stations you can receive. If all the stations that interest you
are there, and the strongest one of them still does not jam the reception of other stations all's
well. Try then with some bigger capacitance for the capacitor C1. The reception will be getting
louder, so do continue increasing C1 as long as it is still possible, by changing C, to receive all
the stations of your interest that can be heard in your place, without the interference of some
strong or local station. If, however, reception of some nearby station isn't possible, smaller C1
should be tried out. In this manner the biggest capacitance for C1 should be found, that allows
optimal reception both regarding selectivity and bandwidth. The simplest solution is using
variable capacitor for C1, its capacitance ranging from few picofarads to few dozens pF,
adjusting it to obtain optimal reception for each station individually. During this, whenever C1
is being changed, the receiver must be re-tuned to the station using C.
c. The coil is one of the components that cannot be bought, therefore it has to be manufactured.
Its main property is the inductance L. As an example, we are going to take a look at how to
build a coil for the MW receiver with band range from fd=540 kHz til fg=1620 kHz. The
inductance is being calculated using the Thomson formula (being solved by L):

Where Cx denotes the so-called parasite capacitance. It comprises the capacitance of the
trimmer capacitor (its average value) that is connected parallel to the variable capacitor C,
input capacitance of the next stage of the receiver (where the signal from the input circuit is
being lead), antenna capacitance, coil capacitance and capacitance of the connections between
the components of the input circuitry. The amount of this capacitance is not known in advance,
therefore must be assumed. Taking that value, the coil inductance is calculated and the
appropriate coil is made, together with the input circuit. The error being made with the
assumption of the capacitance Cx is then compensated with the abovementioned trimmer
capacitor. In all our projects this capacitor had minimum capacity Cmin=12 pF. We assumed
Cx=15 pF, and therefore:

We made this coil, conented it with other components from Pic.3.1 and, after some
experimenting and measurement, came upon the conclusion that its inductance should be

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somewhat smaller. We uncoiled a few reels, re-checked the bandwidth, then uncoiled some
more, re-checked again, and after several tries came up with the solution. With variable
capacitor that will be described in the following chapter, the abovementioned bandwidth is
achieved with the coil of inductance L=330 mH (microhenries).
The coil body i.e. the body where the coil is being reeled is a cylindrically shaped isolation
material. For this purpose we have been using the carton core of the household aluminium foil
package, its diameter being 3.2 cm. The number of bends required and wire diameter are
calculated acc. to the formulas from Pic.3.5.

In order to use these expressions coil length must be assumed first. If this length later proves to
be incorrect because the wire is too thick or thin, new length is adopted and the calculation is
repeated. Let us assume that coil length is l=4 cm. The number of reels and coil diameter are:

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Since there is no wire of such diameter, we adopt the closest existing value, d=0.3 mm. In that
case the length l will be somewhat bigger, and so will be the number of reels. After a few
iterations in calculus and later inductance check of the finished coil, we came upon the n=144
reels of lacquered copper wire (the mark for such wire is CuL), its diameter being d=0.3 mm.

This coil is shown on Pic.3.6. As you can see, two holes are made in coil body (with a bodkin)
and through them the wire origin is being threaded twice. After that 90 reels are made, then a
leg, then another 55 reels and finally the wire end is again threaded twice, through the other
two holes. The leg is made by multiple twisting the wire. It is then cut, and from these new
ends about 5 mm of isolation is removed, after which they are tinned, twisted around each
other and finally, soldered (the easiest way to remove the isolation is by burning it with lighter,
then carefully scrapping it with the pocket knife or similar). Two small pieces of wood are then
glued onto coil's ends. When the coil is being mounted into the box, they are pasted onto its top
panel, as shown in the rightmost part of Pic.3.6-b.

If you are using a coil of different diameter, you should keep in mind that the necessary
inductance for the coil which measures more than 3.2 cm in diameter will be obtained with
number of reels less than 144 and vice versa, if the coil body is less than 3.2 cm you will need
more than 144 reels.
d. Variable capacitor C is hard to find in stores, therby we have been using in all our receivers
the one that we took from a disused commercial pocket size MW radio receiver, the one shown
on Pic.3.7. On Pic.3.7-a you can see it together with the reel with numbers that represent the
frequencies, divided by 100, on which that receiver was able to be tuned at. On Pic.3.7-b you
can see the front, side and rear views of this capacitor. Electrical diagram is given on Pic.3.7-c.
As one may notice, there are actually two variable capacitors under the same cover, Co and Ca,

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and two trimmer capacitors connected parallel to them, Cto and Cta. The dashed line shows
symbolically that the rotating plates of the variable capacitors are connected on a common
shaft, so that by turning the reel their capacitances are being changed simultaneously. For our
use, all four capacitors are parallel connected, by joining the legs O and A. The trimmers are
set to minimal capacitance. In such way the variable capacitor is attained with capacitance
ranging from Cmin=12 pF til Cmax=218 pF.

In commercial radios that can receive both stations from AM and FM ranges, variable
capacitor shown on Pic.3.8 is being used. Four variable and four trimmer capacitors are placed
under the same cover. If you wish to use capacitor like this in the receiver from Pic.3.1 (and in
most of the receivers described in this book), you should then connect in parallel Cto, Co, Ca
and Cta, after which you shall obtain a variable capacitor ranging from Cmin=16 pF til
Cmax=286 pF. Other capacitors from this block are not being used.
In all input circuits (more about them soon to come), one end of the variable capacitor is
always connected to the device ground. For capacitors shown on Pics.3.7 and 3.8 that is the
middle leg, marked as G.
During the dismounting of the capacitor from the old radio, you should pay attention not to
loose the screw for the reel attachment, and two screws for mounting the capacitor onto the
PCB, since they are very hard to provide separately.

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If the reciever is being put into the box whose front pannel is made of isolating material not
thicker than 1 mm, then one 10 mm hole should be drilled on it, followed by two 3 mm holes,
as shown on Pic.3.9-a. Having thicker front panel does represent a problem, the shaft of the
capacitor being too short to mounting the reel. In that case you will have to make the auxiliary
plate about 1 mm thick as shown on Pic.3.9-1 and then mount the capacitor on it , acc. to
Pic.3.9-b. On the front panel a round eye should be made, its diameter being a little bit bigger
than the reel. The auxiliary plate with the capacitor should then be tightened onto this front
panel with two small screws Z1 and Z2, and the reel on the capacitor shaft with the screw Z3
(While tightening this screw you should hold the reel with your other hand, and not the

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capacitor housing). Finally, a button made of a thick plywood can be glued to the reel. This is
not necessary, but gives the device a more sophisticated looks.
Different variable capacitors than the ones described here can also be used, for example, an air
variable capacitor described in the first issue of Practical Electronics. The important thing for it
is to have a big max/min capacitance ratio, at least 15, i.e. Cmax/Cmin>15. While connecting
the capacitor, care should be taken to connect its rotor with the ground (as on Pic.3.1), labeled
Z, and its stator with the point 1 of the coil.
e. The diode D, capacitor C2 and headphones' resistance comprise the AM signal detector, also
called the serial diode detector. When the AM signal of the station the receiver is tuned at is
brought on its input, NF signal is obtained on the output, its shape being the same as the
envelope of the AM signal. An example of this is given on Pic.3.10. When voltage uul is
present on the input of the detector, the voltage uizl appears on its output. It is useful to notify
that on the output, besides the LF voltage (speak, music etc.), DC voltage Uo is also present.
The detection diode D must be of low-power GERMANIUM type, such as AA112, AA116,
AA121, 1N21, 1N34, 1N54, 1N78 etc.

Product of the capacitance C and resistance R (on Pic.3.1. R is the headphones resistance)
should be approx. equal to 50 ìs (microseconds). That means that if you're using the bigger
resistor (which is advisable, since the detector then damps less the oscillatory circuit), the
capacitor should then be smaller. For example, if R=500 kÙ then C=100 pF, and if R=10 kÙ,
C=5 nF, etc.

f. The headphones are the electro acoustic convertor that transforms electrical signal into the
sound. We have been using old fashioned electromagnetic headphones with 1.5 kÙ resistance
that were serially connected, giving the total resistance of 3 kÙ. The receiver from Pic.3.1 will
be working as better as headphones' resistance is bigger. if you're using the crystal headphones,
parallel to them you should add a resistor of couple of hundreds of kiloOhms. There's a very
simple way of testing the high resistance headphones: Hold one end of their cable between
your fingers while rubbing the other over the surface of a big metal object, say, the radiator. If
snapping can be heard from them they are, most likely, satisfactory.

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All the components of the receiver from Pic.3.1 should be placed into some kind of a box. That
can be any box made of an isolation material (plastics, wood etc.), big enough to receive all the
components. As an example, a receiver is shown in scale 1:1 on Pic.3.11, being placed in a box
made of plywood. The top, bottom and side panes are made of plywood that is 5 10 mm thick.
The front and the rear side are being made of some thinner material, that allows for simple
mounting of the variable capacitor. One can notice straightaway that the box is at least twice as
big as it could be. That has been done for the sake of better visibility, and for the box to be big
enough to accept the devices that will be described later in this book.

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Component joining is being done by soldering. Performing soldering onto the hubs can
represent a small problem. In order to complete this operation successfully, you should turn the
box for the part of hub where cables are being soldered pointing upwards. Put a piece of the
tinol wire through the eye on the hub, put the soldering iron top onto the eye from upwards and
hold it like that a while, for the tinol to melt. Then add some more tinol, until the eye is
completely covered with the solder. After that, push the wire end into the melted solder while
holding it with pencers, until it hardens and cools itself a little. The pencers remove the heat
and prevent its transfer onto the component that is being soldered.

3.2. The Simplest Amplified Radio Receiver

The most obvious shortcoming of the receiver described in the previous chapter is that it can
perform the sound reproduction loud enough only in case when the programme from some
local or very powerful radio transmitter is being received, which can create very strong signal
in the reception antenna. The reception of signals from other transmitters is too weak. The only
thing that can be done is either to increase the length of the antenna, which, of course, does
have its limits, or to insert an amplifying stage into the receiver. The simplest way to perform
the latter is to add a LF amplifying stage behind the detector in the detection receiver, Pic.3.1.
The electrical diagram of one such receiver is given on Pic.3.12. The electrical load in the
detection stage are no longer headphones, but an ordinary resistor R1. An NF signal is obtained
on its ends, which is then being lead into the LF amplifier with the transistor T, over the
coupling capacitor C3. The electrical load in the collector circuit of the transistor are the
headphones, which transform the amplified LF signal into sound.
The voltage negative feedback is being obtained with the capacitor C4, and the current
negative feedback with the resistor R3. They enhance the characteristics of the amplifier
(increase its stability, reduce distortion, widen the reception band), but they also reduce the
amplification. The capacitor C5 prevents the AM signal carrier which, although very weak,
also appears on the detector output, from entering the headphones. These 3 components
however, can be omitted in most cases, for the sake of simplifying the device. C4 and C5 can
be simply removed, and a piece of wire should be soldered instead of R3. Transistor operation
point where the optimal reproduction (the biggest amplification, the smallest distortion) is
being set by adjusting the resistence value of the resistor R2. The simplest way to do it is to
connect the trimmer of couple of MÙ instead of the resistor, set the receiver on some station,
then change the resistence until the optimal reception is being reached. The trimmer is then put
out, its resistence measured, and a resistor of similar resistivity is then soldered on its place.
The transistor T is any universal NPN - type.

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Please note that in the case of a very long antenna, when C1 of very small capacitance is being
used, a hand made trimmer capacitor can be used. It is made by twisting two isolated wires,
and its capacitance is changed simply by removing some wire from the ends.
The component data is given on the electrical diagram and in table on the rightmost side of
Pic.3.12. If you don't have a 100 pF capacitor (C2) you can put some of bigger capacitance, but
you should then use smaller R1.
The PCB layout is given on Pic.3.13. On 3.13-a is a picture that should be copied with the thin
alcohol marker onto well cleaned copper side of the pertinax plate. Etching is to be performed
then, as well as drilling the 0.8 mm holes, in the way that has been described in detail in PE2
issue (Practical realization of electronic devices). The component layout is given on Pic.3.13-b.
The printed circuit is also visible on this picture, and that can be achieved by using vitroplast
plate instead of pertinax. The look of board upon completion is on 3.13-c. Before soldering the
wires that connect the variable capacitor, battery, switch etc. with the board, put some tin on
the wire ends, using the calofonium or the tinol wire. You should by all means do this,
especially if you 're not using the wire that is not pre tinned, in order to avoid cold solders, very
unpleasant surprises that are hard to detect and locate.
The layout of the entire receiver is given on Pic.3.14, in a scale 1:1. As in the previous receiver
example, the coil is being glued to the top side of the box, over two small pieces of wood. The
board is being tightened with a screw, that is screwed into a piece of wood being glued to the

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front end box plate. The battery is attached with a rubber band for the pieces of wood glued at
the back plate of the box. We did this, however, only for the sake of having a clear and
understandable drawing. Battery can be put inside the box in the same way as before, or some
other way.

3.3. Simple Radio Receiver with TDA7050 IC

Readers that were able to browse through book 4 and, especially, book 5 of Practical
Electronics edition, were able to convince themselves that there's a huge number of various
audio amplifiers built with IC's, therefore amplifiers in discrete technique are practically no
more being made. If we add on this the fact that integrated amplifiers outreach their discrete
competition both by price and quality, it is then clear why we are going to use them in this
Electronic diagram of a simple radio receiver with LF stage built around the TDA7050 IC,
where reproduction is being made through modern-type headphones, resistance being 32 or 64
Ù, is given on Pic.3.15. In book 5 of Practical Electronics you have acquainted yourself in
more detail with this IC. Let us just repeat that it can be purchased both in 8-pin DIL package
that we have been using, and in SO package, suitable for surface mount. Its label in the latter
case is TDA7050T and it can also be used without any problems whatsoever. In that case
changes on the PCB should be made considering that it is being mounted on the copper side of
the board, and that drilling is now obsolete, since the pins are being soldered directly onto the
copper foil. You can read the text that follows Pics.4.16 and 4.17 about soldering SMD
components. Supply voltage for the IC is in range from 1.6 to 6 V. Idle current is 3 mA on 3 V
supply voltage. Voltage amplification is 32 dB (40 x) on 6 V supply voltage and 32 Ù
headphones resistance. Maximum output power is 150 mW, more than enough for the

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headphones amplifier device.
Regarding the Pic.3.15, both input and detection circuit described in two previous projects can
be used, We have decided instead, to show you how to use the coil with multiple legs, since it
offers more possibilities for experimenting in order to achieve optimal reception. The picture
of such coil is given on Pic.3.16, the legs being made as previously described in this book. The
first leg (numerated 6) is made after the 15-th quirk, the second (5) after 30-th, the third (4)
after 45-th and the last one (2) after 55-th. Number of quirks between the legs isn't critical, you
can have even more legs, being arranged more closely to each other. As seen on Pic.3.15, both
the antenna and the detector are connected over these legs. Legs No. 4 and 5 have been used,
but that is not a must. The closer the legwhere antenna is connected is to the ground (point Z),
the less it damps the oscillatory circuit (therefore increasing the receiver's selectivity), and less
it reduces the reception bandwidth. However, the signal that exits the antenna is then also
smaller. The similar thing is with the leg where the diode (its anode end) is connected: The
closer it is to the ground, the less the detector damps and tunes out the input circuit, but the
signal being transferred to the detector is also smaller. It is clear now that a compromise must
be made: Experimenting with various coil legs, those providing the optimal reception should
be found.

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Let us finally add that the antenna can also be connected to point 1, over the coupling capacitor
(C1 on Pic.3.1), and the detector on one of the coil legs, or you can connect both the antenna
and the diode's anode on the same leg, to connect the anode to point 1, etc. You should try
various combinations out, observing their influence on the reception. You should certainly re-
tune the resonance of the oscillating circuit after every change, with the aid of the variable
capacitor C.

The resistor R2 and capacitor C2 create an LF filter, whose role is to pass through at the next
stage the LF signal being detected, preventing simultaneously the HF voltage do the same (this
voltage originates from the AM signal carrier). This filter circuit affects the LF signal tone
colour. If you don't like it, you should alter the capacitance C2 in order to change it.

PCB for this device is shown on Pic.3.17. The receiver can be put in a box just as on Pic.3.14.
The only significant difference is that a 4.5 V battery pack must be used instead of 1.5 V
battery, but there's plenty of room for it.

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3.4. Simple Radio Receiver with LM386 IC

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allows the loudspeaker reproduction to be performed.



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3.5. Radio Receiver with Increased Sensitivity Audio Amplifier


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experimenting, with a few MOhms‟ trimmer resistor, in the way it has already been described
in chapter 3.2.

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3.6. Universal Audio Amplifier

IC‟s are used in it: operational amplifier TLO71 as the pre-amplifier, and LM386 as the power
and when it‟s at its leftmost position the RP=0, therefore Au=0. As you can see, moving the
slider changes the amplification from 0 to 470. That‟s what theory says, the practice is, of

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* KS marks the short-circuit wire. It‟s a piece of wire which ends are taken through the holes

10 cm, the ordinary wires can be used instead.

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gadget for every electronics lover.

mounted and soldered in the following order: short-circuits, resistors, IC‟s, capacitors (all

slider of the potentiometer P. (If you don‟t possess an instrument, connect the battery on the
If the Idle current is zero or is significantly bigger than 5 mA, something is wrong. If it‟s zero,
the one half of the supply (battery) voltage.
are the way they should be, if you happened to mount some electrolytic capacitors or IC‟s
upside-down, etc.

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3.7. Receiver with the HF Amplifier

In HF amplifier the signal coming from the radio station is being amplified in its original form.
In our case, this means that AM signal is led at input of the HF amplifier, and on its output the
same shaped signal is obtained, only with bigger amplitude. This device got its name because it
is used to amplify HF signals, although more precise term for it is the Selective Voltage
Amplifier (that's how it is called in professional books).
Electrical diagram of a direct receiver consisting of HF amplifier, diode detector and LF
(audio) amplifier is presented on Pic.3.24. This receiver does not have a selective input circuit.
It would be better that way, the selectivity of the receiver would be better, but "technical
reasons" made us not to include it: the double variable capacitor (like the one in the first issue
of PE) i.e. the one consisting of two equal variable capacitors connected onto the common
shaft, is very hard to find these days. The active element of the HF amplifier from Pic.3.24 is
the transistor BC557 that operates in the common base junction. The station signal that is being
amplified is led onto the emitter (i.e. between the emitter and ground), and the amplified signal
is taken from the collector (i.e. between it and ground). Working principle is similar to the one
of the input circuit explained with the Pic. 3.1-b. To refresh your memory: we have been
considering an example where four signals of equal amplitudes but different frequencies, were
present in the antenna: fs1, fs2, fs3 and fs4. They were causing four different currents to flow
through the LC oscillatory circuit: Is1, Is2, Is3, and Is4. All these currents were creating some
voltage on the ends of the LC circuit, but the one caused by the current Is2 was significantly
(about 20 times) bigger, due to the oscillatory circuit being set to its frequency. The parallel
oscillatory circuit that is on Pic.3.24 as the collector exactly the same as the the one on

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It also has the same role, therefore HF amplifier from pic.3.24 having the same selectivity as
the input circuit in all the receivers described so far, with addition of extra amplification. This
is being accomplished in the following manner: under the simultaneous load of 4 voltages that
are coming to emitter from the antenna, their frequencies being fS1, fS2, fS3 and fS4, four
currents flow simultaneously through the transistor. They share the same circuit: from positive
battery pole, through P1, then transistor (in direction emitter-collector), over the LC circuit to
the minus battery pole. All of them therefore flow simultaneously through the LC circuit as
well. The resonance frequency of this circuit is set (by C) to be equal to the frequency of one of
the currents and it acts upon it as a huge resistor (200 kOhms, as on pic.3.2-b). According to
Ohm‟s Law, this current creates voltage on the oscillatory circuit. For other 3 currents the
circuit acts as a resistor with much smaller resistance (less than 20 kOhms, as on pic.3.2-b) and
they create much smaller voltage in the circuitry (10x smaller, as in our example). The
important difference in operation of circuits from pics. 3.1 and 3.24 is that all currents are
much smaller in the latter case (because of the amplifying effect of transistor), therefore the
voltages on the LC circuit being much bigger.

* With P1 potentiometer the signal amplitude from antenna to the input of HF amplifier is
regulated. If, on your device, you find the slider for all stations to be in rightmost position, put
a resistor instead of potentiometer, and connect the antenna with emitter.

* As with all input circuits, when connecting the capacitor C care should be taken to connect
the rotor to the ground (G-point on pic.3.7-a).

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* The R3 resistor comprises with C2 and C3 capacitors the LF filter which prevents the
feedback (that would lead to unstable operation) between the LF circuitry and HF amplifier. If
the feedback still occurs, the R3 resistance should be increased.

* In LF part of the receiver the audio amplifier with LM386 IC is used. That is by no means
necessary, any audio receiver will do.

* There is also a better variation of HF amplifier, with increased selectivity. Its electronic
diagram is shown on pic.3.29-b.

3.8. The Audion - Direct Receiver with Drain Detector

During the experiments with this receiver, the Author had decided to name this chapter “The
BEST Direct (TRF) Receiver”, which he gave up on later, having in mind the old Latin saying:
DE GUSTIBUS NON DISPUTANDUM EST (Tastes should not be discussed). It is, however,
very hard to make something better with so little components. Anyway, the Author leaves to
the readers of this chapter to name their own Best Receiver candidates, picking one of these
described in this book, having in mind their own criteria for concepts of the beautiful, simple,
cheap and useful. You can mail your voices to me on the address: ETŠ "Nikola Tesla"
(Praktièna ELEKTRONIKA), Narodnog Fronta 31, Beograd, or by E-mail:,
Subject: Pe9.
On Pic.3.25 you can see the electrical diagram of this, however, anyway, nevertheless...
Device. The signal of the tuned-in station is lead to the Gate of the BF256 transistor. Please
notify that the signal is being taken from the upper end of the coil, and not from its leg, as it
has been in previous projects. This is possible due to big input resistance of the FET (bigger
than MegaOhm), compared to the one of the bipolar transistor (couple of kiloOhms). Why is
this so important? Pic.3.26 shows the voltage - frequency curve of the parallel oscillatory
circuit that is made of the coil L and capacitor C, while being tuned to the station whose
frequency is fs2. In case the circuit is not loaded (the next stage of the device is not connected
to it), this curve is shown in solid line and, as previously explained, the voltage (measured at
the ends of the osc. circuit) of the station with carrier frequency fs2 is significantly bigger than
the voltages of the stations with frequencies fs1 and fs3, although all of them have the same
size in the antenna. However, when the next stage, containing the bipolar transistor as, for
example, the one on the Pic.3.12, is connected, is small input resistance is damping the circuit
and the bandpass curve has

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he shape shown with the dashed line, marked as Q2.When the FET is connected to the
oscillatory circuit (as on Pic.3.25) there is practically no damping, and the bandpass curve
remains as shown in solid line. This is, clearly, much better, since all the other station voltages
are more suppressed (reduced), comparing to the voltage of the tuned station. Considering the
curve marked as Q3, we will be discussing it more in context with the Pic.3.29-a.

It has been earlier noticed that the most important characteristic of a parallel oscillatory circuit
being used in a receiver is its resonance frequency

Its second most important feature is the Goodness Factor of the receiver, which is most often
being marked with the letter Q, and is therefore also known as the Q-Factor. A loaded circuit
has smaller Q-factor than the non-loaded one, as shown on Pic.3.26, consequently being
Q1>Q2.For example, the goodness factor of the circuit from Pic.3.6 is Q=95. Since it is not
loaded, the oscillatory circuit on Pic.3.25 has smaller (narrower) bandpass and therefore better
selectivity. Additionally, since the whole signal from the circuit is led in the next stage (instead
partly, when getting the signal from the coil‟s leg), the receiver has got bigger sensitivity (it‟s
capable of receiving weaker signals).

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The FET, together with R1, R2, C2, C3 and C4 forms the so-called Drain Detector (its
analogous circuit with bipolar transistors is the Collector Detector, and with the electronic
tubes - the Anode Detector. The popular name for the anode detector was - the Audion). The
LF signal being detected is received on the drain (D). It has the same shape as the LF signal
obtained on the output of the diode detector, but is significantly bigger than it, since the drain
detector also amplifies the signal. The LF signal is then led on the volume regulation
potentiometer, over the filter that is used to suppress the remains of the HF signal carrier (R3
and C7). After that it goes to the audio - receiver.

* The R7 resistor can be omitted. If you do that you should switch off the battery (over the
switch S) every time you are removing the coil from the circuitry (during experiments). If you
fail to do so, the oscillation in the circuitry will occur, and loud hum will be heard from the

* Since FETs have very different characteristics compared to each other, it might be necessary
to change the value of R1 resistor. The simplest way to do it is to place a 50 kOhm variable
resistor instead, tune the receiver to some radio station and then achieve the best possible
reception by moving the slider. The resistor is then removed from the circuit, its resistance
measured, and the (fixed value) resistor of similar resistivity soldered in the circuit. The same
goes for R2.

* The filter (R3 and C7) used to suppress the remains of the signal carrier affects the colour of
the tone of the LF signal. If you wish more bass tones you should increase the C7 capacitance.

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Similarly, if you wish more high pitch tones, C7 should then be decreased.

* The receiver will not start operating the very same moment the switch S is engaged. That is
due to a fact that the FET doesn‟t work under small supply voltages. Its supply voltage is the
one on the C5 capacitor and the detector won‟t work until C5 doesn‟t fill. This is being
achieved through R4. Since this resistance is quite big and so is the capacitance of C5, the
filling time is rather long. If, however, you just need the receiver that will have a “late start”,
you should be increasing the capacitance and the resistance until reaching the desired delay

* This receiver works well also with the ferrite antenna. On Pic.3.27-a you can see the symbol
for it, and on Pic.3.27-b its shape and dimensions are given. The simplest thing to do isusing
the antenna from an old pocket radio, probably the same one you took the variable capacitor
from. During the dismount, you should by no means cut the coil ends or shorten them later.
Instead, you should carefully un-solder and unhook them from the PCB (the coil is made of the
“litz wire”, consisting of a dozen very thin lacquer - isolated copper wires, wrapped together
with the thread. If you cut this cable, you will find very hard to re-solder it, since it is difficult
to remove the lacquer from all the wires without damaging (some of) them). Such an antenna,
as seen on picture, has four ends. We shall be using the coil L, therefore only significant ends
for us are those marked as 1 and 2. The end No.1 is easy to identify, it is the single one, which
is not the case with the end No.2. To detect it in the group of three you will need an ohm-meter
of some other conductivity tester, which you should connect to the end No.1, and then search
for No.2 by touching those 3 remaining ends.

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In the lower right corner of Pic.3.27-b you can see means of attachment of such an antenna to
the PCB. The envelope being shown is made of carton. It is wrapped around the ferrite core,
and then glued to it. The screw is mounted through the hole and the antenna is then attached to
the PCB. Instead of screw and nut, the antenna can also be glued onto the board. If the ferrite
rod is longer than 6 cm, the envelopes should be mounted on both rod ends.

* C6 is the block-type capacitor that (together with R4) prevents the receiver from working in
an unstable regime. If such a thing occurs, its capacitance should be increased. If that doesn‟t
help either, or if the detector is working improperly, you should try increasing R1 and R4.

* With this receiver the reception of the SW band stations can also be achieved. All that is to
be done is making a new coil. For these purposes we utilized a piece of carton cylinder already
used for building our coil L (described in previous projects). On it, we bended tightly 6 bends
of 0.6 mm copper wire. The wire diameter isn‟t critical, practically any can be used. This coil
is shown on Pic.3.28-a, together with attachment plates. This coil should replace the coil L, as
seen on Pic.3.25. With 6 m long antenna and the antenna capacitor C1=12 pF, the reception
bandwidth should be app. from fd=7 MHz till fg=10 MHz. This can be changed by changing
the number of bends on the coil and /or C1 capacitance. I such a way you can “take a peek”
what‟s happening in the civil area, what are the radio - amateurs doing, some professional links
etc. You can even make a multiple - legged coil, such as on Pic.3.28-b (number of bends isn‟t
critical, it may be useful trying out some other values, too), and to be able to choose SW1,
SW2, SW3 with a selector switch. Please do have in mind that the reception quality of the SW
stations isn‟t the same during the day. It is good in the afternoon hours, during the night and in
the morning, the weakest reception quality is around noon. But, that isn‟t all. It also depends on
the season, solar activity etc. Anyway, you should see it for yourself.
There‟s also a possibility of receiving professional stations working on considerably higher
frequencies. The coil, which is then also an antenna, is given on Pic.3.28-c. It is made of
stronger, thicker wire or an metal band, being circularly shaped and then attached to the
wooden plate with two screws. With same screws cables connecting the antenna with the
variable capacitor C are affixed. The antenna diameter varies from couple of cm till few dozens
cm, the real value being found by experiments. It is a directive antenna, which means that the
amount of voltage being induced in it depends also upon the direction where the waves are
coming from. This gives you the opportunity of achieving the optimum reception of the desired
station and simultaneous suppression of others by rotating the antenna. Similar antennas are
used in radio - location (searching for whereabouts of an unknown radio transmitter).

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3.9-a Reaction - type Receiver

In the previous project, in the context of Pic.3.26, we have seen how important it its for an
oscillatory circuit of the receiver to have as big Q- factor as possible. The bigger it is, the
receiver gets more selective, i.e. capable to separate the signal of the station the oscillatory
circuit is tuned at from the multitude of signals in the reception antenna, at the same time
suppressing other signals. There is yet another important thing to be emphasized: the voltage in
the oscillatory circuit is Q times bigger than the voltage that is being led to it from the antenna.
If Q=95 and the voltage in the antenna is, say, 1 mV, the voltage exiting the circuit is then 95
mV. It is then clear that the Q- factor should be as big as possible. Some improvements can be
made by using the silver - coated wire instead of the plain copper one, of using ceramic
material for the coil body instead of carton etc. These improvements, however, are not
significant. The solution for this was, eventually, found: It was the process known as the
“regeneration”, many scientists had been working on it simultaneously, A. Meissner being one
of the more important ones. The complete process was patented in 1913 by the American radio
- pioneer Edwin H. Armstrong, two months before his 23rd. Birthday. He discovered that the
Q- factor could be extremely increased (even by couple of tens of times), if the signal from the
inlet circuit would be amplified with the triode and then the small part of this amplified voltage
adequately returned into the inlet circuit. The radio station signal could therefore be amplified
to much greater extent, and the reception of very far stations became possible, the thing that
wasn‟t even thought of, until then. From an average listener‟s point of view, the main mishap
of this regenerative, or, here better known as reactive, receiver was the fact that optimal tuning
required somewhat more skill and basic knowledge of the working principles. Much easier
tuning was that of the superheterodyne receiver (invented also by Armstrong), which was
reduced to turning only one reel, and it contributed, to a great extent, to its final victory. The
battle between the two concepts lasted for almost half a century, but the reactive receiver did

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not retreat itself completely. Even nowadays an electrical diagram of some younger and more
modern brother, or rather a grand-grandson of once famous reactive receiver, appears in some
popular electronics magazine. One such diagram, where the triode is replaced by a MOSFET,
is given on Pic.3.29-a.
Radio engineering enthusiasts know that, as soon as the signal from the input circuit is led on
the gate (G1) and that the source (S) isn‟t connected to the ground but to the coil leg (point
No.3), they have a diagram of the Hartley‟s oscillator in front of them and that connecting the
source to the leg No.3, the so-called positive feedback (positive reaction)is achieved. But, the
abovementioned labourers also know that the oscillator shall oscillate only if the leg No.3 is
made on the right spot, and the P1, TP1 and TP2 variable resistors are set on the right values.
Let us imagine that everything is OK: the coil leg is right where it should be, the slider of the
variable resistor P1 is in the middle of the range, and trimmers TP1 and TP2 are set in such a
manner that the oscillator is really oscillating. It behaves then as the generator, that creates the
sinusoidally - shaped AC voltage, whose amplitude is a couple of volts. Theoretically
speaking, the Q- factor is now infinitely big . All this shall produce a very strong whistling
sound in the loudspeaker. The slider of P1 should now be carefully moved downwards. The
transistor amplification is hereby reduced and the oscillating stops. The Q-factor is being
reduced too, it is no longer infinite but is still very big. The receiver is now tuned on the
desired station. If the station signal is weak, everything should be OK and the programme
should be heard. The reception can then be made better, by carefully operating with P1‟s slider.
If the whistling emerges again, the slider should be moved backwards until it stops. If we come
upon some stronger station the whistling will start immediately, in which case the slider P2
should be carefully moved downwards until it stops and the station programme is heard, loud
and clear. As one may notice, every time this receiver is being attuned to optimal receipt the
whistling is being heard for a short while. This is why it has been named “The Whistler”, here
in Yugoslavia .

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The amount of the reaction (feedback, regeneration) is controlled with P1 potentiometer, which
sets the magnitude of DC voltage on the gate G2 of the MOSFET, changing therewith the
amount of its amplification. The range of this control is being determined with TP1 trimmer,
G2 is connected to the AC signal‟s ground over C2 simultaneously eliminating the noise
coming from the potentiometer, and the FET is de-coupled from the supply line (and therefore
all other stages of the device by the LF filter made of C3, C4 and R2.
The receiver is being tuned as follows: Put the slider of P2 in mid position and later, after
tuning, you can set the volume as you wish. Set the P2 at minimum resistance (slider full
down), and P2 on maximum (slider full right), connect the antenna and close the switch S. Start
moving the slider P1 upwards, the reaction gets stronger and stronger, and you can hear the
typical hiss or some radio programme from the loudspeaker. Move the variable capacitor C and
tune the receiver to various stations. If the whistling starts, put the slider P1 back down.
Set the capacitor is minimum capacitance position (see Pic.3.7), put the slider P1 fully upwards
and start carefully increasing the resistance TP2 until the whistling stops. Measure the TP2 and
insert in the device the ordinary resistor of similar resistance. The TP1 trimmer should be set in
such a way to have as big resistance as possible, keeping at the same time the reaction effective
throughout the entire reception bandwidth of the receiver.
* During every station change (with C), a maximum amount of reaction should be set (with
P1). Move the slider upwards until the oscillating occurs, then put it back down a little.
* While receiving very strong signal (local transmitter), an overload can occur. If that happens,
you should insert a 1 MOhm potentiometer between the antenna (A) and the upper end of C1
capacitor; it should be connected as the rheostat (like TP1 and TP2), then you can set the
optimum reception with slider.

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* SW - band stations can also be received with this device, with a different coil. In this case it
would be very useful to add a trimmer capacitor in parallel to the variable capacitor, being
marked as Ct on Pic.3.29-a. With it the so-called “range yielding” can be done (the initial,
approximate setting is done with C, and fine tuning between closely placed stations with Ct). It
should be mounted on the front panel, as close to C as possible. Another type of capacitor can
be used as Ct, see more about it in the Appendix. The SSB (Single Side Band) technique
transmissions are also being placed in the SW band area. These signals cannot be received with
the earlier described receivers, but they can with this one. In that case the slider P1 should be
moved a bit more upwards, so that oscillating can occur. The reception becomes clear, before
that it was unrecognizable.
* If the local radio station still corrupts the reception of other stations, you should insert the
circuit that will suppress its signal. You can read more about it also in the Appendix.

3.9-b Direct SW Receiver for AM, AM-SSB & CW Signals

SSB stands for Single Side Band, which signifies the amplitude - modulated signal which gets
its signal carrier and one sideband suppressed in the transmitter. Carrier suppressing gives huge
savings in transmission power (the power necessary to accomplish the desired reach of the
signal is significantly smaller than in the conventional - type transmitters), and cancellation of
one sideband makes the signal have its spectrum two times narrower, allowing twice as many
transmitters as usual to be placed into the same bandwidth.
CW is for Continuous Wave, which determines the radio link where the Morse Code is being
transmitted by cutting the oscillator work in the transmitter.
SSB and CW signals are impossible to accomplish with the receivers that use the ordinary
diode - type detector (earlier described AM receivers). The receipt can be done only by
bringing another signal into the detector, the HF signal from the oscillator, known as the BFO
(Beat Frequency Oscillator). Simpler solutions, however, do exist. These are the reaction - type
receivers, i.e. receivers with positive feedback.

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You have been able to see one of them in the previous project (3.29-a), and here we‟ll take a
look at another one, which works so nice that we were sometimes having the impression it
beats up much more sophisticated, modern supereterodyne receivers. Its electrical diagram is
shown on Pic.3.29-b.
The coil L and capacitors C and C1 form a parallel oscillatory circuit whose role is to separate
and amplify the signal of the tuned station, and to suppress all others. It doesn‟t entirely
succeed in that, however. The reason for this is small Q- factor of the oscillatory circuit, being
such because of big energy losses in the circuitry. There are many kinds (reasons) of these
losses, but we can imagine in first approximation that there‟s a resistor RG in the circuit which
represents these losses, its resistance being such that the oscillating current transforms itself
into heat dissipation energy on it, its amount being the sum of all the (actual) losses in the
circuit. We could, furthermore, solve the problem of these losses if connecting serially to RG a
resistor RG‟, whose resistance would be negative and equal to the value of RG by its absolute
value. The overall resistance would then be zero, there would be no energy losses and the Q-
factor would become infinite. The oscillatory circuit would, together with the components that
create this negative resistance, become an oscillator capable of receiving SSB and CW signals.
We don‟t really need an infinite Q- factor while receiving usual (conventional) AM RG by its
absolute value. The resistances would not cancel each other completely, but the losses would
be made very small, the Q- factor therefore becoming very big therefor increasing both the
selectivity and sensitivity of the oscillatory circuit.
Transistors T1 and T2 constitute, together with resistor R3, a two-stage amplifier with strong
positive feedback that has a negative dynamic input resistance. This negative resistance is
connected between the leg No.3 on the coil and the ground, therefore superimposing itself with
the resistance representing losses of the circuit. The quantity of this negative resistance
depends on the amount of the DC current flowing through the transistors, which is being

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regulated by altering the DC voltage on the right end of the R3 resistor (by moving the slider of
the P1 potentiometer).
The red LED D and the resistor R2 comprise a simple voltage stabilizer, obtaining 1.8 V of
stabilized voltage on the P1. That means that the voltage on the right end of R3 shifts between
0 and 1.8 V while moving the slider of P1. The current flowing through the transistors thereat
also changes, causing the voltage on the left end of R3 to vary between 0 and 0.6 V.
The signal of the station is being led from the leg No.3 of the coil into the collector-type
detector made of T3, R3, R4 and C4. That is an AM signal detector that performs both signal
detection and its amplification. Its name is the Audion. The LF signal is then, from the
collector of T3, over the coupling capacitor C5, being led onto the sound volume potentiometer
P2 and the audio amplifier. For the latter any of the earlier described devices can be used.
Tuning this receiver on the desired station requires both some knowledge and patience (that‟s
what finally “buried” this kind of receivers). Put the slider P1 in the upmost position. If strong
whistling is heard that means the oscillating began. Move the slider carefully downwards until
the oscillating stops. Then start slowly turning the rotor of the capacitor C until you come upon
some station. If the whistling re-appears, move the slider of the potentiometer very little
downwards, the whistling should stop and you should be able to hear the radio - station
programme from the loudspeaker (loud and clear). For the next station tune yourself with C,
then move the slider P1 upwards until the whistling appears, then put the slider back until it
stops etc. All this may seem rather complex at first, but with a little practice and with two
hands all will go quick and smooth.
The abovementioned method is for the signal reception of ordinary, broadcast stations. If you
wish to receive the SSB and CW signals you should move the P1 slider upwards until the
oscillating is achieved, so that articulate speech (SSB) or Morse code signs (CW) can be heard
from the loudspeaker.
* The coil L is being made on the cylindrically - shaped body 6 mm in diameter, about 25 mm
long. The plastic - made body taken from an old device is the best, like the one shown on
Pic.5.14-b. The screw-shaped core allows the setup of the inductance, adjusting therewith the
reception bandwidth of the device. If you cannot find such coil body, any plastic- or carton-
made cylinder can be used instead. If you don‟t have even that, then make yourself one. Cut
the paper band to be 25 mm wide and about 150 mm long and reel it around the flat part of the
4 mm drill, adding every now and then some glue (UHU or similar). When the glue gets dry,
remove the coil body off the drill.

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The coil L has the total of 20 quirks of the lacquer - isolated copper wire, having 0.3 to 0.5 mm
in diameter. A leg should be made on every fifth quirk. Latching of the wire ends (with small
holes made in the coil body), as well as leg making (by making wire loops) can be done acc. to
the instructions given with Pic.3.6. It can also be accomplished differently, as shown on
Pic.3.29-b. First, 4 separate coils, each one made of 5 wire rings, are made side-by-side on the
coil body. The starts and ends are fixed with scotch tape. The isolation is then removed from
all coil ends, about 5 mm in length, after which they are tinned. On the PCB the legs are being
soldered in pairs, the end of one coil with the beginning of the next (they are put together in the
same hole on the PCB). For example, the end of the second and the beginning of the third coil
should be connected on the same line where contact for the left end of C3 capacitor is, thus
creating the leg No.3 of the coil. Putting two wires through one hole is not a very professional
solution. The “real thing” are separate junctions, one for each wire, as shown on Pic.3.29-d-c.

* The feedback may happen to be not big enough, causing that there‟s no oscillating even when
the P1 slider is in the rightmost position. In that case, leg No.2 of the coil should be used
instead of No.3. Switching between the legs can be done in many ways, the nicest (?) one
given on Pic.3.29-d, made with factory-made contact pins and jumpers. On Pic.3.29-d-c you
can see a detail of the PCB for the receiver shown on Pic.3.29-b. In the contacts marked as x, y
and z (distance between them is 1/10 inch) the contact pins are soldered. The jumper is in
position marked with dashed line, therefore making contacts x and y short-circuited. When it is
moved in vertical position, the x and z contacts are in junction. In former case the coil leg No.3
is used, and in the latter it is No.2. In factory-made devices, these

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jumpers and contacts are used, together with appropriate connectors, to connect the PCB to the
loudspeaker, power supply, variable capacitors, various switches etc.

* Setting the collector-type detector circuit to optimum operation is done by changing the R3
resistance, until voltage on the collector of BC549C is 1.2 V.

* The antenna can be a piece of copper wire no longer than 50 cm, but with longer (few
metres), external antenna, the results will be much better.

* This receiver is scheduled for the reception of SW stations from 6 MHz till 9 MHz, which is
accomplished with C1 value of about 400 pF. The exact value for C1 is being determined
experimentally and can be significantly different. Going down to the amateur range (about 3.75
MHz) is performed with bigger C1 capacitance.

3.10. Miniature Receiver with ZN414 (ZN414Z) IC

The receiver from Pic.3.25 can be made portable (without an external antenna) if ferrite
antenna is used instead of the carton-body coil, right? Well, not exactly. The ferrite antenna is a
directional - type antenna, meaning that it does matter where are the waves made by transmitter
coming from. The voltage being induced in it under the effect of EM field is the biggest if the
ferrite rod is in horizontal position, aimed in such a manner that its axis is perpendicular to the
direction of spread of the waves (i.e. perpendicular to the direction towards the transmitter). If
the rod is being turned (in horizontal plane), the voltage decreases and gets to minimum when
the rod is turned for 90 degrees, i.e. When the rod axis is parallel to the direction pointing
towards the transmitter. That means that when the receiver from Pic.3.25 (with the ferrite
antenna) is tuned to some station, the reception can be additionally improved by simply
rotating it. The directional feature of the antenna is useful here. This, however, can be bad if

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the receiver is used in motion, since the volume would be constantly changing, and the receiver
should be constantly turned towards the transmitter. It would clearly prove itself useful to have
an electronic circuit in the receiver that would be automatically changing the amplification of
the receiver, in such a manner that it would be increased when the signal in the antenna
weakens and vice versa. This would even be convenient in the stationary - type receivers, since
it would provide the constant sound strength in the loudspeaker during the reception of signals
of various power. Such circuit does exist in modern receivers, and is called the Automatic
Amplification Regulation circuit (AAR).
AAR circuit could be added to some of the receivers described in previous projects. The
mishap is that electrical diagrams would then become significantly more complex, which
would reflect itself both on the price and the realizability. The solution, however, does exist,
and is rather simple: it‟s the ZN414 IC, being promoted as an “AM Receiver”. Its block
diagram is given on the Pic.3.30. The signal from the input

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circuit (with ferrite antenna) is led on pin 2 of the IC, which is the input of the amplifier (Z)
that has very big input impedance (about 4 MOhms). This is very significant, since such
amplifier does not load the oscillatory circuit and doesn‟t reduce its Q- factor. The signal is
then being amplified through 3-stage HF amplifier (HFA) and demodulated in the detector,
thereby exiting the IC as an LF signal (music, speech...). In the right part of the Pic.3.30 the pin
description of the ZN414 is given. As you can see, it is placed in a housing usually used for
small-power transistors, either plastic (on top, like BC547) or metal (bottom, like BC107).
One end of the oscillatory circuit is connected to the ground over the C1 capacitor (for AC
voltages), since input into the amplifier Z is between pin 2 and the ground, where the input
signal is to be brought.
The automatic amplification regulation (control) is achieved by returning the DC component of
the detected signal from the output to the input of the IC, over the R1 resistor. This DC voltage
is being created on R2 resistor. It is substantial for the correct operation of ZN414, its
resistance must be such that DC voltage on the pin 1 (to the ground) when no station is being
received, is equal to 0.9 V. While calculating the R2 one must have in mind that the idle
current of the IC goes through it, its typical value being 0.3 mA, and maximum 0.5 mA (more
data about ZN414 can be found in table on Pic.3.36).

The electrical diagram of a small portable MW radio receiver, reproduction being done over
the headphones, is given on Pic.3.31. The LF signal is led from the ZN414 output over the
coupling capacitor C3 to simple amplifier made with BC547 transistor (or similar), which we
discussed about before. This can even be done without the LF amplifier. If you have high-
resistance headphones that are sensitive enough connect them between the right end of C3 and
the ground, and omit the transistor, R3 R4 and C4.

The 1.5V battery is being used in this device, therefore the necessary 0.6V voltage drop is done
with R2=1.5 kOhms. You should, just in case, connect first a 5 kOhms trimmer instead of R2,
put its slider in the mid position, turn on the receiver and set it on an empty place on the scale,
where no signal can be heard. Connect the voltmeter between the pin1 and ground, and
carefully move the slider until the instrument shows 0.9V. If you have no instrument, tune the
receiver to some station and move the slider carefully until you reach an optimum receipt.
Then turn the variable capacitor‟s knob across the entire scale, to ensure that receiver is
working well throughout the entire reception range. If everything is OK turn off the receiver,
disconnect the trimmer, measure its resistance and solder an appropriate resistor on the PCB.
While experimenting with R2 please have in mind that its resistance should be in any case no
less than 600 Ohms.

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On Pic.3.32 the PCB, ferrite antenna and look of entire device are shown.
If you plan to make a different PCB, since the device works on high frequencies, you have to
obey certain rules in order to have a reliable and stable operation:

a. The splitting capacitor C2 has to be mounted as close as possible to the pin 1 of the ZN414.
Its capacitance affects both the amplification (which increases with increase of C2) and the
limit frequency of the LF signal (which decreases with increase of C2), so the compromise has
to be found. You may put for start C2=82 nF (or even 100 nF), and if the reproduction quality
pleases you - everything is in order. You could try with smaller capacitance, the amplification
will decrease but the reproduction will be better, etc.

b. All the connections, especially those near the ZN414, must be kept as short as possible.

c. The ferrite antenna and variable capacitor should be placed as far away from the battery,
loudspeaker (if existing) and the cables connecting them to the PCB.

d. The rotor (G- leg) of the variable capacitor must be connected with the junction of R1 and
Regarding the ferrite antenna, the best thing would be using some that is retrieved from some
disused conventional receiver, more on this was told in the project No.3.8. If you can‟t find
one, or it is unsuitable for some reason, you can make it according to Pic.3.32-c. The length of
the ferrite rod is 42 mm. If you have a longer rod, cut it down to size. This cannot be done with
the saw, but a groove must be made with the rasp all around, after which the rod can be simply
broken in two. The coil body is, again, made of paper tape that is spooled and glued onto the
rod. Before you start with spooling, several pieces of 0.5 mm wire (3 on the picture) should be
inserted between the rod and the paper. The coil has got 80 quirks of lacquer -isolated copper
wire, its diameter being app. 0.2 mm. The beginning and the end of the coil are fixed with the
scotch tape (the starting quirks are pressed on the coil body and fixed with several reels of 3
mm tape. The same is done with the ending ones). When the body is finished, the wires are
removed. It is thus achieved that the coil body doesn‟t lay firmly on the rod, which can now be
moved side-to-side, changing thereby the inductance of the coil, so that its optimum value can
be established. If you still decide not to use the ferrite antenna, you can use our coil from
Pic.3.6. In that case, the leg should be kept “in air”, i.e. it is not used.

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* The battery can be connected to the PCB with two pieces of wire that are soldered to it. This
solution is fine if you are skilled in soldering and can easily un-solder the old battery and attach
the new one. But if you intend to give the receiver to someone, and he/she is not a soldering-
lover, you‟ll have to find another solution. The simplest thing to do is take the battery housing
from an old receiver, do the necessary adjustments and connect it with the PCB with two
pieces of flexible (litz) wire. If you cannot do the former, make two battery platforms of brass,
as shown on Pic.3.33 and solder them on two copper areas on PCB that are big enough to
support them. If you accept this solution, your PCB must be bigger (The additional part is
shown in dashed line, on Pic.3.32-a). The board now also contains the holes for the screws,
which are fixing it onto the device box. On the platform that supports negative (-) battery pole,
a small spring can be attached, to provide a good contact. If you don‟t have such a spring, bend
the platforms inwards a little, to keep the battery firmly in place.
If you are using a power source whose voltage is greater than 1.5 V, the R2 resistance should

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be increased. The exact value for it is best to find as previously described, by using the 50
kOhms trimmer. Even better solution is using one of the circuits from the Pic.3.34. Which one
should it be? The one on the Pic.3.34-d gives the best operating performance. The setting is
done with the TP trimmer. The slider is put in the lowest position, and then is slowly moved
upwards until the voltage on the pin 1 doesn‟t reach the level required. However, this circuit
applies a big load onto the battery, surging from it the current I=(9V-3V)/680Ohm=8.8 mA.

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3.11. Pocket Receiver with ZN414 & LM386 IC’s

The author was taking notes in his lab while testing the receivers being described herein, and
used them later to write this book. One remark about the receiver whose electrical diagram is
given on Pic.3.35 was: “Works EXCELLENT”. The reader will probably ask himself: Isn‟t this
the aforementioned “The Best Receiver”? No, it isn‟t, just remember: DE GUSTIBUS... If,
however, you consider it to be “The One”, please send your vote on E-mail:;
This device is very similar to the one being described in the previous project. The most
important difference is that the LF signal exiting the ZN414 does not go to the transistor
amplifier but to the power amplifier built around the LM386, which was used in some previous
projects. Any other audio amplifier can be used instead, e.g. those on Pics. 3.15, 3.21 and 3.22.
With this receiver, special care should be taken regarding the voltage on pin No.1. As you did
in previous project, put the potentiometer‟s slider in mid-position, turn the receiver on and tune
it to some station. Move the slider carefully, until you reach the optimum reception. Start
changing the capacitance of the variable capacitor, covering its entire scope, to make sure that
receiver works well in its entire operating range. If a problem occurs, re-position the slider
again. When everything gets OK, turn the receiver off, disconnect the potentiometer, measure
its resistance, and solder the resistor of such resistance on the board. The R2 resistance must be
no less than 600 Ohms.

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3.12. Miniature Receiver with ZN415E (ZN416E) IC

The ZN415 IC, being promoted as “The World‟s smallest radio” by its manufacturer
(FERRANTI), is an improved version of ZN414. As seen on the Pic.3.36-a (IC‟s block
diagram), the 8-pin DIL package contains ZN414 IC with R1 and R2 resistors, an amplifier
with T1 transistor and the separation stage performed with T2 transistor. All the necessary
resistors are comprised in the IC. Someone will, perhaps, wonder why there are no capacitors
integrated inside, so that the externally mounted parts would then be only the battery and the
headphones? The answer is fairly simple: It isn‟t yet possible to make the capacitors that would
have enough big capacitance, in the monolithic IC‟s manufacturing process. Regardless of this
“problem”, the receiver built around the ZN415 is, really, extremely simple.
As described in project 3.10, the LF signal exits the ZN414. Through the coupling capacitor C3
it is led on the base of T1, and the amplified signal is obtained on its collector pin, and is taken
directly on the base pin of T2. The remains of the HF signal are led to the ground over the C4
capacitor. The separation stage allows us to connect small - resistance (64 Ohms) headphones,
which are mass - produced these days and are the easiest ones to obtain.
The 1.5 V battery is used for the power supply of the circuit, and is being connected between
the pins 6 and 4. Having in mind the previous experience gained with the ZN414 IC, the author
recommends to the readers to try improving the signal reception by adding the R2* resistor
(helping themselves with linear 1-5 kOhms potentiometer), which is shown in dashed line on
the picture.
In the upper end of the Pic.3.37 the table with basic data about ZN415 circuit is given. All
these apply on the ZN414 as well, except for the last line. The smaller table given below it
contains the data about the DC voltages on the pins of the IC. If something is wrong, the first
thing to do is check these voltages and if they are (approximately) as those given in the table,
the IC is OK and the error is therefore to be searched in the printings, the contacts, junctions,

Created by DuyThangbk_Mail :

Everything that is said about the ferrite antenna in the previous projects applies here as well.

3.13. AM Receiver with ZN415E & LM386 IC’s

This FRT AM receiver combines the features of two magnificent IC‟s, ZN416E (HF amplifier,
detector and the pre-amplifier) and LM386 (audio power amplifier). Add a power supply based
on 7809 voltage stabilizer IC, use a loudspeaker with membrane diameter being about 15 cm,
put all this in one of the boxes described in the Appendix, and you will have a new and
improved silicone - based model of an old - fashioned radio receiver, built somewhat less than
100 years ago.
The electrical diagram of this device is given on Pic.3.38. The voltage reduction (and
stabilization) from 9V to 1.5V, as needed by ZN415, is being done over the R2 resistor and D1
and D2 diodes, although any circuit given on Pic.3.34 can be used instead. Universal - type
diodes 1N4148 are used here, but any other low-power silicon diodes will do. With 250 Ohms
trimmer TP the fine - tuning of the voltage on the pin 6 is being done (the receiver is set to
some station in the upper part of the reception bandwidth (app. 1500 kHz), and the slider of the
TP is then used to obtain the optimum reception). After that, the receiver is switched off, the
trimmer is disconnected, its resistance measured and an equivalent resistor soldered in the
circuitry. On the PCB, this resistor is marked as R3.

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The PCB, component layout and connections with other parts of the device ar shown on
Pic.3.39. If the receiver is made for the household use, you should certainly put it into some
bigger box where bigger loudspeaker (~15 cm) can be installed. The ferrite antenna should be
mounted on the rear or side panel, as far from the loudspeaker as possible. All the conductors,
especially those that connect the capacitor to the board, should be as short as possible. The
wires that connect the loudspeaker and the adapter to the PCB have to be firmly twisted, as
shown on picture for the loudspeaker. The potentiometer is to be connected with the shielded
microphone cable, if it is more then 10 cm away from the board.

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A connector for 64-Ohm headphones can also be mounted on the box. It is then connected to
the PCB via a microphone cable, connecting its “live” end directly on pin No.5, and the shield
wire to the closest ground. Headphones can also be used instead of loudspeaker, in which case
such connector must be chosen, that will switch off the loudspeaker when headphones are
plugged in.
* Some more modern IC, other than LM386, can also be used in this device. The author
recommends TDA7052A. Its main features are:
1. Extremely stable operation
2. Implemented output short-circuit protection
3. No cooler necessary
4. Small power consumption, IO=4 mA
5. No “clicking” during switching ON/OFF
6. Voltage amplification is 39 dB

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7. Output power Piz=1.2 W (3x bigger than LM386)
8. The 220 mF capacitor isn‟t needed if the power rectifier that has an electrolytic capacitor on
its output is used, and the cables connecting it with the device are short. In that case the
amplifier is practically made without the external components, if we exclude the (inevitable)
100 nF capacitor, which is in every way great advantage.

3.14. Miniature receiver with ZN415E & TDA7052 IC’s

The 9 V battery is not so popular nowadays as it used to be, probably for its quite big
price/capacity ratio, so it is almost never used in the pocket-type receivers today. Much more
frequently utilized these days are the cylindrically shaped 1.5 V AA type batteries. Electrical
diagram of one pocket-type AM receiver that uses two of these for power supply is given on
Pic.3.41. Two IC's, ZN415 and TDA7050 are being used in it. The DC supply voltage for
TDA7050 must be exclusively 3 V, and should be no bigger than 4 V. The voltage being
supplied from the batteries gets smaller during the use, but the IC operates properly as long as
it doesn't drop below 1.6 V. Besides this nice feature, this IC has very small dimensions, very
low idle current (4 mA), all the external components it requires are two capacitors (C8 and
C9), which makes it ideal for usage in the mobile-type devices (radios, wakmans, etc.), the
purpose that is originally designated to it by its manufacturer (Philips).
* Caution must be expressed with the power supply, since this two-batteries power supply
cannot be simply replaced with some common-type 3V adaptor. If you wish to use such
adaptor, the pin 6 of ZN414 must be connected, over the R2 resistor and one of the circuits
from Pic.3.35, to the pin 8 of the TDA7050, and the adaptor is then to be connected between
the pin 8 and the ground.
* The R2* resistor, shown in dashed line on the picture, should be added only if the receiver
does not operate stable. Determining its exact value is explained in several previous projects.
* The 64 Ohm headphones are connected onto the output of the ZN415 (between pin 5 and
Gnd), or instead of the loudspeaker (in which case the reproduction can be much louder).

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* The PCB and components layout is shown on the Pic.3.42. Connecting other components is
being done in the similar manner as in the previous project. In the left corner the batteries are
shown, placed in some convenient holder taken from some old device. Between the plus pole
of the left and the minus pole of the right battery the tin plate is inserted, with one of 3 cables
connecting the supply to the PCB soldered to it.

3.15. Direct (TRF) FM Receivers

Frequency modulation is used in radio broadcast in the bandwidth range from 88 MHz til 108
MHz. This range is being marked as “FM” on the band scales of the radio receivers, and the

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devices that are able to receive such signals are called the FM receivers.
Radio broadcast transmitters are using the amplitude modulation on LW, MW and SW
bandwidths. According to international treaties, each of the transmitters has a 9 kHz wide
broadcasting channel, therefore making maximum frequency of the information being
transferred fNFmax=4.5 kHz, according to the characteristics of the AM signal. To put it more
simple, the highest frequency of the sound that can be heard from the loudspeaker of an AM
receiver is 4.5 kHz, all above it will be simply truncated in the circuitry. Considering the
speech itself, this isn‟t so important since the most important components are located below
these 4.5 kHz (during the telephone transfer, all the components above 3.2 kHz are being cut,
and nobody is complaining). Things stand different, however, for the transfer of music. Music
has much more sound components, with their frequencies spreading up to 15 kHz, so
truncating them above 4.5 kHz does deteriorate the transmission quality.
The radio-broadcast FM transmitter has a 250 kHz wide channel on its disposal, therefore
allowing for the maximum frequency of the information (acc. to the characteristics of the FM
signal) to be fNFmax=15 kHz. That means that music is being fully transferred and its quality
is significantly better than in the case of the AM transfer. The FM transfer has some other
advantages, perhaps the most significant of them being the possibility of eliminating various
disturbances that are manifesting themselves as snapping, squeaking etc. The main
disadvantage, however, is not the result of the frequency modulation itself, but rather of the
fact that this method is being used on high frequencies, and that high-frequency
electromagnetic waves behave themself as light, spreading themselves in straight line, not
reflecting from the ionosphere etc. This is why obtaining this kind of radio-link requires optical
visibility between the transmission and reception antennas, which is not the case for the links
obtained on frequencies which are less than 40 MHz. In practical terms, it is possible to receive
the SW signal from anywhere on Earth, whilst the range of an UHF link is limited to the
horizon. Or, as Hamlet would say: “The quality or the range, that is the question!”
Can we have it both, somehow? Yes we can, and it is already being done, over the satellite
links, using the same equipment as for the TV signal receipt and an audio amplifier connected
to the audio output of the satellite receiver. For now, in the earthly conditions, those that are
interested in the worldwide news will make and use the AM receivers, and music lovers will
stick to the FM‟s. And what can those interested in both do? Well, they make AM-FM
receivers :)
The direct-type (TRF) FM receivers have never been produced, the industry started right away
with the superheterodynes, made acc. to the block diagram on Pic.4.6, which will later be
discussed. In amateur life, however, the direct FM receivers do exist, having very simple
electronic diagrams and being easy to manufacture. These receivers have very strong positive
feedback, making the intermittent oscillations in it, and are therefore being called the super-
reaction receivers.

3.15.1. The Simplest FM Receiver

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On Pic.3.43 you can se the electronic circuit of an extremely simple direct FM receiver. The T2
transistor together with the R1 resistor, the coil L the variable capacitor C and internal
capacitances of the T1 transistor, comprises the so-called Kolpitz oscillator. The resonance
frequency of this oscillator is being set by C to correspond to the one of the station that we
wish to hear (meaning it has to be altered between 88 and 108 MHz). The signal, i.e. the
information being used in the transmitter to perform the modulation, is extracted on the R1
resistor, and being led from it to the high-resistance headphones, over the coupling capacitor

* The capacitance of the variable capacitor should be able to change from a couple of pF
(Cmin) to app. 20 pF. During the testing off this device, we were using the capacitor from
Pic.3.8. The legs marked as FO and G were used, the G leg being connected to the ground.
When all the trimmers from the circuit on the Pic.3.8 are set to minimum capacitance, the
capacitance between the FO and G legs should be adjustable between 7 and 27 pF.
* The coil L has 4 quirks of lacquer-isolated copper wire (CuL), bended to have a 4 mm
internal diameter. The practical realization of this coil is explained in text connected with
Pic.3.45. During the setup of the bandwidth, the inductance of the coil can be altered by
changing the distance between the quirks. If the coil is stretched the inductance decreases, and
vice versa. If this cannot give the desired results, new coil must be made.
* The telescopic antenna taken from a disused device can be used. If you can‟t find one, you
obtain very good results with a piece of isolated copper wire, about 60 cm long (the optimum
length to be found experimentally).

3.15.2. The Simplest FM Receiver with Audio Amplifier

The radio-broadcast FM transmitters operate with output power that is much smaller than that
of the AM transmitters. That is why the LF signal coming from the device on Pic.3.43 is rather
small, urging the use of very sensitive headphones. They are much more expensive than the

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“ordinary” ones, making it better to use the cheap headphones in connection with audio
amplifier. One such solution where TDA7050 IC is used is given on the Pic.3.44. The R3
resistor and capacitors C5 and C6 are to be added only if the operation of the device is
unstable. There optimum values are to be found experimentally, starting with those shown in
the picture.
For loudspeaker reproduction any of the previously described amplifiers can be used, e.g. that
from Pic.3.21 (which we have been using, very successfully), or one of the devices described
in P.E.4 and P.E.5. Since in these amplifiers a battery with voltage bigger than 3 V is used,
using of R3 and C5 is obligatory. The R3 is counted from the formula

where UBAT is battery voltage, and 0.235 mA is the current through R1, that supplies T1 and
T2. E.g. if UBAT=9 V, it is then and the nearest existing resistor is used.

Capacitors C5 and C6 comprise, together with R3, a pass-filter for very low frequencies, which
is used to separate the HF and LF parts of the receiver.

The battery itself acts as a short-circuit for the AC currents. But when it ages its resistance
increases and there is no more short-circuit. That is why C3 and C4 are added, to accomplish it.

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3.15.3. FM Receiver with one Transistor and Audio Amplifier

We have made this receiver on the experimental plate, and it was playing for days in our lab.
Its electronic diagram is given on Pic.3.46. Regretfully we had to disassemble it, since we

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needed the plate for one of the devices described later in this book. This, too, is a reaction-type
receiver, where the BF256 transistor, coil L and capacitors C, C* and C2 form the Hartley
oscillator. Its frequency is being adjusted by means of the variable capacitor C to be equal to
the frequency of the station that we wish to listen to. The LF signal is being taken from the R1
resistor, and led into the audio amplifier.

* The coil L is self-supporting (doesn't have the body), made of 5 quirks of CuL wire, its
diameter being from 0.8 to 1 mm. It is spooled on some cylindrical object (pencil, pen etc., the
best thing is the round part of a 9 mm drill), in one layer, quirks put tight to each other, as
shown in the left, framed part of the picture. When the coil is finished, it is taken off the
cylinder and stretched a little, so that the quirks do not touch each other. Its final length should
be about 10 mm. The mid coil leg, which is to be connected to the left end of the C3 capacitor,
is made by taking off couple of millimetres of the lacquer from the wire, approximately in the
middle of the coil. This place is then tinned and a piece of thin wire is soldered to it. The other
end of this wire is soldered onto the PCB, on its place, to be connected to the left end of C2.

* For the variable capacitor C the one from the Pic.3.8 (legs FO and G, G goes to Gnd). If you
are using some other capacitor, that has bigger capacitance, and you cannot achieve the
reception of the full FM bandwidth (88 til 108 MHz), try changing the value of the C*. Its
capacitance is to be determined experimentally, usually being about a dozen pF.

* HFC is the high-frequency choke. Together with C2, it makes a filter that prevents the HF
current to flow through the R1, simultaneously allowing for DC and LF current to go through.
The muffler is, in fact, a coil that has 16 quirks of 0.6 mm CuL wire, spooled on a round part of

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a 3 mm drill.

* This receiver works well even without the external antenna. It can, of course, be connected to
it, as shown in dashed line. Instead of antenna, a 50 mm piece of wire can also be used.

3.15.4. FM Receiver with (just) one Transistor

On the left side of the Pic.3.46 you can see the diagram of another very simple FM receiver,
that has only one transistor as the active element. That is, as one can see, the HF part of the
receiver from Pic.3.45, where the reproduction is being accomplished over the high-resistance
headphones. But, as previously noticed, they are pretty expensive, therefore making it better to
use the "regular" headphones and a simple amplifier, as shown on the right side of the Pic.3.46.

Chapter 4 Superheterodyne Radio Receivers

4.1.Superheterodyne AM Receivers
4.1.1. The Simplest AM Superheterodyne Receiver (worldwide)
4.1.2. The Fully (not exactly 100%) superheterodyne AM Receiver No.1
4.1.3. The Fully (not exactly 100%) superheterodyne AM Receiver No.2
4.2. Superheterodyne FM Receivers
4.2.1. FM Receiver with TDA7000
4.2.2. FM Receivers with TDA7088T Miniature FM Receiver Stereophonic Receiver

As far as the professional manufacturers are concerned, the direct (TRF) receiver has "played
out his tune". After half-century struggle on the market, it has been replaced by the
superheterodyne receiver, that was patented in 1918 by Edwin Armstrong. In that time,
commercially speaking, its main advantage was its substantially easier tuning to the station. It
requires only one button for this, comparing to the TRF receiver that needs two buttons to be
intermittently adjusted for optimal reception, and also it requires much of the knowledge, skill
and patience, which the average buyer does not have. The superheterodyne receiver is,
however, also more complex than the TRF, and setting of its stages during its production
requires some special instruments, that the average radio amateur does not possess.
Nevertheless, it is not impossible to build such device in the amateur environment, and when
the operating principles are known, the necessary adjustments can be done "by hearing".

4.1. Superheterodyne AM Receivers

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On Pic.4.1 you can see the block diagram of a radio-broadcast superheterodyne receiver The
antenna (A) by various radio transmitters and sources of disturbances. In our example, it's an
AM signal that has the carrier frequency fs, and is modulated by a single tone, as seen in the
rectangle above its label. This signal is being led into the stage called the mixer. Another
voltage is also led into it, the voltage from the local oscillator that has the frequency of f0, and
a constant amplitude. Under the effect of these two signals, the phenomenon called the
outbreak takes place in the mixer, and an AM signal appears on its output, its frequency being
fm=455kHz. This signal is called the inter-frequency (IF) signal, and its frequency fm the
interfrequency. The IF signal has the same envelope as the station signal entering the mixer.
That means, that the information from the transmitter to the mixer is carried by the signal
frequency fs, and in the mixer it is being assumed by a new carrier, that has the frequency fm.
When transferring to another station, the user changes the capacitance of the variable capacitor
C by turning the knob, setting up the resonance frequency of the input circuit to be equal to that
station's one. Another variable capacitor, Co, is located on the same shaft as C, so its
capacitance changes simultaneously to that of C. This capacitor is located in the local oscillator
and that is how it gets the new oscillating frequency, having such value that the difference of
the oscillator and station frequencies is again equal to the inter-frequency value.
Here's one numerical example. The interfrequency is being adopted by the constructor of the
device, and it is mostly fm=455 kHz. When the receiver is set to the station that has the
frequency of fm=684 kHz, the frequency of the local oscillator shall be fO=1139 kHz,
therefore making there difference be
1139 kHz-684 kHz=455 kHz=fm.
When tuning to a station that operates on the frequency of fS=1008 kHz, the listener will
change the capacitances of the two capacitors until the resonant frequency of the input circuit
becomes fS=1008 kHz, and the oscillator frequency fO=1463 kHz, therefore yielding
1463 kHz-1008 kHz=455 kHz=fm.
If the receiver has more wavebands (LW, MW, SW1, SW2…) it is being constructed to have
the same inter-frequency value for all of them.
What do we gain with this change of the carrier frequency? So far we haven't mentioned one
very important thing, that is that the input circuit can never be selective enough, to extrapolate
only the signal of the tuned station, from all the signals that exist in the antenna. On the output
of this circuit, besides the station signal, also signals of strong and local transmitters are
obtained, especially the signals from the neighbouring channels (their frequency being very
close to the one of the tuned station). All these signals are receiving new signal carriers in the
mixing stage, with their frequencies deviating fm as much as their carrying frequencies differ
from fS. E.g., if the input circuit is set on the station whose frequency is 1008 kHz, another two
signals from the neighbouring channels can also emerge on its exit.

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Their frequencies would be 999 kHz and 1017 kHz. The ordinary TRF receiver would in this
case be totally incapable of suppressing those signals, which is not the case with the
superheterodyne receiver. These 3 signals are entering the mixer, which gets the 1463 kHz
voltage from the oscillator. The outbreak occurs, and 3 AM signals are exiting the stage, their
frequencies being 455 kHz, 464 kHz and 446 kHz. All 3 signals go to the IF amplifier (MFP),
which has several amplifying stages with oscillatory circuits set to 455 kHz, making it very
selective, so it amplifies only the 455 kHz signal and suppresses the others enough not to
disturb the reception.
the signal exiting the IF amplifier is led onto the detector (Det.), the LF voltage amplifier
(NFP) and the output stage (IS), the circuits we spoke about in the previous projects.
The ARP signifies the circuit that turns back the DC component of the detected signal into the
IF amplifier, to obtain the automatic amplification regulation.
Above every block on the picture you can see the signal shape exiting that block, as seen on the
oscilloscope, in case the modulation in the transmitter is done by the single, sinusoidally-
shaped tone. The upper part of the picture contains the average voltage amplifications for each
block, for the mass-production devices. Total voltage amplification, which is the ratio of the
voltage on the loudspeaker to the voltage in the antenna is A=750000. The amplification in
decibels is therefore: A(dB)=20logA=117.5

4.1.1. The Simplest Superheterodyne AM Receiver

The author presumes that most of the readers, especially those just entering the world of radio
with this book, are somewhat scared by the block diagram from Pic.4.1. Their question
probably is: Can an amateur build such a receiver? Yes, he can. The author has a friend that

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succeeded in this some 40 years ago, when all had been done with the electronic tubes, making
the practical realization of a receiver much harder than it is today, with semiconductors (its
radio amateur call sign is YT1FA, and those who doubt it may contact him). However, he was
doing this in the premises of YU1EXY Radio Club, in the attic of the Electrotechnical Faculty
in Belgrade, using the club (more less trophy) instruments and, more important, he had help of
Sasa Piosijan, Radivoje Karakasevic and Kiro Stojcevski, who knew all about the radios,
especially Sasa.
The main problem in making a superheterodyne device is not the circuitry complexity but its
setup, which requires lot of practical experience and some special instruments, that our readers
probably don't possess. But they are much better than the TRF receivers, both regarding the
sensitivity and selectivity, so we made simpler devices that are simple to set, with no
instruments necessary than your ears. They are realized around the NE612 IC, whose pin
description, block diagram and main features are given on Pics.4.2-a & b.
This IC comprises the critical stages of an AM superheterodyne receiver, the mixer and local
oscillator. the station signal is led either on pin 1 or on pin 2 (or on both of them, in case of
symmetrical coupling with the previous stage), and the IF signal is obtained on the pin 4 or 5
(or on both of them, in case of symmetrical coupling with the next stage). An oscillatory
circuit, that determines the frequency of the local oscillator and the positive feedback circuit
are connected between the pins No.6 and 7. Pin 3 is connected to Gnd, i.e. the minus pole of
the DC supply voltage. Pin 8 receives a positive DC supply voltage which can, acc. to the table
given on Pic.4.2, vary between 4.5 V to 8 V. The value of this voltage is not critical, but it is
extremely important for normal operation of the receiver that this voltage is stable, therefore
urging for it to be separately stabilized (with special care), as seen in some projects in this
chapter and in the Appendix, that involve the NE612.
In the text that follows 3 simple superheterodyne receivers made with NE612 will be

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More will be discussed in the chapter dedicated to NE612 IC, and the reader should pick one of
these, or make the receiver that suits him best by combining these diagrams with earlier
described HF amplifiers and input circuits.
The electronic diagram of the simplest superheterodyne AM receiver in the world, with
reproduction over the loudspeaker, is shown on Pic.4.2-c. The device has got only one
oscillatory circuit in the IF amplifier (being marked as MFT), whose frequency does not need
to be set to some specific value (meaning the receiver will work OK even if its frequency is

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bigger or smaller than standard 455 kHz). Further simplification was done by omitting the
input circuit, therefore avoiding the problems with quite complex adjustments between the
input circuit and the local oscillator. All these simplifications do have their price: this device is
less sensitive and selective than the complete superheterodyne, and is also more prone to
disturbances. Even so, it has better both the selectivity and sensitivity than the TRF.
Signals of all the stations are being led directly from the antenna onto the pin no.1, i.e. the
mixer. On the other hand, the mixer also receives the HF voltage from the local oscillator,
whose frequency is equal to the resonance frequency of the parallel oscillatory circuit made of
CO, CtO, and LO. This frequency, if neglecting the parasite capacitances, is:

On the mixer exit the signals from all the stations are obtained, but now they have new carrier
frequencies, that are equal to the difference of the oscillator frequency and their original one.
Nevertheless, only one of these signals will have the frequency that is equal to the resonance
frequency of the MFT, and it will be the only one to appear on the ends of this oscillatory
circuit. Here's a numerical example.

Let us assume that we have (only) 3 MW signals in the antenna, having the frequencies of
fS1=711 kHz (Nis), fS2=855 kHz (Bucharest) and fS3=1008 kHz (Belgrade 2). The IF
transformer frequency could be fm=455 kHz. If we set the frequency of our oscillator on
fm=1166 kHz (with CO), the following signals, modulated by the radio stations' programs, will
exit the mixer:

fm1=f0-fS1=1166-711=455 kHz,
fm2=f0-fS2=1166-855=311 kHz and
fm3=f0-fS3=1166-1008=158 kHz.

Since the oscillatory circuit on the mixer exit (MFT) is set to 455 kHz, we will have Radio
Nis's signal from it, others will be suppressed. If we wish to hear Bucharest, the oscillator
frequency should be set to 1310 kHz, and for Belgrade 2 1463 kHz. Of course that the listener
doesn't need to know all these frequencies, he will just turn the knob of CO until hearing the
desired station's broadcast.
The IF signal is led from the pin 3 to the detector with AA121 diode. The LF signal is taken
from the R1 resistor and over the capacitor C4 it is led to the volume potentiometer P and the
audio amplifier.

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* the MFT is also being called the inter-frequency transformer. It is a special type component
that is hard to find in the ordinary electronic shops, therefore the radio amateurs are usually
obtaining them from disused factory-made devices. The IF transformer is shown on Pics.4.3-
a,b,c & d. As you can see it on 4.3-a, the MFT is, in fact, a parallel oscillatory circuit with a leg
on its coil. The coil body has a ferrite core (symbolically shown with single upward straight
dashed line) that can be moved (with screwdriver), which allows for the setting of the
resonance frequency of the circuit, being mostly fm=455 kHz. The same body contains another
coil, with less quirks in it. Together with the bigger one it comprises the HF transformer that
takes the signal from the oscillatory circuit into the next stage of the receiver. Both the coil and
the capacitor C are placed in the square-shaped metal housing that measures 10x10x11 mm
(Pic.4.3-b). From the bottom side of the housing you can see 5 pins emerging from the plastic
stopper, that link the MFT to the PCB, being connected inside the MFT as on Pic.4.3-a.
Besides them, there are also two noses located on the bottom side, that are to be soldered and
connected with the device ground. Japanese MFT's have the capacitor C placed in the cavity of
the plastic stopper, as shown on Pic.4.3-c. The part of the core that can be moved with the
screwdriver can be seen through the eye on the top side of the housing, Pic.4.3-d. This part is
coloured in order to distinguish the MFT's between themselves, since there are usually at least
3 of them in an AM receiver. The colours are white, yellow and black (the coil of the local
oscillator is also being placed in such housing, but is being painted in red, to distinguish it from
the MFT).
Un-soldering the MFT isn't that simple and is to be performed very carefully. The iron is not to
be kept leaned too long on the pins, since there's danger of melting the plastic stopper. All the
tin from the pins and noses has to be removed first, by the aid of the iron and the vacuum pump
(or a piece of wire stripped from the antenna coaxial cable). You can then safely remove the
MFT from its original PCB.

* Pics.4.3-a, b, c & d almost fully apply for the oscillator coil as well (LO). The only difference
is that LO doesn't have the capacitor C. looking from the outside, LO and MFT can be
distinguished only by the marking colour, until they're lifted from the PCB.

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LO's have red colour, while MFT's (IFT‟s) are white, black or yellow. During the PCB design,
absolute care must be taken that pins 1 & 4, as well as 2 & 3, do not permute. If that would
happen, the feedback would be negative (instead of positive) and the oscillator wouldn't
function. However, if you conclude during the design phase that it would be more convenient
to connect pin 4 to Gnd (instead of pin 1), do have in mind that it can be done only if you
connect also pin 2 to Gnd (instead of pin 3).

* Fine tuning (if necessary) of the LO's and MFT's inductance values is done by adjusting the
position of the ferrite core with screwdriver.

* With CO and CtO, variable capacitor and the trimmer capacitor in the oscillator are labelled.
Acc. to Pic.4.3-e & f, which shows the capacitor we spoke about in the connection with
Pic.3.7, the abovementioned capacitors are connected with the circuitry over the legs O and G
(Ca and Cta are not used), with G connected to Gnd.

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* The receiver from Pic.4.2 can be utilized for the reception of AM stations in the SW
waveband. All there is to be done is to make a new oscillator coil, acc. to Pic.4.3-g & h. It is
being made of 0.4 mm CuL wire (a thicker one can also be used), on the 32 mm diam. carton
body, the same one used for making coils on Pics.3.6 & 3.28. Number of quirks on the picture
is 9, but other combinations should also be tried, say, 12 quirks, or somewhat less than 9. The
feedback coil has 3 quirks and is spooled along the oscillator coil (as shown on picture), or
over it. If you have already accomplished the reception of SW stations with some of the
previously described TRF devices, you will be surprised with much bigger selectivity of the
receiver from Pic.4.2. in the evening hours you'll be able to perform the receipt of huge number
of stations on the radio-broadcast, professional and amateur wavebands.
For the reception of SW stations smaller capacitances for C1 should also be tested, say, C1=33
pF and similar, since it affects the oscillator frequency.

* In the previous numerical example we saw that tuning is done by setting up the frequency of
the local oscillator and that fm=455 kHz, Radio Nis will be heard when the oscillator
frequency is fO=1166 kHz. The story is not over, though: What will happen if there is a station
that operates on 1621 kHz? Mixing its signal with the voltage from the local oscillator the
modified signal is made, its frequency being
1621 kHz-1166 kHz=455 kHz.
We now have two signals on the MFT. They both have the same carrier frequency (455 kHz),
one of them is program of Radio Nis, and the other comprehends the program of the station
transmitting on 1621 kHz. Both of them are being heard in the loudspeaker, the interference
occurs. Speaking in expert language, the obstruction because of the symmetrical station
occurred. That is a station whose frequency fSS iz greater than fm for the value of the
oscillator frequency:
Suppressing the symmetrical station signal must be done before the mixing stage. In the radio-
broadcast receivers this is being done over the input circuit, and in the professional devices, by
input circuitry and the HF amplifier. If you have experienced disturbances while using the
receiver from Pic.4.2 (mixing of stations or, more common, whistling or squeaking tone) try
changing the MFT's oscillation frequency (by turning the ferrite coil), then re-tune the receiver.

* If the receiver from Pic.4.2 is power-supplied from the battery (or adaptor) whose voltage is
over 6 V, a voltage stabilizer should be inserted in the plus (+) line of the power supply for
NE612, as it was done with the receivers on Pics. 4.4, 5.7 and 5.9.
If you cannot receive the signal of some station transmitting on 1500 kHz, not even with the
capacitor CO knob in the rightmost position, start reducing the CtO capacitance (turning the
trimmer with screwdriver) until you hear the signal. similarly, if you can't hear some station
you're fond of, that transmits on 500 kHz (e.g. Radio Budapest), try increasing the LO

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inductance (by turning the core towards inside with screwdriver). If this doesn't succeed,
change a little the MFT frequency, then try again.

* The reception can be significantly improved if input circuit (UK) is added to the receiver. In
order to avoid problems with attuning the UK and the LO, the UK with special variable
capacitor can be used, as on Pic.4.3-i. It is "our" capacitor from Pic.3.7, with all the capacitors
connected in parallel, and "our" coil from Pic.3.6. Station tuning is now being done with two
buttons, which isn't "a job for everyone". The receiver is first roughly tuned to the station using
these two buttons, and then the optimum reception is carefully searched.

* If you omit the amplifier with 386 IC on the Pic.4.2, and connect high-resistance headphones
instead of R1, it is the truly the simplest superheterodyne receiver in the world.

4.1.2. The Fully (not exactly 100%) Superheterodyne AM Receiver No.1

Its electrical diagram is given on Pic.4.4. It is easily being noticed that this is the receiver from
Pic.4.2 with inter-frequency (IF) amplifier with ZN415E added.
By adding ZN415 IC multiple enhancements are performed. Thanks to its huge input
resistance, the MFT's oscillatory circuit is not choked, resulting in better selectivity. The
sensitivity of the device is extremely increased since this IC has big amplification and the AAR
(automatic amplification regulation) is also accomplished, making the usage of this device
easier and more comfortable.
* It is very important to obtain the necessary value of the DC voltage in pin 6 of the ZN415 for
its proper operation. Acc. to the table on Pic.3.36 it has to be about 1.3 V, and its setting is
done via the TP1 trimmer. The receiver is set to some weaker station, the sound volume is
made very low with potentiometer P, and the slider of the TP1 is carefully moved until the best
reception is made. If that doesn't work, one should try changing the value of R5 resistor; this is
to be done also if the supply voltage being used is other than 12 V. In case of voltage on the
pin being much bigger than 1.3 V, and cannot be reduced on the trimmer, short-circuit one of
the diodes.
* The voltage stabilizer with 78L06 isn't needed if the receiver is supplied from the 6 V
* The receiver from Pic.4.2 needs input circuit to be 100% complete. That can be an
independent input circuit from Pic.4.3-i, or input circuit and the HF amplifier that are described
in the Appendix (Pic.5.10). If the former circuit is used, station tuning is being accomplished
with 2 knobs, as explained in the previous chapter.

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4.1.3. Fully (not exactly 100%) Superheterodyne AM Receiver No.2

All the receivers we made with NE612 IC were tested in our lab, except the one from the
previous project, since we didn't have ZN415 "with us". We found, however, a ZN414 IC, so
we tested the receiver from Pic.4.5 with it. The receiver was working great, from the amateur's
point of view. He played us for long time, until we didn't require the board to test one of the
receivers from previous projects afterwards, when we regretfully had to disassemble it.
* The diagram is very similar to that on Pic.4.4, so most of the things said about that receivers
stands for this one, too.
* DC voltage setting on pin 1 of ZN414 is done with the trimmer TP. Its slider is put in mid
position, the receiver is tuned to some weaker station close to the upper bound of the
bandwidth. While making the reproduction very quiet (slider of P as low as possible), the
trimmer slider is moved until reaching optimum reception. After that the trimmer is
disconnected, its resistance measured and the ordinary resistor of similar value is put into
* The device operates nicely with the outside antenna made of a piece of wire measuring only
half metres in length.
* The reception would certainly become better if an input circuit would be added, which we
spoke about in the previous project.
* The receivers from pics. 4.4 and 4.5 can, with appropriate coils in the oscillator, accomplish
the reception of AM stations from all the bandwidths from 70 kHz till 200 MHz.

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4.2. Superheterodyne FM Receivers

The FM receivers being described in chapter 3.15 are the amateur solutions. These are
extremely simple devices, that cannot perform the noiseless tuning, automatic oscillator
frequency regulation and other features that ensure very high quality of the reproduction, being
expected from an UHF FM receiver. The true solution is the superheterodyne FM receiver,
whose block-diagram is given on Pic.4.6.
Station signals are taken from the dipole antenna and led through the appropriate cable into the
input circuit (UK). Inside it, the signal selection is performed, of station whose frequency is fS,
this signal is then amplified in the HF amplifier and led into the mixer. As in the case of earlier
described AM receiver, the inter-frequency signal is obtained at the mixer output, whose
carrier frequency is fm=10.7 MHz (this is the standard value, used in all radio-broadcast FM
receivers). The IF signal is being amplified in the IF amplifier and led on the amplitude limiter
(Ogr.). In this stage the signal whose amplitude exceeds certain level is being cut off,
accomplishing with this the elimination of the parasite amplitude modulation, which is
performed by various noise sources during the transmission (atmospheric charges, various
electrical devices etc.), which significantly improves the signal quality. The signal then goes to
the FM signal detector, where the information being modulated in the transmitter is
extrapolated from the signal, followed by the LF part of the receiver. With AFC the circuit that
performs the automatic frequency regulation of the local oscillator is labelled.

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4.2.1. FM Receiver with TDA7000

The face that FM receivers operate on pretty high frequencies makes their practical realization
somewhat difficult, but most of the problems, as in many other amateur builds, originates from
building the coils, except the self-bearing, small-inductance coils (without the coil body),
which are easy to make, especially if there aren't many of them in the device and if no special
instruments are required for setting up their proper inductance value. The coils used in this FM
receiver are just like this, and there are only two of them, making the practical realization much
The basic data about the famous Philips' IC used in this project, TDA7000, are given in the
following table.

Electronic diagram of the HF part of the device (from antenna to the LF output) built with
TDA7000 is shown on Pic.4.7. As one can see, it is a simple device, made with relatively small
number of components. The IC contains all the stages of the superheterodine receiver: the
mixer, the oscillator, the IF amplifier, the amplitude limiter, the FM detector and few others.

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More about them will be told in the next project which contains the description for a receiver
with TDA7088T IC, which is the improved version of TDA7000.
The station signal is from the (telescopic) antenna led to the input circuit that consists of L2,
C13, C12 and C14. It is a parallel oscillatory circuit damped with R3 resistor, which has the
reception bandwidth from 88 MHz till 108 MHz (it admits all the UHF signals on the pin 13,
and weakens te signals outside the reception bandwidth). Inside the IC the signals are led into
the mixer, where they are being given new carrier frequencies. The IF amplifier then follows,
amplifying only one of those signals, the one whose frequency is equal to the inter-frequency,
followed by the limiter, the FM detector, mute circuit and LF pre-amplifier. The output from
the last stage is on the pin 2 (R2 is the collector load of the last transistor in the LF pre-
amplifier). The oscillatory circuit of the local oscillator (L1, Cp, Cs, C and C5) is connected
between pins 5 and 6.
Pic.4.8-a shows the PCB of the device from Pic.4.7, while Pic.4.8-b contains the component
layout (on the PCB). The complete device can be seen on Pic.4.8-c. The variable capacitor
from Pic.3.8 is used as the only variable capacitor here since the input circuit is aperiodic, the
legs marked with FO and G. This capacitor serves us to tune the receiver to stations. In the LF
part of the receiver, the amplifier made with LM386 from Pic.3.19 is utilized (the components
left from the potentiometer are omitted).
* L1 and L2 are the self-bearing coils (without the core). They have few quirks and are made
of relatively thick wire, therefore they don‟t need a body of any kind, that is why they are
called “self-bearing”. Their appearance is shown on Pic.4.9, and the calculus for them is done
acc. to the table from Pic.3.5. They both have 6 quirks of the CuL wire, 0.6 mm in diameter,
being spooled on the flat part of the 3 mm drill. In order to be able to solder the coil onto the
PCB, the couple of mm of isolation has to be removed from the wire ends with sharp knife, and
they have to be tinned afterwards. There must be a small gap between the adjacent quirks. The
inductance of the coil is set by its shrinking (the inductance increases) or stretching (the
inductance decreases). Stretching can be nicely done by inserting the screwdriver between the
quirks and then turning it along the coil.
* The TDA7000 also contains the mute circuit (for noiseless tuning). It is being active when
the S2 switch is open. Pocket-type receivers usually do not have S2 and R1 elements.
* The part of the receiver that requires biggest care during build is the oscillatory circuit of the
local oscillator, which is connected between the pins 5 and 6. When changing the capacitance
of C, its resonance frequency must change from 88 MHz (C=Cmax) till 108 MHz (C=Cmin). If
that cannot be accomplished (not all the stations can be heard) some experimenting is required
with capacitances of Cp and Cs. For start, you should omit the Cp. If the problem persists,

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capacitance of Cs should be reduced (to 15 pF, 10 pF etc.), or it should be short-circuited. You
can also try compressing or stretching the L1 coil, etc. The setup of the oscillatory circuit is
completed when with C=Cmax some station that operates on app. 88 MHz can be heard, and
with C=Cmin the one that works on 108 MHz.
The input circuit setup (it is connected between pins 13 and 14), is performed by tuning the
receiver to some mid-range station (about 98 MHz). Then, the best possible reception is
searched, by changing capacitances C13 and C12 and inductance L2.

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4.2.2. FM Receiver with TDA7088T IC

The receiver described in the last project has two IC‟s, one variable capacitor, two small coils
and fairly small few other components, so it can be put into some small box, by carefully
placing the components. Further miniaturization can be accomplished by using the SMD
components. These are the resistors, capacitors, transistors, IC‟s and other components, whose
dimensions are significantly smaller than these of “classical” components. They are mounted
on the copper side of the PCB, therefore it isn‟t necessary to drill the holes on the board.
TDA7088T is also an SMD component. Its drawing is shown on Pic.4.10.
This IC is the successor of the famous TDA7000, i.e. it is an improved model of TDA7000,
that allows to implement both monophonic and stereophonic FM receiver. The basic features
of TDA7088T are given in the following table.

The electronic diagram of the HF part of the monophonic FM receiver made with TDA7088T
IC is given on Pic.4.11. The IC contains all the parts of the classic superheterodyne receiver:
the local oscillator, IF amplifier and FM detector, but also some other circuits that extend the
possibilities and improve the features of this IC.
As far as practical use is concerned, the most significant novelty is the auto-tuning circuitry.
No variable capacitor is necessary for tuning, as it was in all the previous projects, the BB910
varicap diode is used instead. Its capacitance is being changed by varying the DC voltage

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supplied to its anode over the 5k6 resistor. This is how the tuning is performed: When the user
press and releases the pushbutton marked with “RUN”, the positive voltage impulse is released
to the S(et) input of the SEARCH TUNING circuit. The 100 nF capacitor then starts chargingl
and the voltage on the pin 16 increases. This voltage is then transferred, over the 5k6, to the
anode of the BB910, causing its capacitance to decrease, which increases the frequency of the
local oscillator (VCO). The VCO voltage is led into the mixer (MIXER) which also receives,
over pin 11, the signals of all the other FM stations. The mixer outputs the FM signals whose
frequencies are equal to the differences of the oscillator and the original station frequency. The
only signal that can reach the demodulator (FM detector) is the one whose carrier frequency is
equal to the inter-frequency, i.e. fm=73 kHz (selectivity is being accomplished by two active
filters whose components are the capacitors connected to pins 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10). Therefore, the
oscillator frequency increases until it gets the condition fO-fS=73 kHz is accomplished. When
this happens, the charging of the capacitor is halted by the command that is sent into the
SEARCH TUNING circuit by two detectors (diode-blocks) located in the MUTE circuit. The
AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) circuit now gets its role and prevents the voltage on pin
16 to be changed, until the RUN button is pushed again (this voltage can vary from 0 V til 1.8
V during the tuning).
When the RESET button is pushed, the 100 nF capacitor is discharged, the voltage on pin 16
drops down to zero, and the receiver is set to the low end of the reception bandwidth, i.e. 88
Let us get back to the mixer. On its output, the 73 kHz FM signal is obtained, and it is
modulated by the programme of the first station that is found after the RUN button is pushed.
This signal then passes the active filters, gets amplified in the IF amplifier (IF LIMITER) and
passed onto the input of the demodulator. By connecting the demodulator exit, over the LOOP
FILTER, the adder (+) and resistor, to the VCO, the so-called FFL (Frequency Feedback Loop)
circuit is accomplished, reducing the deviations of the signal being received from ±75 kHz to
±15 kHz.
The LF (AF) signal is led from the demodulator, over the LOOP FILTER stage, the invertor (-
1) and MUTE circuit onto the pin 2. The detectors (diode-blocks) control the operation of the
MUTE circuit, preventing the LF (AF) signal to reach the output pin (2) until the tuning on the
station that creates the signal in the antenna that is strong enough for quality reception is
obtained. Mini FM Receiver

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Small mishap of this receiver is that it has no indication of station tuning. This problem can be
solved by adding a small voltmeter in parallel to the BB909, whose scale is graduated in MHz,
as described in the Appendix. This solution is not appropriate for the miniature receiver, since
the voltmeter that has the scale that is big enough takes too much space. It is in this case better
using a manual tuning instead of automatic. Such solution is given on Pic.4.13.
The tuning is done via the variable capacitor C with numbers written on its button, similar to
that on Pic.3.11. It is most simple to use numbers from 1 to 10. The variable capacitor is like
the one on Pic.4.8. Some experimenting is to be done with capacitances of Cx and Cy, in order
to cover the entire reception bandwidth, from 88 till 108 MHz.

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The AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) of the local oscillator is accomplished with BA483
diode, obtaining that station‟s position on scale does not “walk” over the scale.
The complete radio receiver should still have a loudspeaker. Electronic diagram of such
receiver made with TDA7088T is given on Pic.4.14. As one can see, that is a receiver from
Pic.4.12 with an audio receiver made with LM386 IC.
Maximum value of the DC supply voltage for the TDA7088T is 5V, therefore if using a 4.5 V

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battery the LM386 will work with reduced output power, the D2 diode and C15 capacitor
should be omitted, and R4 should be short-circuited.

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If higher voltage battery is used, the voltage stabilizer, comprised by the aforementioned
components, has to be activated. D2 is a Zener diode with 3 V Zener voltage. The optimum
value of R4 is found experimentally: in order to make the power consumption as low as
possible it should have the resistance as big as possible, while simultaneously keeping the
voltage on Pin 4 about 3 V and the device working well within the entire reception bandwidth
(One should start with, say, R4=1.5 kOhm, and if the receiver operates well bigger resistance
should be tried out, and if not smaller one, until the optimum value is found).

Pic.4.15. shows the PCB for the HF part of the receiver with TDA7088T, that is realized with
ordinary components, instead of the SMD‟s. Pic.4.15-a shows the board layout from the
soldering (copper) side. All the components apart from TDA7088T are mounted on the
opposite side of the board, their pins are put through the holes and soldered through the holes.
The TDA is soldered on the copper side, directly onto the copper contacts. That is why it is
being drawn in dashed line on pic.4.15-b, where the board layout on the component side is

* Pic.4.16-a shows 3x enlarged picture of the IC and the surrounding lines. The soldering
procedure for SMD is as follows:
A thin tin layer is applied on the copper contacts where IC legs are to be soldered to. The firs
legs to be soldered are the diagonally opposite ones, in this case No.1 and 9. A small cushion-
shaped amount of tin (not profuse) is applied on the contacts where these pins are to be
soldered (pic.4.17-a). The IC is placed in its position, with all the pins properly laid. Pin No.1
is pressed against the tin pillow with a top of a bodkin, with iron head simultaneously touching

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both the tin and the pin end. The tin gets melted, and the pin lies down on its place with the aid
of the bodkin, and gets soldered.
It is now time to check out the positioning of the chip. If it needs to be corrected, the tin
surrounding the pin No.1 is melted with iron tip and the chip position is quickly and carefully
adjusted, in order not to overheat the pin. Soldering the pin No.9 is shown on Pic.4.17-b. First,
the iron tip is simultaneously put on the top of the leg and the copper below it, so that both of
them are heated. After app. half a second, the iron is slightly removed from the leg but remains
on the copper contact. The tip of the tinol wire is then approached to touch the iron, the pin top
and the copper contact at the same time. The wire gets melted and adheres to the copper and
the pin, so it has to be constantly moved downwards. When enough tin is applied, the tinol
wire is removed first, then the iron, and the pin No.9 is soldered. Once again you have to check
whether all the pins are properly placed, and then they too are soldered as it was just described.
The solders are OK if they look app. as on Pic.4.17-c.

* Pic.4.15-b contains the PCB component side layout. The pushbuttons we used here are
Siemens, type BO2AMAP-2. The common housing contains, as one can see, two button
switches, one of which is being used by this device. Any other pushbutton switches can also be
used. In that case small modifications on the PCB lines would probably be necessary. The
board is mounted fairly close to the box edge, so that the switch shafts are passing through the
panel, and that the buttons can be mounted on the outside. The panel-mount switches can also

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be used, in which case they are connected to the board by wires (pic.4.15-e).

* Any audio amplifier described so far can be used, e.g. the one with LM386, as on pic.4.8.

* Instead of the antenna, a 20 cm piece of wire can also be utilized. Stereophonic Receiver Built with TDA7088T

Stereophonic radio broadcast is performed in the ultra short waveband, from 88 MHz till 108
MHz. All radio transmitters operating in this range are stereophonic, but their signal is
designed so that monophonic receivers can also read it, performing the compatibility. The
readers that wish to get acquainted in more details with the stereophonic broadcast basics can
refer to the “Radio Receivers” textbook, for the IV grade of the Electrotechnical Highschool.

Making an introduction to this part, a operating principle of the stereophonic radio receiver
shall be considered, its block diagram shown on pic.4.18. Comparing this diagram with the one
of the monophonic receiver given on pic.4.6, one may notice that they are identical, up to the
block called "The Decoder". It means that, as already described, exiting the FM detector the LF
signal is obtained, i.e. the information that was used to perform the frequency modulation in
the transmitter. However, this is not an ordinary LF signal, but the one, called the "composed"
(KS) or "multiplexed" (Mpx) signal. Besides the full-scale LF signal used by the monophonic

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it also contains the so-called auxiliary signal which allows the separation of left (L) and right
(R) channels in the stereophonic receiver. E.g. if a direct broadcast of some band music is
performed, the left part of performers is being recorded with one microphone (the signal
marked as L), whilst the right side is recorded with the other one (it‟s a R signal). These two
signals are being led in the FM transmitter in the stage called “the coder”. Exiting the coder we
have the multiplexed signal Mpx which contains, in an indirect manner, both left (L) and right
(R) signal. Frequency modulation of the transmitter is being performed with the Mpx signal. In
the receiver, Mpx signal is obtained on the output of the FM Detector and is then led to the
decoder. This stage plays a role complementary to the one of the coder in the transmitter,
therefore two signals are exiting it, the L and D signal. They are being amplified over two
identical audio amplifiers, then reproduced over two same loudspeakers. The listener can now
hear the left half of the performers from the loudspeaker placed on its left, and the right half

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from the loudspeaker that is placed on its right. The performers that are situated in the middle
of the orchestra are being equally reproduced from both loudspeakers, making an impression to
the listener as if there‟s a third loudspeaker, located in the middle, between the left and right
one. Based on all this, the listener has a picture about the layout of the performers in space,
which significantly improves the total musical impression.
Electronic circuit of a portable stereophonic radio receiver with headphones reproduction,
made with TDA7088T is shown on pic.4.19. It is a receiver whose practical realization was
described in the previous project, with decoder with TDA7040T and dual audio amplifier with
TDA7050T blocks added, the latter was discussed in PE5.
* L3, L4 and L5 are HF chokes that allow for the headphones cable to be used as a reception
antenna. This is accomplished by connecting one of the headphones‟ contacts from the plug-in,
over the 10 pF capacitor, to the point where, acc. to pic.4.14, the outside antenna is connected.
The coils represent big resistance to the station signals, preventing them to “go to ground” over
the 47 mF capacitor or over the TDA7050T output. Each coil has 3 quirks of the 0.2 mm CuL
wire, threaded through ferrite pearls, as shown on detail in the right corner of the pic.4.19. If
telescopic antenna is to be used, these coils should be omitted.

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Chapter V Appendix

5.1. Making PCB‟s

5.2. Computer - Aided Radio Receiver Control
5.3. Receivers with NE612 IC
5.3.1. Synchrodyne AM Receiver
5.3.2. AM Receiver with Synchro - Detector
5.3.3. Input Circuits for the Receivers with NE612
5.4. Universal Audio Receiver
5.5. Additional Circuits
5.5.1. Fine Tuning
5.5.2. Electronic Tuning
5.5.3. Signal Suppressing of Local Radio Transmitter(s)
5.5.4. Dual Tuning
5.5.5. Separation of Stages - Preventing the Oscillation
5.6. The Boxes
5.7. Bimboard, Protoboard
5.8. Universal PCB Plates
5.9. A Modern Oldtimer

5.1. Making PCB’s

Design and manufacturing of the PCB‟s has been explained in detail in the second issue of
P.E. Here, we‟ll consider how to make a PCB whose drawing is already done. As an
example, we‟ll take a drawing of the board of the receiver from pic.3.19, which measures 45
mm x 30 mm.
a. The PCB is being made of pertinax or vitroplast, i.e. a thin plate (about 1.5 mm) made of
isolation material, which has a lean layer of copper put on one side. From the plate you buy
in some electronic components‟ shop, a 45 mm x 30 mm piece should be cut. In amateur
conditions, this means refracting. First, points A and B are marked on the non-copper side of
the plate, acc. to pic.5.1-b. A ruler is placed over them and a groove is made by pressing with
a screwdriver or a bodkin along it. Its depth should be about 0.5 mm (on picture it is shown
in dashed line). When this is done, the plate is placed on the edge of the table, with copper
facing downwards. With one hand the plate is pressed firmly to the table, and with the other,
the piece that has to be refracted. And - it cracks just along the groove.
On the refracted piece, a new groove, measuring 30 mm from the edge, is made, and the
procedure is repeated. In this way we finally have our 45 mm x 30 mm plate.
b. All of the copper has to be clean and shiny, since only in this case the etching and, later,
soldering is performed quick and easy and well. If it seems to you that the copper you have
just bought is clean enough, you‟re probably wrong. The plate must have spent some time in
the shop, and the copper surface is certainly more-less corroded. The cleaning is most

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efficiently done with some abrasive powder (VIM or similar) which is otherwise used for
cleaning of the cookers, bathrooms etc, but also the sodium bicarbonate, laundry detergent
and even plain salt can well serve the purpose. Take a piece of cloth, wipe it with water,
extract the water well and muss it to be ball-shaped. Dip it then in the powder, and scrub the
copper until it “shines like the shiny sun”. After that rinse the plate, and pay attention not to
touch the copper with your fingers, since that will make it dirty again.
c. Put the plate, facing the copper up, beneath the sheet that contains the PCB layout, right
under this drawing. In our example, that would be the one on the pic.5.2-a. With the pike of a
bodkin the holes are made through the centers of all the contacts, and in the centers of two
bigger holes that are placed sidewise, taking care not to move the plate. The bodkin has to be
pressed firmly, in order to obtain good prods on the copper. When this is finished, the plate
should look as on pic.5.2-b. i.e. it has to contain as much prods as there are contacts, plus
two. If the drawing contains many contacts, the plate can be easily dislocated, and the
procedure is to be done all over again. It is better practice then to make a copy of the picture,
cut it out, and attach it to the plate with two pieces of scotch tape.
d. Drawing the contacts and lines on the plate is done with the acid-resistant marker
paintstick. It can be recognized by its characteristic “alcohol smell”, and is being sold in
bookstores as a marker for “writing on glass”. You can test it: write in the store (it will be
later afterwards) something on the glass, piece of plastic and similar, wait for a couple of
seconds, then try to wipe it out with your fingertip. If the paint remains - the marker is OK.
Nevertheless, this test isn‟t 100% certain, it is much better to buy the marker in the electronic
components store (you have to accent to the salesman that you need a marker for drawing
lines on PCB‟s). With the tip of the marker draw a circle around every prod (except those
two that are for bigger holes), measuring 2-3 mm in diameter. Move the marker slowly, in
order to leave a thick layer of paint on the plate. Take care to leave a small copper isle
around every hole. Then,

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you should, carefully and slowly, draw all the lines, by looking at the pic.5.2-a. They do not
need to have the same shape as on the picture, especially they don‟t have to be that
“chamfered”. Line thickness should be about 1 mm, but that either is not obligatory, they can
be somewhat thinner or a lot thicker (where applicable). The important thing is not to
connect the nearby lines or contacts during the drawing, i.e. not to make junctions that do not
exist on the drawing. If that happens anyhow, remove the paint surplus with a razor or a
small, sharp screwdriver. Pic.5.2-c shows the beginning of drawing, several contacts and 3
lines are drawn. The drawing is finished when you have a pic.5.2-a on the copper foil.
e. Next step is etching, i.e. removing the copper that is not covered with marker paint. For
this purpose, a mixture of hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and water
(H2O). Pure hydrochloric acid is not used, but its 35% solution, that is being sold as a
household cleaning agent. Hydrogen peroxide is being sold in drug stores and cosmetic
stores. It is being sold as 30% solution, or even more diluted, 8-12%.
Hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide are very aggressive media, especially for the eyes

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and skin, therefore care should be exercised when working with them. It would be the best
for you to work with them in the bathroom, or some other place close to the running water
supply. If some of these liquids spills on your skin, metal tool or clothing, wash them down
with water immediately.

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The etching mixture is being made directly before the etching, and is CERTAINLY being

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disposed of, right after the process. The plate is put at the bottom of a plastic, glass or
porcelain dish, with copper facing upwards, and the acid is poured, in quantity enough to
fully cover the plate (pic.5.2-d). Hydrogen peroxide is then added, being poured from the
container directly over the plate. The amount of peroxide depends on its concentration, as
well as on the concentration of the acid. So, put some peroxide, raise a little left end of the
dish, then the right one, to allow a liquids to mix, and observe the plate. The mixture is
transparent, and if the copper starts changing the colour after a dozen seconds - the etching
has begun. During this process, the bubbles are formed in the mixture, in the amount
somewhat more than in a glass of mineral water. If too little bubbles are present, add some
more peroxide. Be careful, however, not to exaggerate, since if you happen to have too much
bubbles, the mixture is going to heat up and the marker paint can be destroyed. From time to
time, you should raise one end of a plate with a pointed wooden or plastic stick, in order to
remove the old liquid from its surface, and allow for fresh mixture to take its place.
Etching is finished when there is no more uncovered copper on the plate. Raise one plate end
with the stick, wait for the liquid to decant, take a plate with a laundry clip and wash it
thoroughly in a jet of running water. You can then remove the paint by scrubbing, as
previously described, with a wet cloth dipped in some powder. The copper contacts and lines
will emerge on the plate.
f. If you were careful enough to leave a uncovered isle of copper in the centre of every
contact, after etching this will be a small cavity, in the centre of the contact. Through these
cavities, that will guide your drill, a 1 mm holes should be drilled (it is better if the holes are
0.8 mm in diameter, but such drills are harder to find, and a lot easier to break). Two holes
for the fixing screws are usually about 3 mm in diameter. While drilling, a piece of thicker
plywood or some flat hard-wood plank (beech, oak) should be put beneath the plate, and not
a piece of polystyrene or something similar. Do not press the drill too hard, since the tool will
be plucking tiny pieces of plastic on the other side of the plate.

5.2. Computer-Aided Radio Receiver Control

In Book 7/8 of Practical ELECTRONICS methods for simple control of various electrical
devices by computer were discussed. Practical realization of various interface circuits and
sensors was described, by which the computer is being connected with the outside world, so
that it can turn on/off the heater, light, fan, TV set or some other electrical device at the
desired moment, based on data comprising temperature, light intensity, humidity etc. In this
chapter we shall present, in short terms, one of the projects from the aforementioned book,
that deals with simple computer-aided turning on/off of the radio receiver at the desired
The radio is connected with the computer via parallel port, the one where the printer is also
being plugged. It is a 25-pin female connector, called Sub D-25, which is given on Pic.5.3.
With appropriate programme, logical ones (voltage +3.6 V) and zeroes (0 V) can be sent to
the outputs marked as DI-1, DI-2,...DI-8, that are located on the legs marked with numbers 2

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to 9. Electrical devices that are being controlled are connected to these outputs over the
interface circuit that is given on Pic.5.4. Two connected devices are shown on the picture,
their maximum number is 8.
Pic.5.5-a shows the electronic diagram of an extremely simple interface circuit, which can
serve to connect to computer the radio receiver, that can then be switched on or off at certain
time, with adequate programme. The low-power transistor BC547 can be used for the
consumers that use the current from the battery that is not greater than 100 mA. In case you
have bigger power consumers, some stronger transistor or two transistors in Darlington
junction can be used instead of BC547. The transistor bas is connected to the pin No.9 of the
mail Sub D-25 connector over the R1 resistor, while the emitter and minus pole of the battery
are connected to the pin No.25, i.e. to the computer ground. As long as there‟s a logical zero
on the DI-8 output, the base voltage is zero and the transistor is locked and no current runs
through it, therefore also through the consumer. When a logical one emerges on the DI-8, the
transistor goes to the saturation regime, the voltage between collector and emitter becomes
very small (practically zero) and the transistor behaves as if the collector and emitter are
short-circuited. In that way almost the entire battery voltage is available on the receiver
power supply input.
The PCB layout is shown on Pic.5.5-b: The component side is in the upper part, and the
soldering side in lower part of the picture.
Pic.5.5-c shows how a small transistor radio receiver, powered by a 9 V battery, is connected
to the parallel port, over the interface from pic.5.5-a. The plate is connected with clamps via
the cables A and B, and with the battery over C and D.

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5.3. NE612

5.3.1. Synchrodyne AM Receiver

If the author remembers well an article that he read in a professional magazine many years ago,
the synchrodyne receiver is the ancestor of the superheterodyne receiver. Sometime at the
beginning of the 20th century this device was called the Heterodyne receiver, and it was first
constructed by Levvy. Armstrong improved it and gave new name to the new device, by
adding the prefix SUPER to the old name.
The electronic diagram of this device is given on Pic.5.7. This receiver, as well as that on

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pic.4.2 has got the local oscillator with oscillatory circuit connected between pins 6 and 7.
However, frequency of this oscillator is not greater for the value of fm, but is in fact equal to
the frequency of the station we wish to listen to: fm=fS. Because of that, the important design
difference compared to the diagram from pic.4.2 is that on pic.5.7 capacitors Co and Cto are
not used, but the capacitor C which is obtained by connecting the legs O and A, acc. to pic.3.7.
Its capacitance can be changed from 12 pF till 218 pF, so that the oscillator frequency, in case
of MW reception, goes between 500 kHz to 1500 kHz. The oscillator voltage is emanated in
the mixer by the signals from all stations coming from the antenna. The result of emanation
with signal of the station whose frequency is equal to the oscillator frequency is the LF signal
(speech, music, Morse Code etc.) that serves for performing the modulation in the transmitter.
This signal is obtained on pin No.4, from which it is then led, over the 1 ìF capacitor, to the
volume potentiometer and audio amplifier. Products of mixing the oscillator voltage with other
stations‟ signals are also obtained on that pin.

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They are being suppressed by the LF filter that comprises the R* resistor and C* capacitor. The
device we were testing did not, however, contain R*. It is to be installed if some disturbances
occur (whistling or similar), and its optimum value is to be found experimentally. If necessary,
greater capacitance of C* is also to be tried out.

* As mentioned earlier, it is very important for the supply voltage of the NE612 to be stable.
This values even more for the synchrodyne then the superheterodyne receiver. The voltage
control is done by the stabilizer, made with 78L06 IC. It is being placed in the low-power
transistor package, either metal (as for BC107) or plastic (as for BC547), and its maximum
current is about 100 mA (pic.5.7-b). A simpler stabilizer, made with the Zener diode, can be
used instead, as on pic.5.9.

* Instead of factory-made coil LO, the self-made one can also be used. The simplest solution is
to use the one from pic.3.6, in which case the mid leg is not used. Over this coil, the feedback
coil should be winded, acc. to pic.5.7-c (its ends are marked with 4 and 1). When connecting
with capacitor C and pins 1 and 7 of NE612, care should be taken to join properly: coil ends 1
and 3 with ground, 2 with capacitors C and 560 pF, and 4 with 1 nF capacitor. It is, of course,
possible to use smaller coil, wound on a smaller body, with more quirks of thinner wire. Its
inductance should be about 350 mH, and the number of quirks required is to be found by
testing. The feedback coil (4-1) has app. 3x fewer quirks than the oscillatory circuit coil (2-3).

* On the pin 5 of the NE612 the LF signal is also obtained. It is the same as the one on pin 4,
but has a 180° phase shift compared to it (in simple words, while one signal increases, the
other one decreases, and vice versa). That gives us the opportunity to use the dual audio
amplifier in the LF part, that has two amplifiers, with inverting and non-inverting inputs. As
shown on pic.5.8, the counter-phase LF signals from NE612 are led onto the same inputs. The

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output signal has 2x greater amplitude, therefore making the output power 4x greater than
when only one input is used (as on pic.5.79).

5.3.2. AM Receiver with Synchro Detector

In previous project, the NE612 was in fact used as the AM signal detector. The LF signal
exiting the mixer is product of the simultaneous (synchronous) action of the station signal and
voltage from the local oscillator upon it. That is how the term “Synchro Detector” emerged.
There‟s also a possibility to use a station carrier instead of local oscillator‟s voltage, so that the
station signal gets beaten by itself, however strange this may sound. Electronic diagram of one
such device is given on pic.5.9.
The station signal, which the input circuit (C, L) is tuned at, is led to the regulating Gate of the
BF960 MOSFET. Under the effect of this voltage, the AC current that creates voltage drops on
resistors R2 and R3 runs through the transistor. These two voltages, taken between the S and
ground and D and ground, are mutually shifted in phase for 180°, and are being led over the
coupling capacitors C2 and C3 to pins 1 and 2 of the NE612, i.e. on one input of the mixer. On
the other mixer input the Drain signal is brought, over C4, and beating occurs in the mixer, the
result of which is the LF signal on pin 4. This signal is, over C8, being led onto the volume
regulation potentiometer and the audio amplifier.
* The unwanted (and parasite) products of mixing, that are manifested as whistling, squeaking
etc. are being suppressed by the C7 capacitor. If the obstructions still exist, the capacitance of
C7 is to be increased and/or the R* resistor added.
* The voltage stabilization of the DC voltage on pin 8 is performed by the ZPD6.2V Zener
diode and resistor R5. A diode with smaller voltage is also possible to be used, say, 6.2 V and
similar. If the supply voltage is less than 12 V, the resistance of R5 should be decreased.

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5.3.3. Input Circuits for Receivers with the NE612 IC

All the receivers with NE612 that are described here work better, especially considering
suppressing the noise in case of the symmetrical station, if the proper input circuitry is added to
them. Pic.5.10 shows two examples of the MW receivers that use the ferrite antenna. In both
cases, the antenna taken from an old commercial radio is being used.

5.4. The Universal Audio Amplifier

We already spoke about the universal amplifier in the text connected with pic.3.22. Pic.5.11
contains the diagram of another such device, where the transistor amplifier with BC547 is used
as the pre-amplifier, instead of that with TLO71 IC. It can be used for practical check of all the
earlier mentioned radio receivers. The LF signal is being taken from the detector in the HF part
of the receiver to the hubs marked as In and Gnd (if the links aren‟t too long the ordinary wires
are used, otherwise - the microphone cable). On the third hub the DC voltage is outputted,
which is used in some HF circuits for their operation (such as e.g. those on pics.3.24, 3.25, 3.29
* The LED (and the appropriate resistor) are added if the amplifier is being supplied from the
adapter connected to the household voltage installation. It can also be used if the amplifier is
power supplied from the battery, but this is not recommendable, since its power consumption is
fairly big, which significantly shortens the battery life.
* The amplifier can be put in a box of any kind, one of the possible solutions shown on
* A very useful solution can be to place the adapter also in the box, with the ability to control
its output voltage from few volts to 12 V. In that case, you have both the amplifier and adapter
in the same box, which can be used for power supply and check-out of various electronic
devices, and not just radio receivers.

5.5. Additional Circuitry

5.5.1. Fine Tuning

During the tuning of the receiver to some station at the SW band with the variable capacitor, a
problem occurs. In simple terms, the station frequencies are too close to each other, so the
capacitor‟s shaft should be turned for an extremely small angle in order to change station,
which is practically impossible. It would certainly be useful if we could somehow stretch (a
popular term for this) the part of the band near the frequency to which the receiver is tuned at.
For the direct type (TRF) receivers that were described in the previous chapters, this can be
accomplished if, acc. to pic.5.12, another variable

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capacitor (CR) is added in parallel to the variable capacitor at the input circuit. Its capacitance
should vary at substantially smaller scale than that of C, meaning from a few pF til about 20
pF. The tuning is accomplished by setting the receiver, by means of C, approx. at the middle of
the band we are interested in, then tuning by means of CR to some station in that area. E.g. if
the stations we want to receive are located in the part of the SW band from 6.1 MHz till 6.2
MHz (it‟s a well-known 49-metre band), first we tune ourselves with C to approx. 6.15 MHz,
and then we pick with CR some of the stations located in that area. The same applies for the
famous Magic Band (at about 50 MHz).
The CR capacitor is mounted close to C in order for their knobs to be near each other at the
front plate.
* As CR, some air-type trimmer capacitor can be utilized, with adjustment knob mounted on its
shaft. Also, one of the sections of the variable capacitor from pic.3.8 can be used, as shown on
the right part of pic.5.12.
* The problem of the station “adjacency” at the SW band also exists at the superheterodyne
receivers. It is being solved by adding the CR in parallel to the variable capacitor in the local
oscillator circuit. The reason for this is that, at supereterodynes, the station is chosen over the
local oscillator. The important thing for the oscillator is to have the exact frequency, that is
greater from the station frequency for the amount of the interfrequency. If the resonance
frequency of the input circuit isn‟t equal to the station frequency, it won‟t significantly affect
the reception. Because of all this, in the receiver on pic.4.5, CR is attached between the pins 2
and 3 of the LO circuit.

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5.6. The Boxes

For all lovers of the electronics, the box where their device is to be put is the famous
“production weak link”. The finished boxes are either impossible to purchase, or they can be
bought but their dimensions or shape is inappropriate, or they are too expensive, or... In cases
like this one should be quick-witted enough to find some square-shaped box that is being used
at household, or some packaging box or similar. That is how it‟s done in the “whole white
world”. Two years ago, in the famous electrotechnical magazine ETI TOP PROJECTS the
article named “TIC TAC RADIO” was printed, where a receiver with ZN414 that is placed in
the transparent plastic box of TIC TAC mints (In the abstract, it was written that making this
device serves well as an excuse for buying candies, which is probably meant for the readers
that are on a diet for aesthetic reasons).
However, the “finishing touch” is of great importance for everything. The majority of your
friends will be more impressed by a lovely box where the receiver is placed, than the
reproduction quality, type of modulation and other technical characteristics. And a nice,
appropriate box cannot be bought, it is up to you to make it. It can be something as on pic.3.11
or similar. The idea can be also found in some catalogue of radio receivers‟ manufacturers, or
you can think of something of your own. As far as the author of these lines is concerned, he
likes best the wooden boxes from the 20‟s and 30‟s of the previous century, from the times of
the charleston, E. H. Armstrong and Al Capone. They looked something like those on the
pic.5.17 and can serve you as an inspiration for your personal design.

The mid button is for the variable capacitor for station tuning, the right one is for the
potentiometer for volume regulation. The button on the left can be a rotary switch for turning
on/off (S). It can also be a tone regulation button, and for the reaction-type receivers it can be a
button of the potentiometer that regulates the magnitude of the reaction. In the last two cases,
the on/off switch (S) is located on the regulation potentiometer. The outside antenna and

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ground hubs are located at the rear panel of the box. The wires connecting the hubs with the
PCB should be isolated, flexible and long enough to be able to open the panel and put it at
upright position.
If the receiver is power supplied from the outside net, a green LED should also be added, as the
power indicator. The good place for it is just above the variable capacitor‟s button, instead of
the triangle-shaped marker.
Pic.5.18 shows the parts for the first box from pic.5.17. For the front and rear side two pieces
of 5 cm thick plywood, measuring 22 cm x 15 cm are needed; for the side panels, two pieces of
10 cm thick plywood, 15 cm x 9 cm, and for the bottom side - one piece of 10 cm thick
plywood, measuring 13 cm x 9 cm. The best way to cut these parts is to be done by the
carpenter on the special machine, since only then will they be of strictly rectangular shape, and
bottom and side panels will have exactly the same width, which is very important during
assembling. On the front side, the circle and the arc are drawn with the aid of the sector, and
the cutting is done with the carving saw. The part that is cut from the back panel will serve as a
closure. When it is cut it isn‟t necessary to treat it with emery, since it will fit nicely in the hole
on the rear panel even if it isn‟t cut evenly. On the inner side of the rear panel two plywood
lattices measuring about 2 cm x 13 cm should be nailed. Four wood screws will be screwed in
them later (the holes are shown as four dots), which will serve to tighten the closure.
Connecting of the pieces is done with the wood glue and small nails. Before you start
hammering, it is very useful to drill a few holes for the nails in the front and rear panel with 1
mm drill. The nails are partially hammered into the panels, the edges are then covered with
glue, and the nailing can then be done. When all this is finished, the box should look as the
drawing at the right end art of the pic.5.18 *vertical stripes over the loudspeaker opening are
not shown. They can be omitted, and you can nail in a few thin lattices, when the box is
finished, as shown on the last drawing on the pic.5.17). The semicircle part is made of 5 mm x
5 mm lattices, or similar, which are put side by side on the upper edges of the front and rear
panels, that are covered with glue (the picture shows only one of these lattices). When the last
one is fitted, the space between them is filled with “putty” that is made by mixing the fine
wooden chips with the wood glue, with the aid of a steel plate. After that, the lattices are
tightened to the panels‟ edges by two pieces of strong scotch tape, which are shown in dashed
lines, and everything is left to dry well. When drying is, after about 10 hours, finished, all the
edges and lattice parts that protrude are well flattened with emery. All the remaining holes are
filled with the fast-drying putty, and everything is abraded once again, and the putty is applied
again, and abraded again, etc., until the upper part is semicircle-shaped, all the sides smooth
and the edges correct.

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* Before the loudspeaker is attached with screws, a piece of decorating cloth should be placed
between the panel and the loudspeaker, which will protect it and contribute to better looking

* Perhaps some of the readers will seem that there‟s a lot of exaggeration in previous lines, and
even too much pedantry. There‟s a Latin proverb, that says: AGE QUOD AGIS - Do the things
you do, which, in our case, can be interpreted as: You should either make the box properly or
not making it at all.

* This box is relatively small, it is predicted for the loudspeaker that is about 12 cm wide. If
you have bigger loudspeaker, and it will certainly play both louder and better, you should make
a bigger box. The dimensions calculation is done by dividing the diameter of the bigger
opening, that will suit bigger loudspeaker, in centimetres, by 11, and all the measures on

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pic.5.18 are multiplied with the number attained. E.g. if the diameter for the new, bigger hole is
15 cm, new dimensions are obtained by multiplying the old ones by 1.36.

5.7. Bimboard, Protoboard . . .

The readers that have carefully studied all the radio receiver projects that are described here,
have possibly noted that the author referred to experimenting either with values of some
components or with entire circuits, and all that was in order to practically find the optimal
solution. When small changes are discussed, such as finding the optimum value for some
resistor, that can be done on the previously made PCB. In case of bigger changes that of course
is not convenient, and sometimes it is almost impossible. For all kind of electrical diagrams
check-outs as well as various experimenting with all electronic devices, including radios, it is
the best to use a special experimental board, which can be purchased under various trade
names: protoboard, bimboard, matador, steckplatine, steckboard etc. All of them have in
common that component connecting is done without soldering, by simply inserting the legs
into the small holes on the plate.
As an example, pic.5.19 shows a full-scale experimental board that can be purchased in one of
the Belgrade electronic shops. It has 630 vertically aligned holes, connected internally in 126
groups of 5 holes each, and another 100 holes placed in two topmost lines, connected in two
horizontal groups by 50 holes each. The connections between the holes are inside the board
and cannot be seen, they are shown on picture in dashed lines. The two topmost parts are used
fo bring the supply voltage, and the battery or the adaptor is connected to them. One of them,
most often the one that has minus pole connected to it (in all the devices described herein), also
serves as the device Ground. The holes contain miniature metal hubs that are elastic, so when a
leg is popped in, a reliable mechanical and electrical junction is accomplished. The distance
between the adjacent holes is 2.54 mm (1/10 inch), which allows for connecting the vast

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majority of electronic components, which are being produced with inter-leg distance that is
equal to a hole number multiplied with 2.54 mm (in the producers and sellers‟ catalogues the
2.54 mm distance is marked as R, which stands for raster, and the components that have their
legs horizontally and vertically distanced to 2.54 mm multiplied by some whole number are
said to have their legs in raster).
The necessary electrical junctions between the hole groups are accomplished with connecting
wires that can be bought at Conrad, but are more often self-made from plastic-isolated 0.5 mm
or 0.6 mm copper wire. These pieces vary in their length and can be bent as the biggest piece in
the lower left part of the pic.3.19, although it is better and nicer to use regular pieces, shaped as
the cyrillic letter P.
Pic.5.19 also shows an example of practical usage of one such board. The radio-receiver from
pic.3.15 is made on it. As can be seen, the coil ends are stuck into the holes whose coordinates
are j,37; j,39; i,45; i,47, the diode in holes i,39 and i,45, the pin No.1 of the IC in e,54, etc.
With the connecting wires the legs No.1 and 3 are connected, the ones that are connected with
the potentiometer slider, and legs No.2 and 4 are connected to the ground by means of 4
connecting wires (the minus pole of the battery), etc.
It is now clear that experimenting is done in a very simple manner. E.g. if you are interested
how does a capacitance of C2 affect the tone colour in the headphones, all you should do is
remove it and insert a capacitor of greater or smaller capacitance, etc.

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* The hubs on the board are elastic, so that conductors of various diameters can be easily
inserted. No wires much thicker than 0.6 mm should be inserted, since the hubs will deform.
The components whose legs are too thick as the variable capacitors, potentiometers,
transformers and similar, are connected over pieces of wire that are soldered to them.

* It is useful for the connecting wires to be made with isolations of various colours, so that red
ones could be used e.g. for connecting with the + battery pole, the black ones with Gnd, the
yellow ones for the signal etc.

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5.8. Universal PCB

Practical realization of simple radio receivers, as well as other simple electronic devices, can
be done in many ways, as it was discussed in PE No.2. One of those is shown also in this
number. That is construction of the detector receiver from pic.3.11, where some of the
components are mounted onto the box walls (the variable capacitor, coil and the hubs), while
other (the diode and two block-capacitors) are placed between them. With some skills, and by
the aid of few smaller nails nailed from the inside of the front panel, a more complex device
could be made, say, that from pic.3.12. But this solution would start looking as “the dead
cockroach technique”, which will be discussed in the “Funniest Electronics”. The real solution
is the PCB that can be made from the drawings that are given, or those you will draw yourself,
together with the instructions given in chapter 5.1.
There‟s another option for practical realization. It is a universal PCB, that can be bought in the
electronic components‟ stores. There are more sorts of these PCB‟s, and all of them have in
common that the holes on them are drilled on the distance of 1/10 inch (R=2.54 mm).
One of the universal PCB‟s is shown on pic.5.27. It consists from a huge number of round
copper isles, with hole in the middle. The components are being soldered first (resistors,
diodes, IC‟s, capacitors...), and then the component pins are connected by pieces of isolated
copper wire, on the soldering side.
As an example, pic.5.28 contains the photograph of the receiver from pic.3.21-a that is made
with the universal PCB from pic.5.27. It can be placed into a box as on pic.3.21-c, except the
box should be bigger, in order for the loudspeaker to.

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5.9. A Modern Oldtimer

The receiver on pic.5.22 is designed for the readers that wish to make a semi-conductor model
of a complete direct radio receiver that was being produced many years ago, with electronic
tubes. It had a total of 3 tubes, one of the contained the HF pentode (utilized in the HF
amplifier) and the diode (used in detector), the other one had a triode (pre-amplifier) and
powerful pentode (power amplifier), whilst the third one contained the duo-diode (the

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