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RF&COMMS

VHF Airband Receiver


a double-conversion superhet
for 108-137 MHz NAV and COM reception
Design by G. Baars gert_baars@hetnet.nl

This receiver, specially designed for the VHF airband, couples decent
performance to simple construction, all at an affordable price. It does not
contain exotic parts and may be adjusted without special instruments, so
we reckon the design makes an ideal entry-level receiver for aviation
enthusiasts with two feet firmly on the ground.

Eavesdropping on police, ambulance


and fire brigade communications, to
mention but a few examples, is a
hobby with a persistent attraction to
many. This has been the case ever
since these services started using
unprotected mobile communications.
The exact reasons for the ‘addiction’
are hard to pinpoint. Curiosity, of
course, but there’s more to it. A pos-
sible enticing factor is that scanner
listening is somewhere in the twi-
light zone between ‘illegal’ and
‘allowed’, which no doubt adds to
the excitement enjoyed by many
scanner enthusiasts.
One of the most popular fre-
quency ranges to listen to is known
as the VHF airband. There, virtually
all communications are heard
between air traffic controllers, pilots
and engineers. The band allows the
above mentioned excitement to be
coupled to the interest in ‘all things
aeronautic’, and the result is sure to
appeal to many.
The VHF airband is generally
defined as the frequency range
between 108 MHz and 137 MHz,
which indicates that it is intended to
form a seamless link with the VHF
FM broadcast band, 87.5 MHz to

3/2002 Elektor Electronics 35


RF&COMMS
108 ... 136 MHz

45.545 MHz

100 ... 140 MHz 45 MHz 455 kHz

f1 f1

f2 f2

VCO
63 ... 91 MHz

010064 - 12

Figure 1. The receiver is a double-conversion superheterodyne design with intermediate frequencies at 45 MHz and 455 kHz.

108 MHz. This could lead us to assume (or teurs. Only one inductor has to be the RF and VCO signals has a fixed
hope) that by clever modification, an existing wound at home — a simple air- frequency of 45 MHz. This is called
FM broadcast receiver can be ‘tweaked’ into cored coil. the first IF. Using a 45-MHz filter, the
operation at the low end of the VHF airband. – Adjustment does not require any first IF signal is freed from any spu-
Alas, this is not as easy at it seems at first specialized equipment and can be rious components.
blush. Firstly, the bandwidth used in the FM done by listening only. The first IF signal is then ampli-
broadcast band is much larger than that in the – Because the complete receiver fied before being applied to the sec-
VHF airband, and the same goes for the chan- including audio amplifier and ond mixer, where it is heterodyned
nel spacing (100 kHz as opposed to 25 kHz). power supply regulator is accom- with a 44.545 MHz signal from a
The upshot is that the selectivity of the FM modated on a single PCB, wiring fixed oscillator. The resulting differ-
radio will be grossly inadequate. Secondly, all is down to a minimum. ence signal at 455 kHz is filtered
VHF airband communication is firmly regu- – The receiver bandwidth is easy to again and then amplified. Next
lated to employ amplitude modulation (AM), select by fitting a ceramic filter with comes the AM demodulator. The
which would require the existing FM demod- a bandwidth of 6 kHz or 15 kHz. bandwidth of the 455-kHz filter
ulator to be removed and replaced by an AM – The receiver has provision for determines the overall receiver
equivalent. To cut a long story short: let’s forget extension by a counter for fre- selectivity.
about the FM radio and go for a dedicated quency readout and an external Behind the demodulator, a signal
VHF airband receiver. PLL for tuning. Note that we have is shown to pass through a buffer
no firm plans to realize these before being applied to the gain
extensions. stages before and after the second
Considerations mixer. This is the automatic gain
To make clear what sort of receiver we’ll be control (AGC) system, which serves
discussing next, a short list of important fea- Block diagram to reduce the overall receiver gain
tures may be in order. Nearly all issues men- The overall structure of the receiver when extremely strong signals are
tioned below are discussed in greater detail is illustrated in Figure 1. received. The AGC levels out large
further on in the article as we delve into the The RF signal picked up by the signal strength variations and so
electronics. whip antenna (length approx. 60 cm) prevents you having to re-adjust the
is first filtered to suppress out of volume every time you tune to
– Perhaps the most essential feature, the pre- band components. Then follows a 20 another signal.
sent receiver is a double-conversion super- dB amplifier and a filter with a pass- As indicated by the dashed out-
heterodyne design, comprising two mixers, band of about 100-140 MHz. The line in the block diagram, the second
two local oscillators (LO) and two interme- main function of this filter is to keep mixer, the 44.545-MHz oscillator, the
diate frequency (IF) amplifiers. The super- signals at the image frequencies two adjustable-gain amplifiers and
het principle is sure to result in good away from the RF amplifier input. the AGC are contained in a single
receiver performance in respect of image In the first mixer, the amplified integrated circuit. No doubt this will
rejection and selectivity. and filtered antenna signal is mixed help to make the construction of the
– The first LO is a VCO (voltage controlled with the output signal of a VCO receiver much easier than with dis-
oscillator) with varicap tuning, fine and (voltage controlled oscillator). The crete components.
coarse. VCO has a frequency range of Behind the AM demodulator, we
– Because the project employs off-the-shelf 63 MHz to 91 MHz, and is used to find a simple low-pass filter followed
inductors, successful construction is not tune the receiver. The difference sig- by a small audio power amplifier and
limited to RF specialists like radio ama- nal that occurs as a result of mixing of course the usual loudspeaker.

36 Elektor Electronics 3/2002


RF&COMMS

37
Figure 2. Thanks to the use of an integrated mixer/oscillator/IF amplifier chip type TCA440, the circuit diagram is relatively uncluttered.
6
6V45 9V6
+6V FL2
+6V VTAP +9V
1 8
TR1 SFR455H/E
R26 IC4
7MCS4718N C31

1k5
3 2
SHDWN SENSE
22n T2
R3
C3 C10
R7
C13
* R27 R13
7
LP2951CN
5
R15
330Ω

FDBCK ERR

220k
5k6

22k 100k
100n 100n 100n R14 BC557
C42 4
A R16

5k6
1V24

1k8
1V4 5V3
8 FL1 1V9 10µ
C1 16V
45M15AU C18
C4 C6 L3 C9 R5 C11 R6 14 15 16 12
1 4 D5
22p INA OUTA 1k8 1k MIXO MIXO IFIN
820nH 1 470µ 16V
R2 1n 2p2 1n IC1 1n REFIN 7
2 5 11 IFOUT LOW BATT
1V6
OUTB 5V3 IFIN L6
68k

INB D2
5V0 NE612 C21 0V4
IC2 R12
7 6 C28
OSC TCA440

1k2
T1 OSC BAT85

1V6
C2 100n 13
IFDEC R9
6 9 10µ
3 OSC AGC 39k 16V
22p 1V4 6V4
BFR MULIN MULIN RFIN AGC MOUT 1

5V7
0V75 LMC4101 4V3
L8 91A 5 4 8 2 3 10 6
3
C14 R11 C27 8 C30

1V9

1V9

1V9
C15 LS
D1 5
C12 47k IC3
1n C16 2
4p7 100n 220µ
LS1
100nH 8p2 BAT 4 16V

0V06

0V06
1n 85 7
L2 L4 L5
LM386
R1 L1 C44 R4 X1 C17 R8 R10
C43 C5 C8 C7 C22 C23 C19 C20 C24 C25 C26 C29
220Ω

470Ω

8k2

12k
P1
50k 8Ω
15p 22p 18p 1n 15p 22p 100n 22µ 1n8
log. 100n 1W
100n 100n 16V 100n 3n3
100nH 100nH 100nH 44.545MHz 0µH56 VOLUME
R28 +6V
100Ω
R21 R22 12V
D8 C41
+9V

560Ω
C32 S1 R24 D6
BFR91A

1k
100n 47Ω
0V B C
220µ ON/OFF 1N4001
* zie tekst 16V 6V2
400mW
C34
C38 R19
5V2
1W
* see text A D3 E R25

150k

Elektor Electronics
68p 2V8
KV1235 100n

1k8
* siehe Text 0V...5V9
0V C37
33p
T3
R23
C40 BT1 3 K1

33k
VCO KV1235 12V
* voir texte R17
330k
K
1n 8x NiCd 2 50mA
C35 T4 35 1V2 (80mA)
TUNE P2 K L7
3V3 C39
20k VT
MT KV1235 *
5T
33p BFR91A
5p6
D7 1
A D4 R18 R20 0V7
C33 C36
2V6 CHARGE
BFR91A

330k

2k2
FINE P3 A K
100Ω 1n 33p
010064 - 11

3/2002
RF&COMMS
Practical realisation output tuned circuit. Although you may want to go for the
Further towards the output of the highest selectivity straight away, we
The circuit diagram of the VHF Airband circuit we find a simple diode detec- would advise using the 15-kHz ver-
Receiver is given in Figure 2. Let’s have a tor, D2, for AM demodulation, a low- sion, at least to begin with. Radio
look how the functions discussed above get pass filter R10-R11-C25-C26 and, equipment that conforms to the 8.33-
their practical realisation. finally, an integrated audio amplifier kHz channel spacing standard (intro-
The antenna signal arrives on L1, with a type LM386, IC3. duced in 1999 for ATC communica-
notch consisting of L8-C43-C44 added for tions) is still a bit thin on the ground,
suppression of unwanted signals. The RF 25 kHz still being the most widely
input amplifier, T1, is a type BFR91 bipolar Power supply used channel distance. Also, tuning
transistor. This device ensures a fair amount of The receiver was designed to oper- the receiver is much more difficult
gain at an acceptable noise figure. The 100- ate from an unstabilized 9 V supply when using a 6-kHz filter. Despite
140 MHz bandpass is a 3-pole Butterworth fil- voltage. The supply voltage directly the use of a multiturn pot for P2, you
ter consisting of L2-L3-L4-C5-C6-C7. This net- powers audio amplifier IC3, as well would easily miss stations. Of course
work, helped by the ‘coarse’ filter at the as voltage regulator IC4, which sup- there’s the fine tuning control P3 but
input, provides about 50 dB worth of image plies a stabilized 6-V rail (actually, this is of little use once you’ve tuned
rejection. 6.45 V) for the rest of the receiver cir- past the signal already.
The first mixer employs the well-known cuitry. Because the ‘error’ output of However, if an external PLL syn-
NE612 IC, which receives the VCO output IC4 (pin 5) goes low when the input thesizer is used to tune the receiver,
signal at its pin 6 via coupling capacitor C12. voltage drops between the minimum it is better to go for the narrower fil-
The VCO is built around transistor T3, level for proper stabilisation, it is ter if only because it reduces the
another BFR91 in a modified Colpitts config- used to control a ‘LowBatt’ indicator noise level.
uration which is a classic circuit in RF tech- LED via transistor T2. The minimum A final note regarding the tuning
nology and known for its good stability. The voltage drop across IC4 being a mere — some drift may be noted immedi-
oscillator’s resonant circuit is tuned by two 0.1 V, the battery can be ‘juiced’ ately after the receiver is switched
variable-capacitance (‘varicap’) diodes, D3 before LED D5 will light to indicate on. The effect should disappear after
and D4, whose capacitance is an (non-linear) that it’s definitely flat. a 5-minute warm up period.
inverse function of the tuning voltage applied The receiver draws about 60 mA
across them via their common cathode. The with a loudspeaker connected, and
tuning voltage may be adjusted between about 35 mA if you use 32-Ω head- Construction
0.5 V and about 6 V using potentiometers P2 phones with both earpieces con- Figure 3 shows the copper track lay-
(coarse) and P3 (fine). Network R28-D8 acts nected in parallel. Consequently, a 9- out and component mounting plan of
as an extra stabilizer on the tuning voltage, V PP3 battery will last for about 5 or the printed circuit board we’ve
and helps to counteract VCO frequency drift 10 hours, respectively. If you need designed for the receiver. The board
causing detuning of the receiver. more battery capacity, you may con- actually accommodates the circuit
Via connection VT, the varicap control volt- sider using eight 1.2-V NiCd pen- shown in Figure 2, that is, including
age is made externally accessible in case it is light-size batteries (AA), as indi- audio amplifier IC3, regulator IC4
decided (at a later stage) to use a PLL syn- cated in the circuit diagram. These and the NiCd charger circuit con-
thesizer to tune the receiver. batteries may be charged by con- sisting of R24, R25, D6, D7 and K1.
Along the same lines, the VCO output sig- necting a 12-V mains adaptor to K1. Despite a fair number of compo-
nal is made available via buffer T4 to allow a LED D7 then acts as a charging indi- nents on the board, construction is
frequency readout to be connected. If you do cator, while resistor R24 determines mostly plain sailing. As usual, make
not plan to use such an extension, you may the level of the charging current. The sure you fit the polarized compo-
safely omit T4, C39, R22 and R23 when build- indicated value of 47 Ω results in a nents the right way around — we
ing up the circuit on the PCB. (generally safe) charging current of mean integrated circuits (look for the
The filter at the output of the first mixer is about 50 mA. This allows the mains notch), electrolytic capacitors, tran-
a 45-MHz ceramic type with a nominal band- adaptor to remain on and connected sistors and diodes. Varicap diodes
width of 15 kHz. The filter is followed by the up without problems, irrespective of D3 and D4 require particular atten-
section in the dashed outline shown in the the exact type of battery used. tion because they do not have a clear
block diagram. All of these functions (pream- If the receiver is used with non- marking. If you hold the diode such
plifier, mixer, oscillator, IF amplifier and AGC) rechargeable batteries only, compo- that the type code is legible with the
are contained in the TCA440 integrated cir- nents R24, D6, R25, D7 and K1 may pins downwards, then the left leg is
cuit, which (almost) forms a single-chip radio be omitted to reduce cost. the anode, and the right leg, the
receiver. Of course, some external compo- cathode. On the board, D3 and D4
nents are needed for the job. Of the more or are not fitted in the same direction,
less standard components around the Tuning and selectivity so watch out!
TCA440 (mostly resistors and components), As already mentioned, ceramic filter Construction is best started by
the most important are without doubt the FL2 determines the selectivity of the fitting the low-profile components
44.454-MHz crystal, X1, LC combination L5- receiver. Two options are available: simply because that is most conve-
C17 for the internal oscillator and the 455-kHz a filter with a bandwidth of 6 kHz nient. So, start with the resistors,
bandpass filter consisting of transformer Tr1 (SFR455H or the CFW455H), or then the smaller capacitors, the elec-
and ceramic filter FL2. Inductor L6 acts as an 15 kHz (SFR455E or CFW455E). trolytics, and so on. Sockets may be

38 Elektor Electronics 3/2002


RF&COMMS
T
VT C38 ROTKELE )C( 1-460010 T2

H2
H1

L7 C36 R21 R26


P2 D4 R22 C40 R13 K1
C33

R20
C31

R25
D6
R17

R18
T3
C41 T4
+

R14
R15
R16
D8 0
VCO

IC4
C35

R19

R23
T
R28
D3 C39 +
C3 C42 C18

R24
C32 C34 C37
C12 BT1
R3 TR1 FL2
R2 C11 D5 D7
C10

R27
IC1 S1

R5
T1
C24
P3 R12
C22 R9
C8 C21 C28
C2
C4 C9

R10
C7

IC3
C1 C13 C29
C5 FL1 C25
L8

IC2
A LS
C6 C20 L6
L1 R6 C23 D2 C27 C30
L4
R4
C14
R1 C44 C19 T
L3 R7
L2

R11
C17

L5
T
C43 R8 P1
010064-1 X1

H4
D1
H3

C26
C16 C15

010064-1 (C) ELEKTOR

Figure 3. Copper track layout and component mounting plan of the PCB designed for the receiver (board available ready-made).

3/2002 Elektor Electronics 39


RF&COMMS
used for IC3 and IC4, while IC1 and IC2 may speaker and the batteries. Although board will fit neatly into this case,
be soldered directly on to the board. we have no grave objections against we should add that space is at a pre-
RF transistors T1, T3 and T4 (only if a a plastic (ABS) enclosure, a metal mium if the NiCd batteries and the
buffered VCO output is required) are soldered one is highly recommended because loudspeaker have to be squeezed in
at the bottom side of the board, with their it minimizes the risk of VCO detun- as well. For example, near multiturn
legs directly onto the relevant copper tracks. ing by the so-called ‘hand effect’. pot P2 we had to remove some alu-
They will only fit in one way and holes are Our prototype of the VHF Airband minium from the inside of the lid.
provided in the PCBs for their round cases to Receiver was built into an alu- Figure 5 allows an inside view of
be seated in. minium diecast enclosure type the prototype receiver. The antenna
Next, the inductors. L1-L5 and L8 are BIM5005 which has outside dimen- we used for our experiments was a
ready-made miniature chokes that look like sions of 15?8?5 cm. Although the common or garden telescopic rod.
precision resistors, complete with coloured
bands indicating the value. IF transformer Tr1
and tuned circuit L6 are also off-the shelf COMPONENTS LIST C35,C36,C37 = 33pF
components. Both are housed in metal cases C39 = 5pF6
that will only fit one in one way. The only Resistors:
inductor to be wound at home is L7. Easy, R1 = 220Ω Semiconductors:
really, because it consists of 5 turns of silver- R2 = 68kΩ D1,D2 = BAT85
plated wire with a diameter of 1 mm. The R3 = 330Ω D3,D4 = KV1235
R4 = 470Ω D5 = LED, red, high efficiency
inside diameter is 5 mm obtained from a drill
R5,R16,R25 = 1kΩ8 D6 = 1N4001
bit or a pencil. After winding the inductor,
R6,R21 = 1kΩ D7 = LED, green, high efficiency
space the windings evenly by pulling them D8 = zener diode 6.2V, 0.4W
R7,R14 = 5kΩ6
apart until an overall length of about 12 mm IC1 = SA612AN or NE612
R8 = 8kΩ2
is obtained. R9 = 39kΩ IC2 = TCA440
A few more details about populating the R10 = 12kΩ IC3 = LM386
board. Resistor R24 should be a 1-watt type, R11 = 47kΩ IC4 = LP2951CN
mounted slightly above the board because it R12 = 1kΩ2 T1,T3,T4 = BFR91A
may get a little warm. Resistor R27 is not R13 = 22kΩ T2 = BC557
used because our testing of the receiver indi- R15 = 100kΩ
cated that it was not required. Indicator LEDs R17,R18 = 330kΩ Miscellaneous:
D5 and D7 have to be mounted so that they R19 = 150kΩ BT1 = 9V battery (PP3) or 8 NiCd
R20 = 2kΩ2 batteries (1.2V)
can be seen from the outside. In most cases,
R22 = 560Ω FL1 = 45M15AU
that will require connecting them to the
R23 = 33kΩ FL2 = SFR455H or -E (CFW455H or -E)
board via light duty flexible wires. The metal K1 = mains adaptor socket,
R24 = 47Ω (1W)
case of quartz crystal X1 has to be (quickly) PCB mount
R26 = 1kΩ5
soldered to ground using a very short piece R27 = not fitted L1,L2,L4,L8 = 100nH
of leftover component wire. R28 = 100Ω L3 = 820nH
You will find that potentiometers P1, P2 P1 = 50kΩ logarithmic L5 = 560nH
and P3 will fit the board directly. However, potentiometer L6 = LMC4101 (Toko)
whether or not that is actually done depends P2 = 20kΩ multiturn L7 = 5 turns ∆1mm silver-plated
mostly on the enclosure you have in mind for P3 = 100Ω linear potentiometer. wire on ∆5mm former (no core)
the receiver. P2 and P3 may be connected to S1 = switch, 1 make contact
the board using flexible wire. P1 on the other Capacitors: TR1 = 7MCS4718N (Toko)
hand will require a short piece of screened C1,C2 = 22pF X1 = 44.545MHz quartz crystal (case
C3,C10,C13,C19,C21- connected to ground)
audio cable.
C24,C27,C29,C38,C41 = 100nF LS1 = loudspeaker 8Ω 1W
Having fitted all the components on the
C4,C8,C9,C11,C15,C16,C33,C40 = PCB, order code 010064-1 (see
board, it is a good idea to use a multimeter to Readers Services pages)
1nF
check the indicated measurement point for C5 = 18pF Enclosure: e.g., BIM, dim.
the correct voltages. If they are (roughly) cor- C6 = 2pF2 150×80×50mm, order code
rect, you may safely assume that there are no C7,C43 = 15pF 06.11.5005 (normal) of 06.11.5105
constructional errors in the circuit. C12 = 8pF2 (enamel finish)
As a further aid in getting the project to C14 = 4pF7
work without too much time spent on fault- C17,C44 = 22pF adjustable Many RF parts for this projects,
finding, Figure 4 shows the wiring diagram (trimmer) including inductors, varicaps ceramic
of the complete receiver, with the PCB at the C18 = 470µF 16V radial filters and trimmers are available from
centre of things. C20 = 22µF 16V radial Barend Hendriksen HF Elektronica
C25 = 3nF3 BV, PO Box 66, NL-6970-AB,
C26 = 1nF8 Brummen, The Netherlands.
Mechanical work C28,C42 = 10µF 16V radial Tel. (+31) 575 561866,
C30, C32 = 220µF 16V radial Fax (+31) 575 565012.
Having modest dimensions, the printed cir- C31 = 22nF Website www.xs4all.nl/~barendh/,
cuit board should fit in a reasonably compact C34 = 68pF email barendh@xs4all.nl.
case, together with the receiver’s loud-

40 Elektor Electronics 3/2002


RF&COMMS

antenna
D5 D7 mains
adaptor
LED LED 12V

red green

T
VT C38 T2
L7 C36 R21 R26
P2 D4 R22 C40 R13 K1 K1
C33
R20

C31

R25
D6
R17
R18

T3
C41 T4
+

R14
R15
R16
D8 0
VCO

IC4
C35

R19

R23
T
R28
D3 C39 +
C3 C42 C18

R24
C32 C34 C37 8x 1.2 V
C12 BT1
R3 TR1 FL2
R2 C11 D5 D7
C10
R27

IC1 S1
R5

T1
C24 S1
P3 R12
C22 R9
C8 C21 C28
C2
C4 C9
R10
C7

IC3
C1 C13 C29
C5 FL1 C25
L8

IC2
A LS
C6 C20 L6
L1 R6 C23 D2 C27 C30
L4
R4

C14
R1 C44 C19 T
L3 R7
L2

R11

C17
L5

T
C43 R8 P1
010064-1 X1
D1
C26

C16 C15
LS

(to metal chassis)

010064 - 13

Figure 4. Overview of external controls and other elements connected to the board.

Figure 5. The PCB and ancillaries are a tight fit!

3/2002 Elektor Electronics 41


RF&COMMS
Alternatively, you may want to use a piece pressing the turns of L7, or pulling able in the Elektor Electronics design
of rigid wire with a length of 60 cm or so, them further apart. Make small laboratory, the sensitivity of the
mounted in a banana plug. adjustments at a time! receiver was measured at about
0.5 µV for 12 dB (S+N/N). This
should be sufficient to pick up com-
Adjustment Reception munication between air traffic con-
There are four adjustment points in the Most air-traffic communication may trollers and pilots at a distance of
receiver. The cores of Tr1 and L6, as well as be picked up in the so-called COM more than 25 kilometres from any
trimmer C17, are simply adjusted for maxi- (communications) section of the major airport. At first, you may be
mum noise output. Trimmer C44 is set to mid- band, between 117 and 137 MHz, surprised to note that the aircraft
travel and may be re-adjusted later to cancel The lower part, 108-117 MHz, is signal is often stronger than that of
breakthrough of strong signals from nearby reserved for beacons, in-flight land- the control tower, but bear in mind
FM broadcast stations. That’s it, really! ing systems (ILS), navigation bea- that the aircraft is up in the sky so its
If you have closely followed the winding cons and other utility systems, hence reception path will have a minimum
directions for inductor L7, the VCO should be it is often referred to as NAV. The of obstacles!
up and running with the correct tuning best way to find out about the fre- Finally, by tuning the receiver to
range, which may be verified if you have a quencies used on or near the airport weak navigation beacon signals, it
frequency meter available — connect it to you live close to, is to consult a Scan- can be used as an excellent propa-
the VCO output and turn P2 to see if the VCO ner Guide, which are available in gation monitor to predict sporadic-E
can be tuned between 63 and 91 MHz. If nec- several countries. openings in the VHF band.
essary, tweak the tuning range by com- Using the HP8640B signal avail- (010064-1)

Image rejection
108 ... 136 MHz
Inherent to its design, any superheterodyne receiver (sin- A
gle or double conversion) is in principle open to two
bands, the desired band and the ‘image frequency’ band.
These bands are spaced apart two times the first interme-
diate frequency. Image frequencies are caused by 100 ... 140 MHz 45 MHz
unwanted output products of the mixer(s) used.
f1
In a superheterodyne receiver, the received signal (RF)
45 MHz
is mixed with a local oscillator (LO) signal, in such a way f2
that the mixer output produces an intermediate frequency
(IF) which is constant over the entire frequency range. In 198 ... 226 MHz

the receiver shown in Figure A, the RF signals are in the


desired band between 108 MHz and 136 MHz, and the LO
signal can be tuned between 153 MHz and 181 MHz. This
VCO
is called high-side injection. The difference frequency is 153 ... 181 MHz 010064 - 14A
simply LO–RF = 45 MHz being the centre frequency of
the IF passband.
However, from simple mathematics it follows that an
identical 45 MHz signal is produced by RF signals between
198 MHz and 226 MHz, as indicated in dashed type. The
filter fitted ahead of the mixer has a passband that corre-
sponds to the desired frequency range, i.e., 100-
108 ... 136 MHz
140 MHz, and so serves to suppress signals picked up in
B
the ‘image band’.
In this case, at an intermediate frequency of 45 MHz, the
image band is less than an octave away from the desired
band. Consequently, the passband filter needs to have
100 ... 140 MHz 45 MHz
pretty steep skirts. Alternatively, its tuning needs to ‘track’
the VCO. Both solutions are relatively difficult to imple- f1
ment, which is not what we are after. 45 MHz
f2
In this example the best way to achieve good image rejec-
tion is to resort to low-side injection. After all, using a 18 ... 46 MHz
VCO tuning range of 63-91 MHz again results in a fixed IF
of 45 MHz (RF–LO). As shown in Figure B, the image
band is then between 18 MHz and 46 MHz, which is — on
average — 2 octaves away from the input filter passband. VCO
63 ... 91 MHz 010064 - 14B
As a result, these image frequencies can be adequately
suppressed using a relatively simple passband filter.

42 Elektor Electronics 3/2002

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