9/16/2015

AMReceiver

AMReceiver
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Circuit: AndyCollinson
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Description
Thisisacompactthreetransistor,TRFreceiverwithfixedfeedback.Itissimilarin
principletotheZN414whichisnowreplacedbytheMK484.Thedesignissimpleand
sensitivityandselectivityofthereceiveraregood.

CircuitNotes
Allgeneralpurposetransistorsshouldworkinthiscircuit,IusedthreeBC549
transistorsinmyprototype.Thetunedcircuitisdesignedformediumwave,butthe
circuitwillworkuptomuchhigherfrequenciesifadifferenttuningcoilandcapacitor
areused.Iusedaferriterodandtuningcapacitorfromanoldradiowhichtunedfrom
approximately5501600kHz.Q1andQ2formadarlingtonpairfeaturinghighgain
andveryhighinputimpedance.Thisisnecessarysoasnottoundulyloadthetank
circuit.Thereisonlyonetunedcircuitinthisdesignsosensitivityandselectivitywill
notbeasgoodasaregenerativeorsuperhetdesignbutgoodresultscanstillbe
obtainednonetheless.The120kfeedbackresistorimpactsonboththegainandinput
impedanceofthecircuitsovaryingthisvalueisacrudewayofalteringsensitivityand
selectivity.InmytestcircuitQ2hadanemittervoltageofabout0.71Vandcollector
voltageof1.34V.
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Foraudioamplifiers,Q2collectorwouldbebiasednearhalfsupplyvoltage,however
theinputsignallevelsatRFaretiny,typically50uVappearingacrossthecoilbeing
amplifiedbyQ2andbeingabout5mVRFacrossthe2k2loadresistor.
The120kfeedbackresistor,betweenQ2outputandthetankcircuitL1affectsoverall
performanceofthereceiver.Thevalueof120kwasfoundtojustenoughgainforthe
receivertoworkwell.Instrongsignalareasitsvaluemaybetoohighandalower
valueof100kor82kmayweorkbetterinweaksignalareasincreasingthevaluemay
workbetter.Toomuchfeedbackandthecircuitwillbecomeunstableproducinga
"howlingsound".Insufficientfeedbackandthereceiverbecomes"deaf".R1couldalso
bereplacedbyafixedresistorsay33kandapresetresistorof100k.
TransistorQ3hasadualpurposeitperformsdemodulationoftheRFcarrierwhilstat
thesametime,amplifyingtheaudiosignal.Audiolevelvariesonthestrengthofthe
receivedstationbutIhadtypically1040mV,thisisaudiovoltage,notRFsignallevel.
Thiswilldirectlydrivehighimpedanceheadphonesorcanbefedintoasuitable
amplifier.
Thetuningcoil,L1canbesalvagedfromanoldAMreceiver,ortomakeyourown
windabout50to60turnsof26SWGenamelcoatedcopperwireovera3/8inch
ferriterodabout3incheslong.Thiswillcreateatuninginductorofabout200uH.AM
stationsaredirectionalsorotatingtherod(orwholereceiver)shouldallownullingof
somesignalswhilstboostingothers.
Ifyouareinanareaofweakreceptionthenanexternalantennamayberequired.
Windabout4or5turns(indicatedas4or5Tontheschematic)of26SWGwireonto
theferriterod,closetothemainwindingandconnectoneendtoacoldwatertapor
groundconnection.Useseveralfeetofflexiblewireasanantenna.
ThefrequencycoverageortuningrangeiscontrolledbyL1andVC1.IfVC1isfully
meshed(closed)thenitscapacitancewillbeabout500pF.Theresonantfrequencyis
givenby:

whereFisfrequencyinhertz,CcapacitanceinFaradsandLtheinductanceinHenry's.
Withameshed500pFvariablecapacitorand200uHcoilthelowestfrequencyworks
outtobe:

Whenthevanesareopenasmallcapacitanceisstillpresent(about40pF).Thecoil
connectionsaddaslightamountofstraycapacitancewhichmaybe7or8pF.With
48pFcapacitanceanda200uHcoil,thehighestfrequencywillbeabout1624kHz.
Somevariablecapacitors,havebuiltintrimmerstoadjustthehighestfrequency.For
anycoilandcapacitorthattunestoohigh,a50pFtrimmermaybeaddedinparallel
withVC1tocontrolthehighesttuneablefrequency.

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ThecoildetailsbelowwerekindlysubmittedandtestedbyDavidfromGermanyand
tunes5001700kHzwitha500pFcapacitor.Constructionisshownbelow35turnsof
32SWGenamelcoveredwirearewound30mmfromoneendofa10mmdiameter
ferriterod.Nowapapersleeveabout20mmwideisloopedaroundtheferriterod.The
coiliscontinuedwindingafurther40turns,thestartofthe36thturnbeing
approximately50mmfromthesameendoftheferriterodonthepapersleevesee
imagebelow.

TheMWcoildescribedaboveresultsinaninductanceofapproximately200uH.If
coupledwitha500pFcapacitor(fullmesh)willtunetoabout500kHzandopenmesh
(about43pF)tunesto1700KHz.ThiscoversthetoppartoftheMWbandusedinNorth
AmericaandsomeEuropeanPiratestations.IfdesiredaLWcoilcanalsobemadeon
thesamerod,thisis330turnsof32SWGwirestarting70mmfromthesameendof
theferriterod.
Allconnectionsshouldbeshort,averoboardortagstriplayoutaresuitable.Thetuning
capacitorhasfixedandmovingplates.Themovingplatesshouldbeconnectedtothe
"cold"endofthetankcircuit,thisisthebaseofQ1,andthefixedplatestothe"hot
end"ofthecoil,thejunctionofR1andC1.Ifconnectionsonthecapacitorare
reversed,thenmovingyourhandnearthecapacitorwillcauseunwantedstabilityand
oscillation.
Finallyherearesomevoltagechecksfrommybreadboardprototype.Thisshouldhelp
indeterminingaworkingcircuit:
Allmeasurementsmadewithafresh9voltbatteryandthreeBC109Ctransistorswith
respecttothebatterynegativeterminal.
Q1(b)1.31V
Q2(b)0.71V
Q2(c)1.34V
Q3(b)0.62V
Q3(c)3.87V

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SimulatingtheReceiver
IhavesimulatedtheperformanceofthisreceiverinLTspice.Belowisthecircuitre
drawnforsimulationinLTspice.Therearesomeminorchangesnamelytheoutput
requiresaloadresistorwhichisR7andinparallelwithR7isC6,a2ncapacitor.C6
functionstoremoveanyresidualRFcarrierfromtheaudiooutput.

RFInput

TosimulateanAMradiosignal,acarrierfrequencyof1MHzischosen,anda
modulatingsignalof1kHzused.ThesearemixedbythearbitrarysourceB1.The
amplitudeofB1isaround400uVpkpkandthismaybehighinreallife,exceptinvery
strongsignalareas.
InputRFstages

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TheabovediagramshowstheRFinputsignal(green)measuredasdifferentialacross
inputcoilL1.TheoutputistakenacrosstheoutputofQ2whereitisbeenamplified.
Thenonsymmetricaldistortionisduetoahigherthannormalinputsignal.
AudioOutput

AfterbeingdemodulatedandamplifiedbyQ3,therecoveredaudioisdisplayedinred
intheabovediagram.
Selectivity

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FinallyRFselectivitycanbeseenbyapplyingafixedcarriersignaltotheinputand
varyingC1.ThisisshownaboveforvariousAMfrequencies.Selectivityisaround40k
whichistobeexpectedforarecieverwithasinglecoil.

FinishedReceiver
Afinishedreceivermadeonveroboardisshownbelow.ThisoneisbuiltbyDavidin
GermanyandhasreceivedallmediumwavestationsinDavid'slocality.

MoreofDavid'sradioworkcanbeseeninmyPicssectioninthePracticalPages.
PCBLayout
ThefollowingsinglesidedPCBlayoutwascreatedwithKicad ,afreeopensource
schematicandPCBdraftingprogram.Itsavailableforbothwindowsandlinux,the
imagebelowisa3D(enlarged)viewofthecomponentside.Thecopperlayer(solder
side)isthedarkgreenlayeronthebottomoftheboard.
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Thetopview(componentside)ofthePCBboardisshownbelow.Thisiswithoutthe
3Dcomponents,thesilkscreen(drawingsonthecomponentside)allowforsizeof
physicalcomponents.

Theimagebelowisanactualsize(1:1)copyofthecopperlayer.Notethatthisis
reversesotheveropinsappearnowonthelefthandsideatthetop.Rememberthat
thisisthelower(solder)side,byviewingthetopimageyoushouldbeabletomatch
upthepositionsofallcomponents.

Finallyyoumaynotlikemylayoutandprefertocreateyourown.Thefollwing
am_rec.zipfile,containstheschematic,componentlistandpcbnewdiagraminone
convenientzipfile.
Downloadallfilesforkicadam_rec.zip

MoreConstructionTips
ThefollowingtipscomefromAustinHellierinQueensland,Australiaandmayassist
withbuildingthisproject.Generallyspeaking,matrixboardconstruction(spreadouta
bit)seemsbest.Recently,whenIranoutofit,Iwasforcedtousean8x2waytag
striparrangement,whichsufferedfromseveralproblems.Feedbackhowlsand
'motorboating'wereprominentuntilImovedthetuningcoilandcapacitorapart,but
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eventhen,therewerestillsomefeedbackproblems,asIalsouseda100k'A'tapered
potasthefeedbackcontrol.Ithinkthatthere'sprobablytoomuchstraycapacitance
withthismethodofconstruction.also,someofthelonger(180mm)ferriterodsof
betterqualitymaterial,seemtocausethisoverloading,astheytendtogeneratea
larger,morepowerfulEMfieldaroundtherod.Smallerrodswillprobablyworkbetter
withthemorecompactplasticboxesorcasesthatconstructerstendtouse.

MoreofAustin'sradioworkcanbeseeninmyRFPicssectioninthePracticalPages.
ReducingC1froma0.1uFcaptoasmaller0.047uFcaphelpedalot,butthefinal'fixit'
occurredwiththeplacementoftheremoved0.1uFcapacrossthecandeterminalsof
transistorQ2.Theseandtheabovemethodshaveallowedmetofixthetwomost
recentAMreceiversthatImadelastweek,withnoresidualsideeffectsatall.Both
unitscanreceivetenoutofelevenlocalAMstationshereinBrisbane,Queensland,
Australia,andwithallpartsnew,costaround$12to$15AUD,dependingonwhich
shopsyoubuythemat.
WhenIwasdownsouthinWollongongsomeyearsago,Imadeupmyveryfirst'AM
Receiver'cct,andpickedupstations1ZBand2ZB,acrosstheTasmaninNewZealand!
IfIusethiscircuitwithaloopantennaofanyappreciablesize,Icanalsopickup4RK
upinRockhampton(IliveinBrisbanemyself,)and531AM,aNSWradiostationdown
nearCoffsHarbourquiteafewkilometresineitherdirection.Stationfrequenciesand
locationsforBrisbaneandtherestofQueenslandcanbefoundat
www.ausradiostations.com .
Austin'sHomepage alsohassomeniceradioprojects.

CircuitExchangeInternational

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