Receivers are devices that receive radio signals at their destination. There are two main types of receivers: tuned radio frequency (TRF) receivers and superheterodyne receivers. TRF receivers were once widely used but are now limited to fixed frequency applications due to issues with selectivity and instability at higher frequencies. Superheterodyne receivers mix the incoming radio signal with a local oscillator signal to convert it to a lower intermediate frequency, addressing the issues with TRF receivers and providing more uniform gain and selectivity across frequencies.

1. RECEIVERS

2. • Receivers are meant for receiving the Signals at Destination.
• These are the most important part of a Communication Systems.
Types Of Receivers
• Tuned Radio Frequency Rx.
• Superheterodyne Rx.

3. TRF (TUNED RADIO FREQUENCY) RECEIVER
1st RF
Amplifier
Audio
Amplifier
2nd RF
Amplifier
Detector
Power
Amplifier
Ganged Tuning

4. • The TRF Receiver was the most widely used Receivers but now it is no longer used. The Use of this receiver is
limited to fixed frequency special applications.
• This is meant for it’s Simplicity and high sensitivity.
Working of the TRF Receiver
• At initial Stage, it first catches the RF Signals from Radio Transmitters as shown in figure.
• There after a few Radio Frequency (RF) Amplifiers are used ; Two in this case or Three can also be used. The
main application of these amplifiers is to amplify the incoming frequencies from transmitter and also reject
other unwanted frequencies fed it to next stage.
• The word “ganged” used here to show that the multiple stages are coupled together using a single
Connection.
• Tuning Provides sufficient gain and selectivity.
• After the signal is amplified to a certain level, then it is fed to detector to demodulate the signal.

5. • The Output of the Detector i.e. demodulated signal is fed to the Audio amplifier. It amplifies the signal to a
further level.
• Thereafter the power amplifier matches the output impedence to input impedence. And the output of the
power amplifier is then fed to the speaker.
• Such receivers were simple to design and align at broadcast frequencies (53kHz to 1640 kHz), but they
presented difficulties at higher frequencies. This was mainly because of the instability associated with high gain
being achieved at one frequency by a multistage amplifier.
• The TRF receiver suffered from a variation in bandwidth over the tuning range.
• It was unable to achieve sufficient selectivity at high frequencies, partly as a result of the enforced use of
single-tuned circuits. It was not possible to use double-tuned RF amplifiers in this receiver, although it was
realized that they would naturally yield better selectivity.
• This was due to the fact that all such amplifiers had to be tunable, and the difficulties of making several double-
tuned amplifiers tune in unison were too great.
• The problems of instability, insufficient adjacent-frequency rejection, and bandwidth variation can all be solved
by the use of a superheterodyne receiver, which introduces relatively few problems of its own.

6. SUPER HETERODYNE RECEIVER
RF Stage
Local
Oscillator
Mixer
IF
Amplifier
Detector
Audio
And Power
Amplifier
Ganged Tuning
ACF
f0
f1
(f0 – f1)

7. • In the super heterodyne receiver, the incoming signal voltage is combined with a signal generated in the
receiver.
• This local oscillator voltage is normally converted into a signal of a lower fixed frequency.
• The signal at this intermediate frequency contains the same modulation as the original carrier, and it is now
amplified and detected to reproduce the original information.
• The super heterodyne Rx has the same essential components as the TRF receiver, in addition to the mixer, local
oscillator and intermediate-frequency (IF) amplifier.
• A constant frequency difference is maintained between the local oscillator and the RF circuits normally through
capacitance tuning, in which all the capacitors are ganged together and operated in unison by one control knob.
• The IF amplifier generally uses two or three transformers, each consisting of a pair of mutually Coupled tuned
circuits. With this large number of double-tuned circuits operating at a constant, specially chosen frequency, the
IF amplifier provides most of the gain (and therefore sensitivity) and bandwidth requirements of the receiver.
• the characteristics of the IF amplifier are independent of the frequency to which the receiver is tuned, the
selectivity and sensitivity of the super heterodyne are usually fairly uniform throughout its tuning range and not
subject to the variations that affect the TRF receiver.
• The RF circuhs arc now used mainly to select the wanted frequency, to reject interference such as the
imagejrequency and (especially at high frequencies) to reduce the noise figure of the receiver.

8. WORKING
• The RF stage is normally a wideband RF amplifier tunable from approximately 540 kHz to 1650 kHz (standard
commercial AM band). It is mechanically tied to the local oscillator to ensure precise tuning characteristics.
• The local oscillator is a variable oscillator capable of generating a signal from 0.995 MHz to 2.105 MHz. The
incoming signal from the transmitter is selected and amplified by the RF stage. It is then combined (mixed)
with a predetermined local oscillator signal in the mixer stage. (During this stage, a class C nonlinear device
processes the signals, producing the sum, difference, and originals.)
• The signal from the mixer is then supplied to the IF (intermediate-frequency) amplifier. This amplifier is a
very-narrow-bandwidth class A device capable of selecting a frequency of 0.455 kHz ± 3 kHz and rejecting all
others.
• The IF signal output is an amplified composite of the modulated RF from the transmitter in combination with
RF from the local oscillator. Neither of these signals is usable without further processing. The next process is
in the detector stage, which eliminates one of the sidebands still present and separates the RF from the audio
components of the other sideband. The RF is filtered to ground, and audio is supplied or fed to the audio
stages for amplification and then to the speakers, etc.