AM BROADCASTING A.

AM THEORY AND PRINCIPLES Amplitude modulation (AM) is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent. For example, changes in signal strength may be used to specify the sounds to be reproduced by a loudspeaker, or the light intensity of television pixels. Contrast this with frequency modulation, in which the frequency is varied, and phase modulation, in which the phase is varied. In the mid-1870s, a form of amplitude modulationinitially called "undulatory currents"was the first method to successfully produce quality audio over telephone lines. Beginning with Reginald Fessenden's audio demonstrations in 1906, it was also the original method used for audio radio transmissions, and remains in use today by many forms of communication"AM" is often used to refer to the mediumwave broadcast band Amplitude modulation or AM as it is often called, is a form of modulation used for radio transmissions for broadcasting and two way radio communication applications. Although one of the earliest used forms of modulation it is still in widespread use today. The first amplitude modulated signal was transmitted in 1901 by a Canadian engineer named Reginald Fessenden. He took a continuous spark transmission and placed a carbon microphone in the antenna lead. The sound waves impacting on the microphone varied its resistance and in turn this varied the intensity of the transmission. Although very crude, signals were audible over a distance of a few hundred metres, although there was a rasping sound caused by the spark.

With the introduction of continuous sine wave signals, transmissions improved significantly, and AM soon became the standard for voice transmissions. Nowadays, amplitude modulation, AM is used for audio broadcasting on the long medium and short wave bands, and for two way radio communication at VHF for aircraft. However as there now are more efficient and convenient methods of modulating a signal, its use is declining, although it will still be very many years before it is no longer used. In radio communication, a continuous wave radio-frequency signal (a sinusoidal carrier wave) has its amplitude modulated by an audio waveform before transmission. In the frequency domain, amplitude modulation produces a signal with power concentrated at the carrier frequency and two adjacent sidebands. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulating signal, and is a mirror image of the other. Amplitude modulation resulting in two sidebands and a carrier is called "double-sideband amplitude modulation" (DSBAM). Amplitude modulation is inefficient in power usage; at least two-thirds of the power is concentrated in the carrier signal, which carries no useful information (beyond the fact that a signal is present). To increase transmitter efficiency, the carrier may be suppressed. This produces a reduced-carrier transmission, or DSB "double-sideband suppressedcarrier" (DSB-SC) signal. A suppressed-carrier AM signal is three times more power-efficient than AM. If the carrier is only partially suppressed, a doublesideband reduced-carrier (DSBRC) signal results. For reception, a local oscillator will typically restore the suppressed carrier so the signal can be demodulated with a product detector. Improved bandwidth efficiency is achieved at the expense of increased transmitter and receiver complexity by completely suppressing both the carrier and one of the sidebands. This is single-sideband modulation, widely used in amateur radio and other communications applications. A simple form of AM, often used for digital communications, is on-off keying: a type of amplitude-shift

keying in which binary data is represented by the presence or absence of a carrier. This is used by radio amateurs to transmit Morse code and is known as continuous wave (CW) operation. In terms of positive frequencies, the transmission bandwidth of AM is twice the signal's original (baseband) bandwidth; both the positive and negative sidebands are shifted up to the carrier frequency. Thus, double-sideband AM (DSB-AM) is spectrally inefficient since fewer radio stations can be accommodated in a given broadcast band. The suppression methods described above may be understood in terms of Figure 2. With the carrier suppressed, there would be no energy at the center of a group; with a sideband suppressed, the "group" would have the same bandwidth as the positive frequencies of The transmitter-power efficiency of DSB-AM is relatively poor (about 33 percent). The benefit of this system is that receivers are cheaper to produce. Suppressed-carrier AM is 100 percent power-efficient, since no power is wasted on the carrier signal (which conveys no information) In order that a radio signal can carry audio or other information for broadcasting or for two way radio communication, it must be modulated or changed in some way. Although there are a number of ways in which a radio signal may be modulated, one of the easiest, and one of the first methods to be used was to change its amplitude in line with variations of the sound. The basic concept surrounding what is amplitude modulation, AM, is quite straightforward. The amplitude of the signal is changed in line with the instantaneous intensity of the sound. In this way the radio frequency signal has a representation of the sound wave superimposed in it. In view of the way the basic signal "carries" the sound or modulation, the radio frequency signal is often termed the "carrier".

Amplitude Modulation, AM

When a carrier is modulated in any way, further signals are created that carry the actual modulation information. It is found that when a carrier is amplitude modulated, further signals are generated above and below the main carrier. To see how this happens, take the example of a carrier on a frequency of 1 MHz which is modulated by a steady tone of 1 kHz. The process of modulating a carrier is exactly the same as mixing two signals together, and as a result both sum and difference frequencies are produced. Therefore when a tone of 1 kHz is mixed with a carrier of 1 MHz, a "sum" frequency is produced at 1 MHz + 1 kHz, and a difference frequency is produced at 1 MHz - 1 kHz, i.e. 1 kHz above and below the carrier.

If the steady state tones are replaced with audio like that encountered with speech of music, these comprise many different frequencies and an audio spectrum with frequencies over a band of frequencies is seen. When modulated onto the carrier, these spectra are seen above and below the carrier. It can be seen that if the top frequency that is modulated onto the carrier is 6 kHz, then the top spectra will extend to 6 kHz above and below the signal. In other words the bandwidth occupied by the AM signal is twice the maximum frequency of the signal that is used to modulated the carrier, i.e. it is twice the bandwidth of the audio signal to be carried.

B. C.

AM BROADCAST STANDARDS (KBP) AM WAVE PROPAGATION Ground wave propagation is particularly important on the LF and MF portion of the radio spectrum. Ground wave radio propagation is used to provide relatively local radio communications coverage, especially by radio broadcast stations that require to cover a particular locality. Ground wave radio signal propagation is ideal for relatively short distance propagation on these frequencies during the daytime. Sky-wave ionospheric propagation is not possible during the day because of the attenuation of the signals on these frequencies caused by the D region in the ionosphere. In view of this, radio communications stations need to rely on the ground-wave propagation to achieve their coverage. A ground wave radio signal is made up from a number of constituents. If the antennas are in the line of sight then there will be a direct wave as well as a reflected signal. As the names suggest the direct signal is one that travels directly between the two antenna and is not affected by the locality. There will also be a reflected signal as the transmission will be reflected by a number of

objects including the earth's surface and any hills, or large buildings. That may be present. In addition to this there is surface wave. This tends to follow the curvature of the Earth and enables coverage to be achieved beyond the horizon. It is the sum of all these components that is known as the ground wave. Beyond the horizon the direct and reflected waves are blocked by the curvature of the Earth, and the signal is purely made up from the diffracted surface wave. It is for this reason that surface wave is commonly called ground wave propagation. The radio signal spreads out from the transmitter along the surface of the Earth. Instead of just travelling in a straight line the radio signals tend to follow the curvature of the Earth. This is because currents are induced in the surface of the earth and this action slows down the wave-front in this region, causing the wavefront of the radio communications signal to tilt downwards towards the Earth. With the wave-front tilted in this direction it is able to curve around the Earth and be received well beyond the horizon.

Ground wave radio propagation

As the wavefront of the ground wave travels along the Earth's surface it is attenuated. The degree of attenuation is dependent upon a variety of factors. Frequency of the radio signal is one of the major determining factor as losses rise with increasing frequency. As a result it makes this form of propagation impracticable above the bottom end of the HF portion of the spectrum (3 MHz). Typically a signal at 3.0 MHz will suffer an attenuation that may be in the region of 20 to 60 dB more than one at 0.5 MHz dependent upon a variety of factors in the signal path including the distance. In view of this it can be seen why even high power HF radio broadcast stations may only be audible for a few miles from the transmitting site via the ground wave. As the wavefront of the ground wave travels along the Earth's surface it is attenuated. The degree of attenuation is dependent upon a variety of factors. Frequency of the radio signal is one of the major determining factor as losses rise with increasing frequency. As a result it makes this form of propagation impracticable above the bottom end of the HF portion of the spectrum (3 MHz). Typically a signal at 3.0 MHz will suffer an attenuation that may be in the region of 20 to 60 dB more than one at 0.5 MHz dependent upon a variety of factors in the signal path including the distance. In view of this it can be seen why even high power HF radio broadcast stations may only be audible for a few miles from the transmitting site via the ground wave D . AM TRANSMITTER In AM transmitters, the instantaneous amplitude of the rf output signal is varied in proportion to the modulating signal. The modulating signal may consist of many frequencies of various amplitudes and phases, such as the signals making up your own speech pattern. Figure 2-3 gives you an idea of what the block diagram of a simple AM transmitter looks like. The oscillator, buffer amplifier, and power amplifier serve .

the same purpose as those in the cw transmitter. The microphone converts the audio frequency (af) input (a person's voice) into corresponding electrical energy. The driver amplifies the audio, and the modulator further amplifies the audio signal to the amplitude necessary to fully modulate the carrier. The output of the modulator is applied to the power amplifier. The pa combines the rf carrier and the modulating signal in the power amplifier to produce the amplitude-modulated signal output for transmission. In the absence of a modulating signal, a continuous rf carrier is radiated by the antenna. Figure 2-3. - AM radiotelephone transmitter block diagram.