Chapter Five:

Transmitters

Introduction
In spite of the wide variety of uses for
transmitters, from toys to broadcasting
transmitters, there are only a few topologies that
are used in their design

Transmitter Requirements
A transmitter must generate a signal with
the following criteria:

The correct modulation type

Must have sufficient power
Must generate at the correct carrier frequency
Should be reasonably efficient

Frequency Accuracy and Stability

The accuracy and stability of the transmitter is fixed by the
carrier oscillator
Exact requirements are determined by the application of
the transmitter and by regulatory agencies

Frequency Agility
Frequency agility is the ability to change
operating frequency rapidly, without
extensive retuning
Broadcast transmitters are rarely retuned
Other services, such as CB, require rapid
and accurate retuning to other channels

Spectral Purity
Spectral purity is a measure of the spurious signals
generated by a transmitter
All transmitters generate frequencies other than the carrier
and the sidebands required for the modulation scheme in
use
All frequencies except the assigned transmitting frequency
must be filtered out to avoid interference with other
transmissions

Power Output
There are a number of ways to measure transmitter power,
depending upon the modulation scheme employed
Transmitters for full-carrier AM are rated in terms of
carrier power
Suppressed-carrier AM transmitters are rated by peakenvelope power (PEP)
FM transmitters are rated by total power output

Efficiency
There are two important reasons for efficient
transmitter operation:
Most obvious is energy conservation
Power that enters the transmitter but does not exit via
the transmitter output is converted into heat
Large amounts of heat require significant amounts of
additional hardware to remove the heat, adding to the
cost of the equipment

Modulation Fidelity
An ideal communication system allows the original
information signal to be recovered exactly, except for a
time delay
Compression is often used to raise the overall modulation
level of the signal
Compression distorts the overall dynamic range of the
original signal, but results in an improved signal-to-noise
ratio
Other types of distortion such as intermodulation and
harmonic distortion must also be kept at a minimum

Transmitter Topology
The figure at the right
shows the block diagrams
of some typical
transmitters
There are many varieties
of transmitters but most
are based upon these
structures

AM Transmitters
AM transmitters are a mature technology, but are still in
widespread use
Examples include:
Standard AM broadcast stations
CB radio
VHF aircraft radio

AM Transmitter Stages
All of the stages of a transmitter (except the power
amplifier and possibly the driver) operate at low power
levels
This part of the transmitter, exclusive of the powerhandling stages, is called the exciter
Other transmitter components include:

The oscillator stage

The buffer and multiplier stages
The driver stage
The power amplifier/modulator

Output Impedance Matching

Most practical transmitters are designed to operate into a 50Ohm resistive load to match the impedance of the coaxial
cable that is used to carry the power to the transmitter
Transmitter output circuitry must be designed to transform
the standard load resistance at the output terminal to
whatever is required by the active device or devices

Narrowband
Output
Circuits

An AM Citizens Band Transmitter

A CB radio is
always found as
part of transceiver
as they are
economical,
compact, and
convenient to
install and repair

Elements of a CB Transceiver
The oscillator is a frequency synthesizer
The audio circuitry consists of a
microphone pre-amplifier, followed by an
IC amplifier
The output circuit for the final amplifier is
similar to a T network

Transmitter Section of a CB

Modern AM Transmitter Design

AM transmitters have been built since the invention of the
vacuum tube and their design has changed little
There are some new approaches that are now in use
High-power AM transmitters are large and expensive
because of the power handled
Recent efforts to improve AM transmitters include the
development of high-power solid-state power amplifiers
and the use of pulse-duration modulation and switching
amplifiers in the modulation process

Modern AM Technologies
Solid-state RF power
amplifiers
Pulse-duration modulators
Digital amplitude
modulation

Single-Sideband AM
Transmitters
A typical SSB AM transmitter block diagram is illustrated
below:

Balanced Modulators for DoubleSideband Suppressed-Carrier Generation

Balanced modulators are used for DSSC generation
The output of a balanced modulator is shown here:

Generating Single-Sideband Signals

Bandpass filters may be used to filter out the unwanted
sideband in an AM transmitter
The carrier is not filtered because of its large amplitude and
proximity to the desired sideband
The carrier is typically nulled with a balanced modulator
and then one of the sidebands is filtered

SSB Generation

Mixing
Mixing in a DSBSC AM transmitter is done by a carrier
oscillator and a balanced modulator as shown below:

Power Amplification
Power amplification in a SSB transmitter must be linear
SSB typically uses much lower power levels than are
found in commercial AM broadcast transmitters as SSB is
usually used for point-to-point communications

FM Transmitters
FM Transmitters typically use the following components
and configurations:

Direct-FM Modulators
Frequency Multipliers
Phase-Locked Loop FM Generators
Indirect-FM Modulators
Digital FM Modulators

FM Stereo Transmitters
FM stereo uses the baseband spectrum shown here:

Generation of FM Stereo

Transmitter Power Measurements

Power measurements are typically quite ordinary but
require attention to safety in doing so
High voltages and the possibility of RF burns are dangers
to the technician