AM Transmitters

AM TRANSMITTERS:

Transmitters that transmit AM signals are known as AM transmitters. These transmitters are used in medium wave (MW) and short wave (SW) frequency bands for AM broadcast. The MW band has frequencies between 550 KHz and 1650 KHz, and the SW band has frequencies ranging from 3 MHz to 30 MHz. The two types of AM transmitters that are used based on their transmitting powers are:

·        High Level

·        Low Level

High level transmitters use high level modulation, and low level transmitters use low level modulation. The choice between the two modulation schemes depends on the transmitting power of the AM transmitter. In broadcast transmitters, where the transmitting power may be of the order of kilowatts, high level modulation is employed. In low power transmitters, where only a few watts of transmitting power are required , low level modulation is used.

High-Level and Low-Level Transmitters Below figure's show the block diagram of high-level and low-level transmitters. The basic difference between the two transmitters is the power amplification of the carrier and modulating signals

Figure (a) shows the block diagram of high-level AM transmitter.

Figure (a) is drawn for audio transmission. In high-level transmission, the powers of the carrier and modulating signals are amplified before applying them to the modulator stage, as shown in figure (a). In low-level modulation, the powers of the two input signals of the modulator stage are not amplified. The required transmitting power is obtained from the last stage of the transmitter, the class C power amplifier.

The various sections of the figure (a) are:

·        Carrier oscillator

·        Buffer amplifier

·        Frequency multiplier

·        Power amplifier

·        Audio chain

·        Modulated class C power amplifier

^ü   Carrier oscillator

The carrier oscillator generates the carrier signal, which lies in the RF range. The frequency of the carrier is always very high. Because it is very difficult to generate high frequencies with good frequency stability, the carrier oscillator generates a sub multiple with the required carrier frequency. This sub multiple frequency is multiplied by the frequency multiplier stage to get the required carrier frequency. Further, a crystal oscillator can be used in this stage to generate a low frequency carrier with the best frequency stability. The frequency multiplier stage then increases the frequency of the carrier to its requirements.

^ü   Buffer Amplifier

The purpose of the buffer amplifier is twofold. It first matches the output impedance of the carrier oscillator with the input impedance of the frequency multiplier, the next stage of the carrier oscillator. It then isolates the carrier oscillator and frequency multiplier.

This is required so that the multiplier does not draw a large current from the carrier oscillator. If this occurs, the frequency of the carrier oscillator will not remain stable.

^ü   Frequency Multiplier

The sub-multiple frequency of the carrier signal, generated by the carrier oscillator , is now applied to the frequency multiplier through the buffer amplifier. This stage is also known as harmonic generator. The frequency multiplier generates higher harmonics of carrier oscillator frequency. The frequency multiplier is a tuned circuit that can be tuned to the requisite carrier frequency that is to be transmitted.

^ü   Power Amplifier

The power of the carrier signal is then amplified in the power amplifier stage. This is the basic requirement of a high-level transmitter. A class C power amplifier gives high power current pulses of the carrier signal at its output.

^ü   Audio Chain

The audio signal to be transmitted is obtained from the microphone, as shown in figure (a). The audio driver amplifier amplifies the voltage of this signal. This amplification is necessary to drive the audio power amplifier. Next, a class A or a class B power amplifier amplifies the power of the audio signal.

^ü   Modulated Class C Amplifier

This is the output stage of the transmitter. The modulating audio signal and the carrier signal, after power amplification, are applied to this modulating stage. The modulation takes place at this stage. The class C amplifier also amplifies the power of the AM signal to the reacquired transmitting power. This signal is finally passed to the antenna., which radiates the signal into space of transmission.

Figure (b) shows the block diagram of a low-level AM transmitter.

The low-level AM transmitter shown in the figure (b) is similar to a high-level transmitter, except that the powers of the carrier and audio signals are not amplified. These two signals are directly applied to the modulated class C power amplifier.

Modulation takes place at the stage, and the power of the modulated signal is amplified to the required transmitting power level. The transmitting antenna then transmits the signal.

^ü   Coupling of Output Stage and Antenna

The output stage of the modulated class C power amplifier feeds the signal to the transmitting antenna. To transfer maximum power from the output stage to the antenna it is necessary that the impedance of the two sections match. For this , a matching network is required. The matching between the two should be perfect at all transmitting frequencies. As the matching is required at different frequencies, inductors and capacitors offering different impedance at different frequencies are used in the matching networks.

The matching network must be constructed using these passive components. This is shown in figure ©

The matching network used for coupling the output stage of the transmitter and the antenna is called double π-network. This network is shown in figure (c). It consists of two inductors , L₁ and L₂ and two capacitors, C₁ and C₂. The values of these components are chosen such that the input impedance of the network between 1 and 1'. Shown in figure (c) is matched with the output impedance of the output stage of the transmitter. Further, the output impedance of the network is matched with the impedance of the antenna.

The double π matching network also filters unwanted frequency components appearing at the output of the last stage of the transmitter. The output of the modulated class C power amplifier may contain higher harmonics, such as second and third harmonics, that are highly undesirable. The frequency response of the matching network is set such that these unwanted higher harmonics are totally suppressed, and only the desired signal is coupled to the antenna.

^ü   Comparision of Am and Fm Signals

Both AM and FM system are used in commercial and non-commercial applications. Such as radio broadcasting and television transmission. Each system has its own merits and demerits. In a Particular application, an AM system can be more suitable than an FM system. Thus the two are equally important from the application point of view.

^ü   Advantage of FM systems over AM Systems

The advantages of FM over AM systems are:

The amplitude of an FM wave remains constant. This provides the system designers an opportunity to remove the noise from the received signal. This is done in FM receivers by employing an amplitude limiter circuit so that the noise above the limiting amplitude is suppressed. Thus, the FM system is considered a noise immune system. This is not possible in AM systems because the baseband signal is carried by the amplitude variations it self and the envelope of the AM signal cannot be altered.

·        Most of the power in an FM signal is carried by the side bands. For higher values of the modulation index, mc, the major portion of the total power is contained is side bands, and the carrier signal contains less power. In contrast, in an AM system, only one third of the total power is carried by the side bands and two thirds of the total power is lost in the form of carrier power.

·        In FM systems, the power of the transmitted signal depends on the amplitude of the unmodulated carrier signal, and hence it is constant. In contrast, in AM systems, the power depends on the modulation index ma. The maximum allowable power in AM systems is 100 percent when ma is unity. Such restriction is not applicable int case of FM systems. This is because the total power in an FM system is independent of the modulation index, mf and frequency deviation fd. Therefore, the power usage is optimum in an FM system.

·        In an AM system, the only method of reducing noise is to increase the transmitted power of the signal. This operation increases the cost of the AM system. In an FM system, you can increase the frequency deviation in the carrier signal to reduce the noise. if the frequency deviation is high, then the corresponding variation in amplitude of the baseband signal can be easily retrieved. if the frequency deviation is small, noise 'can overshadow this variation and the frequency deviation cannot be translated into its corresponding amplitude variation. Thus, by increasing frequency deviations in the FM signal, the noise effect can he reduced. There is no provision in AM system to reduce the noise effect by any method, other than increasing itss transmitted power.

·        In an FM signal, the adjacent FM channels are separated by guard bands. In an FM system there is no signal transmission through the spectrum space or the guard band. Therefore, there is hardly any interference of adjacent FM channels. However, in an AM system, there is no guard band provided between the two adjacent channels. Therefore, there is always interference of AM radio stations unless the received signalis strong enough to suppress the signal of the adjacent channel.

^ü   The disadvantages of FM systems over AM systems

·     There are an infinite number of side bands in an FM signal and therefore the theoretical bandwidth of an FM system is infinite. The bandwidth of an FM system is limited by Carson's rule, but is still much higher, especially in WBFM. In AM systems, the bandwidth is only twice the modulation frequency, which is much less than that of WBFN. This makes FM systems costlier than AM systems.

·   The equipment of FM system is more complex than AM systems because of the complex circuitry of FM systems; this is another reason that FM systems are costlier AM systems.

·        The receiving area of an FM system is smaller than an AM system consequently FM channels are restricted to metropolitan areas while AM radio stations can be received anywhere in the world. An FM system transmits signals through line of sight propagation, in which the distance between the transmitting and receiving antenna should not be much. in an AM system signals of short wave band stations are transmitted through atmospheric layers that reflect the radio waves over a wider area.