Basic Radio Theory

Modulation Techniques

The preceding section covered the various propagations options for transmitting
electromagnetic radio waves from one point to another. It is now necessary to consider the
various techniques which may be employed to superimpose intelligence on to the basic radio
wave. When this is done the radio wave is termed the carrier wave, and the intelligence is said
to be modulated on to it

One way of modulating a carrier wave to convey intelligence is to vary the amplitude of the
carrier wave in sympathy with the modulating wave form which is at a lower frequency (the
intelligence ). This technique is known as amplitude modulation.

Another way of modulating a carrier wave to carry intelligence is to vary the frequency of the
carrier wave in sympathy with the modulating intelligence. This technique, logically, is
known as frequency modulation.

The third modulation technique which is considered is pulse modulation.

Amplitude Modulation

For convenience the various sub-divisions of Amplitude Modulation (AM) are coded, and the
particular codes which are pertinent to this syllabus are discussed below.
Unniodulated Carrier Wave

As the name suggests, unmodulated (or continuous) carrier wave is simply a radio wave
which is transmitted as a constant amplitude and a constant frequency, and therefore carries
no intelligence. In other words the wave is unmodulated. This type of signal is ideal for
direction finding equipment such as the ADF, althought it is obviously necessary to
superimpose a morse identifier onto the wave from time to time, so that the operator knows
which transmitter he is tuned into. The designation normally given to this type of signal is
NON. As unmodulated carrier wave is illustrated at Figure 1

Fig: 1 Unmodulated Carrier Wave

Keyed Carrier Wave

Kcycd for interrupted carrier wave is the simplest form of modulation. Here the radio signal
continuously transmitted but is switched on and of' at desired intervals, see Figure 2. The
primary use of keying is to convey intelligence using the Morse code. The designation given
to this type of signal is AIA. It is principally employed on long range NDBs. the advantage
being that all of the power is contained in the carrier wave, and none in the modulating wave,
since there isn't one. Range for a given transmitter power output is therefore enhanced,
however the disadvantage is that a BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) - see later) must be
incorporatcd into the receiver to make the Morse audible.

Fig: 2 Keyed Carrier Wave

Simple Amplitude Modulation

Now to, as it were, real amplitude modulation where the amplitude of the carrier wave
consistently varies in sympathy with the intelligence wave form. The significance of simple
amplitude modulation is that the modulating wave form is constant in amplitude and constant
in frequency, see Figure 3. The intelligence normally used for this type of transmission would
be a simple steady audio frequency tone.

Fig: 3 Simple Amplitude Modulation

By keying either the modulating signal, or the modulated carrier wave itself, the audio tone
can be used to convey simple morse ident.

If you check any short range NDB in the COMS section of the Aeronautical Information
Publication you’ll find that it given as NONA2A. The NO)N is the continuous carrier wave,
which occurs between the ident sequences, and which gives the ADF receiver a nice steady
signal for direction finding. The A2A which is tacked onto the end is the NDB idenyifier,
which in this case is achieved by keyed amplitude modulation, using a steady audio tone.

The designation given this type of transmission is either A2A with an NDB (where it is keyed
to achieve station identification) or A8W in ILS (where the depth of modulation is made to
vary across the transmitted lobes).

Complex Amplitude Modulation

The modulating waveform in the previous paragraph was simple in nature, that is to say
constant in amplitude and in frequency. The human voice produces a complex waveform
which is often modulated on to a carrier wave as intelligence.

The human voice pruduces a complex modulating waveform in that it is varying in both
amplitude (a shout as against whisper) and in frequency (a groans as against scream). You
may well be either groaning or screaming right now, if you have a microphone and an
oscilloscope handy you can prove the complexity of the wave form. Voice modulation is
shown schematically at Figure 4

Fig: 4 Complex Amplitude Modulation

This type of signal is designated A3E when used in VHF communications, and J3E when
used in HF communication (normally on single side band networks).

Depth of Modulation

Before processing on to frequency and pulse modulation techniques it is necessary to consider

briefly depth of modulation as it applies to both simple and complex modulated signals. Quite
simply, the depth of modulation is the amplitude of the modulating waveform to the
amplitude of the carrier wave prior to modulation, expressed as a percentage, or;

Amplitude of Modulating Waveform

Depth of Modulation % = x 100
Amplitude of the Carrier Wave (before Modulation)

An alternative formula for determining the depth of modulation is:

Maximum Amplitude – Minimum Amplitude

Depth of Modulation % = x 100
Maximum Amplitude + Minimum Amplitude

Figure: 5 shows a simple amplitude modulated carrier wave. The carrier wave (as always with
amplitude modulation) is varying in amplitude in sympathy with the modulating wave. In this
case maximum amplitude of the modulated carrier wave is 10 volts and the minimum
amplitude of the modulated carrier wave is 3 volts

10 - 3 7
Depth of Modulation % = x 100 = x 100 = 54 %
10 + 3 13
.
Since it is the power contained in the carrier wave at its lowest amplitude which governs the
range of the signal, it is normal to reduce the percentage depth of modulation when extreme
range reception is required.

Fig: 5 Depth of Modulation

Overmodulation and Distortion

The modulation index should be a number between 0 and 1. If the amplitude of the
modulating voltage is higher than the carrier voltage, m will be greater than 1, causing
distortion of the modulated waveform. If the distortion is great enough, the intelligence
signal becomes unintelligible. Distortion of voice transmissions produces garbled, harsh,
or unnatural sounds in the speaker. Distortion of video signals produces a scrambled and
inaccurate picture on a TV screen.

Simple distortion is illustrated in Figure. 6. Here a sine wave information signal

is modulating a sine wave carrier, but the modulating voltage is much greater than
the carrier voltage, resulting in a condition called overmodulation. As you can see,
the waveform is flattened at the zero line. The received signal will produce an output
waveform in the shape of the envelope, which in this case is a sine wave whose
negative peaks have been clipped off. If the amplitude of the modulating signal is less
than the carrier amplitude, no distortion will occur. The ideal condition for AM is
when Vm = Vc, or m = 1, which gives 100 percent modulation. This results in the
greatest output power at the transmitter and the greatest output voltage at the receiver,
with no distortion.

Fig: 6 Distortion of the envelope caused by overmodulation where the modulating

signal amplitude Vm is greater than the carrier signal Vc .

Preventing overmodulation is tricky. For example, at different times during voice

transmission voices will go from low amplitude to high amplitude. Normally, the amplitude
of the modulating signal is adjusted so that only the voice peaks produce 100 percent
modulation. This prevents overmodulation and distortion. Automatic circuits called
compression circuits solve this problem by amplifying the lower-level signals and suppressing
or compressing the higher-level signals. The result is a higher average power
output level without overmodulation.

Distortion caused by overmodulation also produces adjacent channel interference.

Distortion produces a nonsinusoidal information signal. According to Fourier theory,
any nonsinusoidal signal can be treated as a fundamental sine wave at the frequency
of the information signal plus harmonics. Obviously, these harmonics also modulate
the carrier and can cause interference with other signals on channels adjacent to the
carrier.
Frequency Modulation

FM is widely used for a variety of radio communications applications. FM broadcasts on the

VHF bands still provide exceptionally high quality audio, and FM is also used for a variety of
forms of two way radio communications, and it is especially useful for mobile radio
communications, being used in taxis, and many other forms of vehicle.

FM, frequency modulation has been in use for many years. However its advantages were not
immediately apparent. In the early days of wireless, it was thought that a narrower bandwidth
was required to reduce noise and interference. As FM did not perform well under these
conditions, AM predominated and FM was not used. However, Edwin Armstrong, an
American engineer looked at the use of wideband FM for broadcasting and introduced the
idea against the trend of the thinking of the time.

Since its first introduction the use of frequency modulation, FM has grown enormously. Now
wideband FM is still regarded as a very high quality transmission medium for high quality
broadcasting. FM, frequency modulation is also widely used for communications where it is
resilient to variations in signal strength.

FM, frequency modulation basics

The most obvious method of applying modulation to a signal is to superimpose the audio
signal onto the amplitude of the carrier. However this is by no means the only method which
can be employed. It is also possible to vary the frequency of the signal to give frequency
modulation or FM. It can be seen below that the frequency of the signal varies as the voltage
of the modulating signal changes.

When pure frequency modulation (FM) techniquesare employed the amplitude of the carrier
wave normally remains constant, however, the frequency of the carrier wave is made to vary
in sympathy with the modulating wave form (the intelligence), see Figure 7. The amplitude of
the modulating waveform is represented by the amount by which the frequency of the carrier
wave changes and the frequency of the modulating waveform by the rate of change of the
carrier wave frequency.

The amount by which the signal frequency varies is very important. This is known as the
deviation and is normally quoted as the number of kiloHertz deviation. As an example the
signal may have a deviation of 3 kHz. In this case the carrier is made to move up and down by
3 kHz.
 Fig: 7 Frequency Modulation

Modulation Index and Deviation Ratio

In just the same way that it is useful to know the modulation index of an amplitude modulated
signal the same is true for a frequency modulated signal. The modulation index is equal to the
ratio of the frequency deviation to the modulating frequency. The modulation index will vary
according to the frequency that is modulating the transmitted carrier and the amount of
deviation. However when designing a system it is important to know the maximum
permissible values. This is given by the deviation ratio and is obtained by inserting the
maximum values into the formula for the modulation index.

D = (Max deviation frequency) / (Max modulation frequency)

For a VHF FM sound broadcast transmitter the maximum deviation is 75 kHz and the
maximum modulation frequency is 15 kHz giving a deviation ratio of 5.