Military Technological College

MTCA5028
Radio
Fundamentals
Radio Transmitters

MTCA5028
Aircraft Communications
& Autopilot Systems

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Radio
Fundamentals
Radio Transmitters

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters

Contents
RADIO TRANSMITTERS 1
Continuous-Wave Transmission 1
Figure 2 2
The Radio Telephony Transmitter 2
Amplitude Modulation 4
Side Frequencies 6
Channel Spacing 9
Methods of Amplitude Modulation 9
Speech Clipping 11
Antenna Coupling 12
Antenna Tuning Units 14
Frequency Modulation 15
The FM Modulator 18
Frequency Translation 19
Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) 20

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Radio Transmitters

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
Radio Transmitters

Radio transmitters generate energy at a selected frequency for radiation from an antenna. In
order to produce a signal containing useful intelligence it is necessary to superimpose
information on the radio waves.

In radio telegraphy, Continuous-Wave (CW) transmitter information is added by interrupting

the radio-frequency transmissions according to a code such as Morse code. In Radio-
Telephone (R/T) transmitters the information is added by modulating either the amplitude or
the frequency of the radio wave with the speech or music to be transmitted.

Continuous-Wave Transmission

A useful signal can be radiated if an oscillator, capable of generating radio frequencies, is

connected to a suitable antenna. The RF output of such a simple one-stage transmitter can
be interrupted in code by simply switching the oscillator supply on and off.

The interrupted continuous RF waves produced can then be intercepted by a suitable

receiver to give an audio output. Figure 1 shows a typical Morse coded signal for the letter
‘D’, consisting of a dash and two dots.

CW Morse Code Transmission Letter ‘D’

Figure 1

While the simple oscillator-antenna arrangement illustrates the principals involved, most
practical transmitters use several stages of RF amplification to obtain a stronger signal or to
multiply the oscillator frequency.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
The Master Oscillator-Power Amplifier (MOPA) transmitter provides more power than the
simple single stage transmitter and consists of a master oscillator stage, which may be crystal
controlled, followed by one or more stages of RF amplification. This is shown in Figure 2.

High Power CW Transmitter

Figure 2

The Radio Telephony Transmitter

For R/T transmission, the audio information is superimposed onto the RF carrier wave by
variation of its amplitude or frequency. The audio wave modulation of the carrier wave is not
accomplished by simple addition as this would mean that the antenna would have to radiate
both frequencies, one of which it could not do efficiently.

In both amplitude and frequency modulation, therefore, the modulation process results in only
radio frequencies being fed to the antenna for radiation.

When several intermediate stages of amplification are placed between the oscillator and final
power amplifier, high output power is obtained. To prevent loading of the oscillator stage, a
buffer amplifier may be placed between the oscillator and the first intermediate amplifier.

This will isolate the oscillator from the following stages and minimise changes in the oscillator
frequency due to variations in coupling and antenna loading.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
A block diagram of a typical high power CW transmitter is shown in Figure 3.

Amplitude Modulated R/T Transmitter

Figure 3

Figure 4 shows the block diagram of a typical amplitude modulated R/T transmitter.

Amplitude Modulated R/T Transmitter

Figure 4

In Figure 4 an audio tone, produced by a tone oscillator, can be used as an alternative

modulating signal and keyed for the transmission of Morse Coded signals.

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Radio Transmitters
Amplitude Modulation

In an Amplitude Modulated (AM) transmitter, the instantaneous amplitude of the carrier is

caused to vary at the audio frequencies. This process takes place in the modulator-RF power
amplifier stages.

In Figure 5 a carrier, of frequency fc, is modulated by a single tone of frequency fm. After
modulation, the amplitude of the carrier varies in accordance with the modulating voltage, the
shape of the modulated wave ‘envelope’ being the same as the modulating wave.

Amplitude Modulation Waveforms

Figure 5

When the carrier is only modulated to a small depth, the resultant audio signal at the receiver
output will not be very strong and may possibly be drowned by noise. The greater the depth
of modulation, therefore, the stronger and clearer will be the audio signal.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
As the modulating frequency increases or decreases in amplitude, a corresponding variation
in depth of modulation occurs, this is shown in Figure 6.

Modulation Depth
Figure 6

The depth of modulation is defined as, the difference between the maximum and minimum
amplitudes divided by the sum of the amplitudes of the composite wave.

( A−B)
Depth of modulation is ( A+ B) where A = maximum amplitude and B = minimum amplitude.

The depth of modulation, or modulation factor, is usually expressed as a percentage so the

formula becomes:

( A− B )
m= ( A+ B ) x 100%

As can be seen from Figure 6, the depth of modulation can never be less than 0% or can
never exceed 100%.

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When the amplitude of the modulating wave is excessive however, an effect known as over
modulation occurs. This causes distortion of the output wave, the waveform being constantly
held at the zero volts level. This is shown in Fig 7.

Over Modulation
Figure 7

Side Frequencies

The modulated wave is not a sine wave as it does not have a constant amplitude. It can be
shown however, that when a carrier of frequency fc is modulated by a frequency fm, the
resultant waveform consists of three sine waves of frequencies fc.

fc + fm and fc - fm. These are the original carrier plus two additional frequencies, called the
side frequencies.

The transmitter PA stage tuned circuit must have sufficient bandwidth to respond equally to
all the frequencies involved to avoid any unnecessary distortion.

mVc
The amplitude of each side frequency is, so that for 100% modulation, where m = 1,
2
the side frequency amplitudes are half the carrier amplitude.

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Radio
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Frequency Spectrum (Side Frequencies)

Figure 7

The power in a wave is proportional to the square of its amplitude so that:

2
Power ineachside frequency  mV  2 m2 V 1 m2
= c
 + Vc 2 = c
x = .
Power incarrier  2  4 Vc2 4

When the depth of modulation is 100% and m = 1:

Power ineachside frequency = 1 .

Power incarrier 4

Power in both side frequencies, therefore, is half the carrier power, so that 2/3 of the total
transmitted power is in the carrier and 1/3 in the side frequencies.

Only the side frequencies contain information, the carrier power making no useful
contribution. In order to obtain as much power in the side frequencies as possible, m should
be as close as possible to its maximum value of one (100%).

Speech consists of a large number of sine waves spread over the audio band. In speech

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Radio Transmitters
modulation each speech frequency component produces a pair of side frequencies. A speech
amplitude modulated wave, therefore, consists of the carrier plus two ranges of upper and
lower side frequencies, called the upper and lower sidebands.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
In radio telephony communications, the audio band is typically 300 Hz to 3 kHz, representing
the voice frequency range. If this is modulated on to a carrier of frequency 100 kHz for
example, the resulting frequency spectrum would be as shown in Figure 8.

Carrier and Sideband Frequency Spectrum

Figure 8

In Figure 8 the frequency spectrum ranges from 97 kHz to 103 kHz, producing a bandwidth
of 6 kHz, which is twice the highest modulating frequency.

Any part of a transmitter/receiver system handling the amplitude modulated wave must have
sufficient bandwidth to cover this frequency range.

The amplitudes of the sideband components vary from moment to moment: The louder the
voice, the greater the amplitude of the various speech frequencies and the greater the depth
of modulation.

In order to avoid over modulation and distortion, the mean level of modulation is often set at
about 70% although very large speech amplitude ‘peaks’ may be ‘clipped off’.

This method of modulation is called Double Sideband Amplitude Modulation (AMDSB) and
is used in VHF communication systems. HF transmitting and receiving systems operate with
a Single Sideband (SSB).

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
Channel Spacing

A large number of AMDSB transmissions may occur simultaneously in a particular

communications frequency band. The carriers must be spaced so that the sidebands do not
overlap each other and cause interference. This is shown in Figure 9.

Channel Spacing
Figure 9

Each transmission occupies a certain band of frequencies called a ‘channel’. Adjacent

sidebands are separated by ‘guardbands’ to avoid accidental overlap as a result of
frequency drift.

Methods of Amplitude Modulation

The modulation process in a transmitter can take place at one, or a combination of, the three
main stages in the unit. These stages are the low power stages, the intermediate power
stages and the output or high-power stages.

Low level modulation is that carried out in the low or intermediate stages, whilst high level
modulation is carried out in the output stage(s).

Modulation could be applied to the oscillator stage but this method is rarely used as any
oscillator loading would probably cause frequency drift and instability through the whole of
the transmitter.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
Collector modulation is perhaps the most common method of modulating an RF wave, the
circuit diagram of a collector modulated low level amplifier being shown in Figure 10.

Collector Modulator
Figure 10

In Figure 10, the transistor tuned circuits are tuned to the RF and not to AF.

The RF signal is applied to the base of the transistor and amplified. The output is developed
across the collector’s tuned circuit and is applied to the following stages by the secondary of
the RF transformer.

An audio input of sufficient power, applied to the primary of the audio transformer, will cause
the +V supply to the collector to vary at the audio frequency.

The amplification of the transistor is dependent upon the +V supply so that the output from
the circuit will vary in sympathy with the audio frequency.

Low level modulation is normally applied to the intermediate or buffer stages. The main
advantage, being that the audio frequency transformers used, can be relatively small due to
the lower power.

The following stages however, are carrying the audio modulation signal, in addition to the rf
power and must be treated as audio amplifiers.

In order to maintain the fidelity of the signal, the power stages have to be Class A or B biased,
making them relatively inefficient. To overcome this and to maintain the output at the desired
level, more amplification stages are needed.

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Radio
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Radio Transmitters
Some of the disadvantages of low-level modulation can be overcome, by applying high level
modulation to the output stages of the transmitter. When this technique is used, the audio
signal is superimposed onto the RF at the power amplifier stage.

A much larger amount of audio power is however, now required and this causes an increase
in the size of audio stage components.

High power audio frequency transformers are large and heavy, due to their iron core.
Although, they impose excess weight in the transmitter, high level modulation is still used
extensively in low and medium power transmitters.

In order to achieve 100% depth of modulation the modulating voltage has to be equal to one
half of the carrier voltage. As both carrier and modulation are fed to the same device, the
required carrier power and modulating power will also be in the same proportions. The AF
transformer secondary, therefore, has to be capable of handling 1.5 times the power supplied
by the modulating transistors.

As the transmitter’s rated power increases, the size of the transformer also increases. This
presents no problem in large ground installations but it can be the limiting factor to the output
of an aircraft transmitter using high level modulation.

Speech Clipping
When 100% modulation is achieved, for maximum readability of the signal, the peak of the
modulating voltage is equal to the peak of the carrier voltage. Examination of a speech
waveform, however, shows that the average wave level is 30% of the peak voltage with only
a few high peaks. This is shown in the modulated waveform in Figure 11.

Speech Modulated Carrier Wave

Figure 11
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Tests have shown that the peaks from a speech waveform, can be eliminated without having
too damaging an effect on the quality of the information. If the high peaks are eliminated the
average level of the waveform can be increased.

The circuit of a speech clipper is shown in Figure 12.

D1 D2

Diode Speech Clipper

Figure 12

If any excursion of a waveform, applied to the speech clipper, exceeds a value determined
by Va (positive) and Vb (negative), it will be reduced in amplitude.

When the value of the input waveform lies between +Va and -Vb neither of the diodes conduct
and the input passes directly to the output.

If the input is more positive than Va, then D1 conducts and prevents the output from
exceeding Va. Similarly, D2 will conduct when the input swings more negative than Vb.

Using a speech clipper enables the modulation depth to be raised from an average of 30%
to an average which may exceed 50%.

Antenna Coupling

Maximum power is transferred from a source of supply to a load, only when the external
impedance of the load is correctly matched to the internal impedance of the source.

The parallel tuned circuit of the final power amplifier stage is equivalent to the source and the
antenna is equivalent to the load. The power generated by the RF power amplifier has to be
transferred to the antenna as efficiently as possible, so that some form of matching must be
introduced between the two.

The type of circuit used will depend upon whether the transmission line is balanced or
unbalanced.

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Figure 13 shows a transistor output stage coupled by the mutual inductance between
inductors L1 and L2 to the antenna by an unbalanced coaxial feeder.

Antenna

Unbalanced Coupling
Figure 13

The load ‘seen’ by the collector circuit can be adjusted to the optimum value by adjustment
of the mutual coupling between L1 and L2.

The collector circuit is tuned for resonance at the desired frequency by adjusting C2. The
secondary circuit is resonated by L2 and C3 to give the maximum current flow into the
antenna feeder.

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Radio Transmitters
Figure 14 shows a balanced coupler. The method of matching is by inductive coupling which
allows the antenna, usually a dipole, to be fed at the centre. The matching is determined by
the degree of coupling.

Balanced Coupling
Fig 14

Antenna Tuning Units

Not only must an antenna be impedance-matched with the transmitter output stage. It must
also be correctly tuned and be the correct length in relation to the wavelength of the frequency
to be transmitted.

The fixed physical characteristics of a particular antenna mean that it will be the wrong length
for all operating frequencies, except one. An antenna can be electrically ‘lengthened’ by
adding inductance or ‘shortened’ by adding capacitance.

When the electrical length of an antenna has been correctly adjusted, so that it is resonant
at the required output frequency, it may be mismatched to the impedance of the transmitter
output circuit. This can be corrected by employing an impedance matching transformer.

The adjustments that are necessary to tune and match an antenna to a transmitter are carried
out automatically by an Antenna Tuning Unit (ATU). This is placed at the base of the antenna
and may be some distance from the transmitter.

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Frequency Modulation

In Frequency Modulation (FM), the instantaneous frequency of the carrier wave is varied in
accordance with the information to be transmitted. FM is commonly used for short range
broadcasting and point to point communications and is also used in a number of navigation
systems.

In FM, the modulation signal causes the instantaneous frequency of the carrier to vary above
and below its nominal frequency, while the amplitude of the modulated wave remains
constant.

Figure 15 shows the effect of modulating a carrier of frequency fc by a single modulating

frequency fm.

Frequency Modulation
Figure 15

The positive half cycle of the modulation results in a frequency increase and the negative half
cycle results in a frequency decrease.

Note: The amplitude of the final modulated wave is unchanged.

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The frequency deviation from the nominal carrier frequency at any instant is proportional to
the instantaneous voltage of the modulating signal. Maximum frequency deviation
corresponds to the maximum amplitude of the modulating signal.

This means the rate at which the carrier frequency is varied, is directly proportional to the
instantaneous amplitude of the modulating signal.

Figure 16 shows us that, when the Modulation Signal (Fm) is at maximum positive amplitude
the carrier frequency (Fc) is at its maximum deviation from nominal.

Likewise, when the Modulation Signal (Fm) is at maximum negative amplitude the deviation
of (Fc) is at its minimum deviation from nominal.

For example, if a 100MHz carrier is modulated by a 1V peak 1KHz sine wave the carrier
frequency might deviate 15KHz either side of the 100MHz carrier i.e., from 99.985MHz to
100.015MHz and this would happen 1000 times a second.

A 2V peak, 1Khz signal would cause a deviation of 30KHz either side of the100MHz carrier
at the same rate of 1000 times per second.

FM Carrier to AF Modulation
Figure 16

The level of modulation is indicated by the modulation index (M) defined as:
f
frequency deviation d
M = = f
modulating frequency m

The deviation will normally be greater than the modulating frequency, so M is generally
greater than unity.

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In the BBC FM transmission, for example, the maximum frequency swing is 150KHz (75kHz
deviation) and the modulation frequency is 15KHz.

frequency deviation 75KHz

M = = = 5
modulating frequency 15KHz

The carrier component does not necessarily have the largest amplitude and its amplitude
varies with the modulation index. Side frequencies appear in pairs of equal amplitude, spaced
above and below fc by multiples of fm. Side frequencies do not necessarily decrease in
amplitude as their frequency spacing from fc increases. The amplitude of frequency
components is determined by M.

Table 1 is an extract of the differential equation function generalised by Friedrich Bessel

calculating the cylindrical harmonics in wave propagation. The table is based on carrier and
sideband amplitudes for different modulation indices of FM signals.

Side Frequency Pairs

Table 1

Although, theoretically, the bandwidth of a frequency modulated wave is infinite, the practical
bandwidth is limited to include only those significant side frequencies having amplitudes
greater than 1% of the unmodulated carrier. The practical bandwidth is a function of the
modulation index.

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For FM broadcast transmissions, the maximum deviation is 75 KHz and the highest
modulating frequency is 15 KHz. The Modulation Index will therefore be 5 and from
Bessel’s table we can determine there are eight pairs of side frequencies, so that the
bandwidth is 15 KHz x 16 = 240 KHz.

In practice, however, the channel allocation is limited to 200 KHz, resulting in very slight but
unnoticeable distortion. This is the bandwidth required to transmit all the significant side
frequencies.

A formula often used to give an approximation to the bandwidth without the need to look up
the significant side frequencies in tables is B = 2(max fd + max fm) so for FM broadcasts B
= 2(75 KHz + 15 KHz) = 180 KHz. This is a reasonable approximation.

Because of the large bandwidths required, Frequency Modulation is generally only suitable
for use at VHF and above. This means that ranges are restricted to approximately line-of-
sight (LOS).

The amplitude of the transmitted signal is constant, producing constant total power output
from the transmitter rf power amplifier. Any increase in the modulation index, meaning that
the power is shared among a greater number of side frequencies. The efficiency of the
transmitter therefore, may approach the theoretical maximum.

The FM Modulator

FM modulation is normally carried out in the oscillator stage by varying its output frequency.
This is achieved by causing the modulating signal to vary the reactance of one of the tuned
circuit components. The most common modern method is by the use of a Varactor diode, as
shown in Figure 17.

Varactor Diode Variable Frequency Oscillator

Figure 17

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The capacitance of a Varactor diode decreases when the reverse-voltage gets larger. Also
called varicaps they act like a variable capacitor i.e., when reversed biased their capacitance
varies with the applied voltage.

They are usually placed in parallel with an inductor in order to form a resonant frequency
circuit. When the reverse voltage changes, so does the resonant frequency, which is why
Varactors may be substituted for mechanically tuned capacitors.

The modulating signal adds to and subtracts from the negative varactor via, causing changes
in the diode capacitance, producing a voltage controlled, Variable Frequency Oscillator
(VFO) also referred to as a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO).

Frequency Translation

It is often impractical to obtain the large frequency deviation required at the oscillator stage.
The oscillator is therefore, operated at a relatively low frequency with the small deviation
possible with the varactor diode.

The modulated signal is then raised to the required frequency and deviation by mixing and/or
multiplication. Mixing changes, the carrier frequency without altering the deviation and
multiplication changes both carrier frequency and deviation. This is shown in Figure 18.

Frequency and Deviation Translation

Figure 18

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Automatic Frequency Control (AFC)

A variable frequency oscillator cannot be crystal controlled and is potentially liable to drift.
AFC is essentially a control system which produces a dc voltage error signal that is
proportional to the difference between the mean frequency of the transmitter and the desired
carrier (centre) frequency.

The error signal is used to modify the varactor bias in such a direction so as to reduce the
error.

FM Transmitter with AFC

Figure 19

A frequency discriminator provides the error signal by comparing the transmitter frequency
with a reference frequency provided by a crystal oscillator. The block diagram of the
transmitter is shown in Figure 19.

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