26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.

htm

A broadband concept receiver that will amaze you

designed by sv3ora

An overview of the receiver along with a pills holder to store the various resonators

A concept circuit is definitely not a common thing among homebrewers. Most of the builders, usually build more classic circuits that
satisfy their needs without experimenting further. Eventually someone comes up with an unusual idea that is worth it to try. When this
idea works, it becomes a building block in our next homebrew gear. The receiver presented in this article is such a concept circuit, as
it allows for broadband single signal (USB) reception, but at the same time avoiding the extra complexity needed by circuits with
similar features.

Here is the reflexed regenerative receiver front end that is simplicity itself, yet capable of remarkably good performance, better than
any simple receiver I have built so far. The highly sensitive, single signal capable, all-bands receiver, can be easily built in a few
afternoons, and it is capable of receiving any frequency on HF (1-30MHz) by just replacing the crystal for that frequency. No other
components need replacing or rescaling apart from the crystal itself.

The receiver can work on crystals, ceramic resonators (2-legs) or ceramic filters (3-legs). The oscillator works with L/C combinations
too (in place of the crystal) but this is something I have not fully optimized yet. If ceramic filters are used, you can ground their
center pin, or you may leave it unconnected. Note that crystals can achieve single signal reception at all bands in this circuit but
the sensitivity gets lower (depended on the crystal properties) than when using ceramic resonators. Single signal reception using
ceramic resonators, has been tested up to about 17m successfully but on higher bands I did not have any ceramic resonators to test
this. With crystals, it works to 10m ok. Note, that some ceramic resonators I had, refused to oscillate but most of my other ones did,
so do not get dissapointed if the receiver does not work at first time, just try another ceramic resonator. With crystals there is no
such problem, but if you find the sensitivity a bit low with crystals, you can try decreasing the 10k fixed resistor at the JFET
source.

The receiver front-end

10k
9v 9v
LOG

100R
100nF
100k 4.7pF 4.7k
NP0 100nF

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 1/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm

J108

220k MV209 470k

150pF 2SC
3.3mH
NP0 9018

100k
LIN 47pF
SW1b

SW1a

10k AFout
10k LOG 100nF 3.3mH

The receiver front-end, suitable for direct connection to the PC microphone input or high impedance headphones.

To come up with a circuit with so low components count and good performance, one must think cleverly. Both stages of the receiver, are
used in more than one ways. The 2sc9018 is an untuned wideband RF preamplifier with RF gain control and an audio preamplifier at the
same time. The J108 is a self oscillating regenerative detector.

The front panel of the receiver

The receiver works the following way. RF signals come in from the antenna to the 2sc9018 RF preamplifier, where they amplified and
passed to the 4.7pF and 100nF capacitors. The small portion of the RF signal that passes through the 4.7pF capacitor (small capacitance
so as not to affect the tuning range, for isolation of the oscillator from the RF preamplifier and also for small loading of the
oscillator tank circuit), passes through the crystal to the self-oscillating regenerative detector J108. This self oscillating mixer,
mixes it's own-generated signal with the incomming RF input signal and produces audio (apart from other frequencies). The amount of
regeneration is adjusted by the 100k potentiometer. The regeneration potentiometer also acts as a frequency fine tune. Especially if
ceramic resonators are used, zero beating of an SSB signal might be tricky with just the frequency adjust potentiomerer (an expensive
multi-turn potentiometer is not used), so fine tuning at a small amount, is performed by adjusting the regeneration potentiometer. The
amount of frequency pulling from the regeneration potentiometer is small but adequate for zero beating. The output signal (RF and
detected AF) out of this stage, passes through the 10k isolation resistor, the 100nF DC-blocking capacitor and the 3.3mH RF filter
choke, to the 2sc9018 transistor once again (when reflexion is switched on), where it is re-amplified. Only the AF signal is amplified,
because RF is blocked by the choke at the base of the transistor. This choke serves also to block RF from the antenna to pass to the
regenerative detector. The amplified AF signal is then passed to the 4.7pF and 100nF capacitors and the other 3.3mH choke. The 4.7pF
capacitor and the crystal after it, do not allow audio to pass through it back to the J108, so most of the amplified audio is passed
through the 100nF capacitor and the series choke, to the output of the receiver. The 100nF capacitor, also passes amplified RF signals
from the antenna and the 2sc9018, so the choke is used in series with it, to block RF from passing to the audio output of the receiver.
If you connect high impedance headphones to the receiver or if you build the active AF filter shown later on in this article, you may
remove this extra choke, as the headphones cannot respond to RF anyway and the filter will filter RF. The values of both chokes are not
critical and you can use any values (even different values for both) as long as they are in the low mH range. I used two cheap molded
10mH chokes I had available. Using a separate stage as an RF (and AF) preamplifier ensures isolation of the antenna from the self-
oscillating detector. There is no LO leakage to the antenna and no detector detuning.

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 2/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm
The output of the receiver, can be connected directly to high impedance headphones (volume is more than adequate when a big antenna is
used and when reflexion is switched on) or it can be connected to the microphone input of a PC. There are numerous of programs that can
then be used to further manipulate the audio signals, filter them and decode them to meaningful data, so the receiver does not need to
be any more complex than that. However, you will need a good processor and sound card if you want to minimize latency due to the CPU-
demanding DSP processing.

I have built this circuit numerous of times and it always work. I have built different variations, with variable capacitors, varicaps,
multi-turn potentiometers or even LDRs. It always worked as expected. Note however, that when the reflexion is switched on and under
the prescence of strong out of band broadcast signals, the B-E junction of the 2sc9018 is working as an AM detector! Effectively it is
a diode across the antenna input and it couples directly to the AF output without any filtering at all. I am affraid, this is the price
you have to pay when reflexing such a simple circuit. Bear in mind that the circuit has no RF front end tuned circuits so it is as wide
band as it's possible to be. The good news, is that the detected AM signals, do not appear at all times, but only when an external
untuned antenna receives very strong broadcast stations and when the RF gain is set to maximum. On tuned or small antennas, the problem
should not be noticed. These detected AM signals, usually appear at quite low levels at the AF output in comparison to the wanted
regenerated signals and they are mostly noticeable when they are of high levels and when the regenerative detector is not oscillating
or when there are no HAM band signals tuned in. Practically, they pose no significant problem in weak HAM signal reception. Think of
the sensitivity of a crystal set, with a silicon diode instead of a germanium one and you will get an idea of what I mean. No to
mention, that if AF filtering is used after the receiver (be it hardware or FFT) the AF bandwidth of these 6KHz or so signals, is
decreased at 2.5KHz or whatever your filter bandwidth is. On narrow band audio filtering (digital modes) these AM signals dissapear due
to the narrow bandwidth and their low level. Either wideband or narowband, the RF gain control can help in reducing these interfering
AM signals (but also the wanted ones).

How about single signal reception? This is a feature that only complex receivers have. However, despite it's simplicity, my receiver is
capable of single signal reception. The regeneration can be set so fine, that you can adjust it to be effective on one sideband and not
effective on the other. To understand this better, suppose you receive a DSB signal (both sidebands tone modulated). By careful
adjustment of the regeneration, you will receive a tone on the USB and just a hiss on the LSB. The hiss will be like listening to an
SSB modulated signal on an AM receiver. Not only that, but the received hiss on the LSB will be much attenuated, as a result of the
lack of regeneration effectiveness on that sideband.

I tested this feature using crystals and ceramic resonators and I did achieve single signal reception on all HF bands using crystals
and up to about 17m using ceramic resonators. I did not have any ceramic resonators above 17m, but I suspect it will work too. I do not
think single signal reception has to do with anything related to crystal filtering of the incoming RF signal. It was only when I set
the regeneration carefully, near the point of oscillation (at each frequency setting) that the opposite sideband (LSB) was rejected. It
is actually not rejected, but it is attenuated and the detector is not effective in beating this sideband (attenuated AM detection only
in this sideband). I verified it by setting the regeneration a bit higher and now the opposite sideband was beated (it's lower
frequencies). When I set the regeneration even higher, the whole opposite sideband is beated (DSB reception). The behaviour was the
same at all bands and at higher bands the setting was more "touchy" as expected, but still perfectly usable. The impressive thing is
that I could do this without the need for multiturn potentiometers, which was nice, since no special parts are required now. Now this
is single signal reception at all HF bands, out of this ultra simple detector! How much better can it be?

The use of the RF gain control, has interesting properties. By reducing the gain of the transistor of course, the wanted RF signals are
preamplified less. However, you will practically see that without the interfering rectified AM signals anymore, you will be able to
receive the wanted ones more crearly, despite of the lower RF gain. QRM and noise, is also reduced by reducing the RF gain and this
helps in receiving weaker signals despite of the lower RF gain. Especially in narrowband modes, it seems most of the signals find their
way to your ears, as the noise is less and the ear fatigue less.

The receiver front end (two transistors near the selector switch)

Up to this point, I have talked for the receiver as being a reflexed regenerative circuit. With the use of a single stwitch (SW1), the
reflexion can be switched off instantly, so the receiver then becomes a pure regenerative circuit without being reflexed. I thought it
would be nice to switch instantly between the two circuit configurations to see the differences, so I left the switch there. In the un-
reflexed configuration, the output audio volume is less, but there is no significant problem from the B-E junction rectification
anymore, even when the RF gain is set to maximum, as any rectified audio is filtered by the low value of the coupling capacitor (4.7pF)
and it does not pass to the regenerative detector, or the AF output of the receiver easily. When tested with ceramic resonators,
switching the reflexion on or off, causes some instant frequency pulling apart from change in the audio volume. Also, when the
reflexion is switched off, changes in the RF gain, cause a minor frequency pulling (not too significant). Fortunatelly, the RF gain, is
not something that you would want to change too often. When the reflexion is switched on, there is no frequency pulling at all when
altering the RF gain.

There is an interesting article published in this magazine at page 15, which describes the effect of the variable capacitor in the
frequency pulling of the crystals in such a circuit. Indeed, my experiments agree with this article, the variable capacitor that was
initially used, had the greatest pulling effect when it was set at the lower capacitance values and its minimum capacitance value is
important. This makes tuning more difficult at these settings, also because of stray capacitance that has now a greater effect in
frequency pulling. If one is to avoid decade capacitors and lots of switches, two things can be done to limit the problem. One way, is
to use a variable capacitor with reduction gear and offset shaft position. The reduction gear, allows fine tuning and the offset shaft
positionworks to reduce frequency (dial) nonlinearity by positioning the shaft and the plates in a way that produces a linear
relationship between shaft angle and resonant frequency, which can be used to compensate for the non-linearity of the frequency dial of
the receiver. The other way, is to use a varactor diode which has a capacitance/voltage curve that compensates for the non-linearity,
together with a logarithmic potentiometer to control it (to improve even more tuning linearity). Fine tuning of the varactor may be
done by a multi-turn trimmer (if you can find a logarithmic one), or an ordinary logarithmic potentiometer combined with a big diameter
knob. Just to mention that some of these cheap plastic tuning capacitors out of old radios may present quite low minimum capacitances

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 3/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm
(under 10pF) and relatively high maximum (150-250pF or so), so they may exhibit great capacitance range and they are not to be excluded
without a second thought, as they are not detuned by driving voltage instability like varactors do.

However, apart from improving the tuning linearity, the use of the varactor, has also other important advantages. It avoids stray
capacitance caused by hand effects, so no shielding is needed. It also avoids microphonics, it has a small size and it is very cheap.
However, a good quality, humidity and dust-free potentiometer must be used for controlling it reliably, but this can be easily found
(or replaced if damaged) in comparison to a good variable capacitor. Even cheap potentiometers can do a pretty good job in comparison
to a cheap variable capacitor. Remember, minimum capacitance is important for bigger frequency pulling, so a varactor that has a low
minimum capacitance and relatively high maximum, is prefferred, but don't go for more than 150pF of max capacitance or so, as greater
capacitance will have a small effect on frequency pulling. These expensive 500pF varactors, have only 20pF or so of minimum capacitance
and the pulling range above a certain point is small. A problem with varactors, is that sometimes they are considered special parts and
they cannot be easily found in a junk box. In such cases, you could use as a varactor, the EB junction of a BJT or a common 1N4001 to
1N4007 series diode, reverse biased of course. Their pulling range is smaller, but they can be easily found. I would avoid using LEDs
as varactors, unless they are light-shielded, as they are affected by light variations.

In the receiver, I used the cheap MV209 varactor, together with a 10k logarithmic potentiometer to control it. This combination gives
excellent results. The tuning linearity is remarkaply good at all frequencies on crystals and ceramic reconators. The tuning range for
the crystals I have tested, is about 2-3KHz or so above 40m, less at 80m and almost none at 160m. The tuning range of a 40m ceramic
resonator was about 60KHz and at 80m about 30KHz or so. The more expensive 1SV149 (500pF) varactor, despite the much higher capacitance
range, improved the tuning range of the 40m ceramic resonator by only 10KHz or so, but the tuning linearity was suffering at the middle
settings of the potentiometer. Thus, I ended up using the MV209 varactor with the 10k logatithmic potentiometer.

Correct polarity of this potentiometer is important. Do not reverse it's connections, as this will lead to a much worse tuning
linearity than the varactor's alone. You can find if you have connected it the right way, by placing the receiver fitted with a
crystal, near to a commercial ssb receiver, then set the logarithmic potentiometer at middle position and zero beat the commercial
receiver to the receiver's local oscillator. Then move the potentiometer shaft all the way to the right and then all the way to the
left. The tone that you should hear at the commercial receiver at both ends of the potentiometer, should be roughly of the same
frequency if the potentiometer is correctly connected. If not, reverse the connections of the ground and the VCC to it. Another way to
find out if you have connected the potentiometer the right way, is to watch the local oscillator signal of the receiver, on a
commercial receiver. If the logarithmic potentiometer is correctly connected, the frequency should decrease when you turn the
potentiometer clockwise.

Correct polarity of the 10k logarithmic RF gain potentiometer is also important. Connect it, so that the RF gain is varied at equal
steps along the wiper movement. You do not want an attenuator that varies most of the RF gain when the wiper is moved just a little
bit.

Another view of the receiver front panel

The optional audio BPF/LPF filter for CW/SSB

9v

220K
10K 2.2K

BC549C

SW2b
47nF 10nF SSB/CW 100nF AFout

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 4/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm

SW2a AFin
SSB/CW

4.7K
9v

47nF 47nF 47nF

or 10K or 10K or 10K
6.8K 33nF 6.8K 33nF 6.8K 33nF

47K 47K 47K

BC549C BC549C BC549C

47nF 47nF 47nF

560R or 560R or 560R or
33nF 33nF 33nF

The optional audio BPF/LPF for CW/SSB, suitable for direct connection between the front-end AFout and the PC microphone input.

To reject nearby signals on CW, a suitable audio BPF can be added. One could argue that the PC sound card in combination with suitable
software could be used as an audio filter instead. However, apart from the need to carry a computer with you, there is another drawback
in this, latency. The software needs a lot of processing power to do the job in a short time. In older computers such a proccessing
power is not available, so there is some time taken from the time that the audio signal enters the sound card to the time that the
processed sound exits it to the headphones. In some cases this can be as high as several seconds. This means that as you tune to a
signal, you won't be able to listen to it unless some time has passed. Tuning the receiver to signals is a nightmare if the latency is
high. A pure analogue hardware filter has no latency.

The three BJTs that compose the audio filter of the receiver

I have tested quite a lot of CW audio filters, LC types, regenerative types and so on. LC filter types, required quite a few hard to
find inductors for the filter to be effective. The regenerative filters I have tried, required quite a few of critical adjustments in
order to operate effectively. Moreover, none of the latest proved to be stable enough. Upon signal strength variations, they all
oscillated violently. The CW filter that gave the best performance and stability and did not require any adjustments, is the multiple
feedback band pass filter presented here. It is composed of three identical cascaded filters.The six CW filter capacitors, define the
center frequency of this filter. If 47nF are used, the center frequency will be close to 700Hz. If 33nF are used, the center frequency
will be close to 1KHz.

SW2, selects between CW and SSB filters.The SSB filter does not have to be more complex than a single stage and this filter starts to
roll-off from about 2KHz and above.

The CW filter (less than 250Hz bandwidth) gives excellent selectivity for its simplicity without any oscillations. To get an idea of
it's selectivity, it is suitable for selecting just one out of the two tones of an RTTY signal. Strong CW signals that are very close
to the passband can still be heard in the background, but they are greatly attenuated and do not affect the wanted signal reception,
even if it's strength is lower than these. This proved to be a desirable feature when scanning the band for signals, as you can find
out what is going on nearby without having to retune the frequency of the receiver. In comparison, the narrowband filter of my
commercial gear, requires very slow tuning of the frequency, so as not to accidentally dismiss signals when scanning, which has been
proven to be inconvenient when scanning large portions of the band.

Optional AF amplifier with automatic limiter

9v

220R 22uF
16v 22uF 5.6K
16v

10K 2.2K 10uF

16v

5.6K

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 5/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm
47K 22uF BC549C 600R
16v

BC549C 510R 600R

BC549C 22nF 200R

Input

100nF 10K 100nF 47K

10K
LOG

22K 5.6uF
BC549C 10K
16v

10K

10uF 1N34A 10uF

16v 1N34A 16v

The optional AF amplifier presented here, has been tested with the receiver with great success. It provides a gain of about 100dB or
more, which can be thought at first as too much for this receiver. However, because of the great variations in the input signal level,
there are many times where high gain is needed and this amplifier provides it. For example, some of my crystals had very high losses
and I had to switch the front end reflex switch to on, adding another audio preamplifier into the AF chain. Ideal signal reception is
actually accomplished with combinations of the settings of the reflex switch, the RF gain the regeneration and the audio volume
controls. There are some times where it is more prefferable to switch the audio gain to high and limit the RF gain. Other times, the
opposite is prefferred, depended on the signal strength and the noise. But that is the beauty of this receiver, the operator has full
control over these parameters, even the way detection is accomplished.

The audio amplifier of the receiver. The limiter is not shown in this photo.

I thought that the AF amplifier would be the easiest part of the receiver, but surprizingly this was not as straight forward as it
seems. There are various reasons for that. First, the receiver front end audio output volume varies significantly, depended on the
strength of the signal, the way the regeneration is set and whether you use crystals or ceramic resonators. Then there were switch
"clicks" from the reflex and the filter switches, as well as noise from the regeneration potentiometer, when regeneration exceeds the
limits (due to DC on the wiper). Additionally, the high gain amplifier oscillated violently in high input signal levels. If you use a
speaker amplifier, you usually do not need to worry about these things.

However when you use headphones, the situation has been found to be completely different. All those noises from the potentiometers and
the switches, when amplified in this high gain amplifier, can really split your ears apart, while you are trying to dig out weak
signals. The amplifier volume has to be set on high gain when you are trying to receive these faint signals. This causes the amplifier
to oscillate, splitting your ears apart once again. Another thing that matters is noise. Whereas on HF, noise from the AF amplifier do
not matter much, in this very quiet receiver, noise from the AF amplifier (mostly hiss) is observed in high volume, because noise is
amplified as well as the wanted signal. Another point is that, for measuring signal strength effectively, you do not want an AF AGC in
the circuit. In other words, you need to cut-off internal amplifier noise and the very loud noises but not the relatively strong
signals.

In the AF amplifier shown, the first transistor following the input potentiometer, is used as an automatic limiter. Audio signal is
taken from the output of the amplifier and drives the germanium diodes (any Ge diode can be used, because of the low forward voltage
drop), which rectify it and charge the 10uF capacitor at the base of the transistor. Depended on it's charge, the transistor "opens"
more or less, which affects the AF output of the voltage divider formed by the transistor itself and it's 10k collector resistor. The
components values have been chosen, so that only very loud signals at the output of the amplifier (switches clicks, amplifier
oscillations) can cause the limiting of the input volume. The attack time is very short, which means that the limiter responds fast to
all these noises, protecting your ears. The decay time is about half a second, which allows the operator to know when these noises
happen, but does not allow loosing much of the following wanted signal.

The 22nF from the collector of the second transistor to the ground, is the anti-hissing filter. Without it, the amplifier hiss is very
noticeable. With it in place, the amplifier is very quiet, even in high volume settings. It also helps in preventing amplifier
oscillation. Any value from 10nF to 22nF can be used. Do not go for less than 10nF as the hiss will become noticeable again. Do not go
for more than 22nF because you will cut-off much of the wanted audio bandwidth. 22nF is probably too much, but I personally find it
less important to cut-off some high audio frequencies, for the shake of preventing ear fatigue after hours of listenning.

The output of this AF amplifier is high impedance (2.2k). This saves lots of power from the battery but it also requires high impedance
phones to be used. I had two separate 600R magnetic ear plugs which I connected in series for better audio volume. 600R phones will
work too at a bit less volume. Any high impedance phones can be used with this circuit, but if you have the luxury, choose ones that

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 6/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm
provide maximum volume and cause you the less ear or scull pain when listenning a lot to the receiver. The weight of the phones and the
pressure to your head is important for this.

I did not want to cut the cable or remove the connectors of my vintage phones, so I used two female jacks onto the receiver chassis and
wired the phones in series within the receiver. Because there are two series connected jacks in the receiver, connection of a computer
to the receiver can be accomplished by unplugging one of the two phones and connecting the computer sound card input to it with an
audio cable. This allows you to monitor the audio signal from one of the two phones, as well as from the computer, although the
computer would be normally more sensitive and would require the receiver audio volume to be set at low levels.

Optional wideband small loop active antenna

9v 9v 10k 9v
LOG

SW2b 100R
100nF

100k 4.7pF 4.7k

NP0 100nF

J108
82k
100nF
Wire 220k MV209 470k
2.2nF ANT
Loop Square 150pF 2SC
ANT frame BF494 NP0 9018 3.3mH

10x12
7turns BF451
cm
47pF SW1b
2.2nF SW2a
82k
SW1a
100nF 10k AFout
560R 100k LOG
LIN

10k 100nF 3.3mH

The schematic above shows the core of the receiver, with the addition of a wideband active balanced loop antenna. The preamplifier
power is switched off when the wire antenna is selected instead, so as to save power drawn from the battery. This design avoids the use
of a matching transformer or tuned circuits, which makes it really easy and cheap to build.

The loop antenna is wound on a 10x12cm plastic square frame, with 7 turns of small diameter (standard) insulated wire. I actually used
a plastic frame from an old AM radio for the purpose.

The loop antenna mounted at the back of the receiver and folded in.

This frame allows for the antenna to be rotated at the horizontal plane, which could be useful if the receiver must be placed in a
fixed position onto a desk. Interference can then be rejected by rotating only the antenna frame, not the whole receiver.

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 7/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm

The loop antenna folded out

The active loop antenna performance is very good, considering it's small size and the small parts count. Compared to a 12m sloper wire
on the roof, the 10x12cm active loop has almost the same gain and this has been tested from 2MHz and upwards. Not only that, but the
loop (being balanced) is less prone to picking up local intefrerence. Apart from that, a great advantage is the ability of the loop to
notch out unwanted signals or interference that comes in from a specified direction, by physically rotating the loop. With this antenna
attached onto the receiver enclosure, now you have a really portable receiver that you can take with you anywhere, without being
depended on large antennas anymore.

Overal construction of the receiver

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 8/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm

A side view of the receiver

The receiver is built into a small plastic enclosure. A metal enclosure would probably be better but this would be more difficult to
drill and it could potentially interfere with the loop antenna pattern. However, some short of RF grounding and isolation from hand
effects is needed and this is provided by the PCB inside the receiver.

The knobs of the controls are chosen to be quite big (but not huge), so as to provide some short of fine tuning without the need for
expensive vernier drives. The tuning of the regeneration is the most critical setting and this can be very conveniently set for single
signal reception, even at the higher swortwave bands. I have whosen knobs that have scale markings on them, so I do not need to do many
front panel markings myself.

On the front panel, there are switches for selecting the antenna and the audio filter type, as well as the topology (regenerative or
reflexed regenerative) and of course the external antenna connector and the ZIF socket.

The crystal selector/resonator is a new idea. You can never have enough resonators and the receiver is designed to be broadband (cover
the whole HF by just changing resonators). So simply soldering the resonators onto the selector switch is not a good idea. On the other
hand, having just a crystal socket on the front panel, means that you would need to carry all the resonators with you all the time, as
you go outside with this receiver on hand, which is not convenient. So I have thought of a compromise between the two and I used a ZIF
(zero insertion force) IC socket to hold ten resonators. If I need to replace a resonator, or a bunch of resonators, I just unlock the
socket lever and replace the resonators. Another advantage of the ZIF socket, is that the pins of the resonators do not wear out as you
insert them many times into the socket. I used a 40-pin socket, which would normally hold 20 resonators, but I removed the intermediate
socket pins so as to reduce the parasitic capacitance of the socket, but also to make some space for adjacent resonators.

The way you organize your resonators onto the socket is your decision. You may organize them by bands or by listenning preference
frequencies etc. If you organize them by bands, you may also use additional DIP sockets (one for each band) and place the resonators
onto them. When you want to change band, you unlock the ZIF lever and you replace the whole DIP socket which holds the band resonators.
The possibilities are endless, it is really up to you to decide the most convenient way.

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 9/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm

The internals of the receiver, all made using discrete components.

The selector switch must be placed as close to the ZIF socket as possible. I used a rechargeable battery for the receiver and I made a
holder for it out of two pieces of PCB, soldered at the sites of it to keep it in place. A small spring prevents the battery from
dropping out and allows for easy replacement. It is important to use good quality potentiometers on this receiver for smooth setting of
the controls. I used Panasonic miniature plastic potentiometers for all the controls except for the audio volume. The audio volume
potentiometer has also a switch on it, which is used as the on/off switch for the receiver. I didn't include any on/off LED as there is
no need to draw extra prescious current from the battery. The front panel handles have been placed there so as to protect the controls
if the receiver accidentally drops with the panel faced down.

There are not many things that can go wrong when building this receiver, if you follow the schematic diagrams correctly. After all,
there are no hand-wound inductors and the receiver has been designed with simplicity in mind, so as to be easily reproduccable by most
radio amateurs with basic electronics skills. Should any faults arise, do not hesitate to contact me to provide any help I can.

Operation of the receiver

To really appreciate the features of the receiver you have to spend some time operating it. Find some free time, maybe on a rainy
Sunday afternoon, away from real life obligations. Sit comfortably in front of your desk with the receiver in front of you and a cup of
coffee or your favourite sweet next to it. Don't get hurry, relax and enjoy every moment of the receiver you have built and its
operation.

Bring next to you the box where you keep your resonators and plug in your selected resonators to the ZIF socket. Select the internal
antenna or plug in an external antenna and your favourite high impedance phones. Switch on the power, set the RF attenuation to
minimum, select the resonator of your choice and adjust the volume control for an initial comfortable noise level. Adjust the
regeneration until you notice the oscillation hiss. No worry if you set the regeneration too far, as this receiver never oscillates at
audio. With each resonator setting, wou will find the optimum oscillation level by noticing the audio volume on the phones (maximum is
best).

I usually listen to DSB, by setting the regeneration at maximum that allows for oscillation and good audio volume. That way I do not
have to continuously adjust the regeneration. It is only when near-by interference by other stations happens, that I turn down the
regeneration to reject the LSB. It is easy to find the point of the regeneration control that this happens, by noticing the change in
the audio response. As you pass from oscillation to no oscillation, the audio bandwidth is reduced, like when you turn down the treble
on your stereo and a characteristic hiss is heard. You will still hear signal tones clearly (sometimes a bit level-reduced) on the USB
at that point, but the LSB signals are gradually dissapear, starting from the higher tones to the lower, as you continue to decrease
the regeneration. If you continue to decrease the regeneration, the low tones of the USB start to dissapear as well, similarly to what
an audio HPF would do in place. These adjustments are a bit touchy but they can be done comfortably with a stable hand. Play around by
setting the regeneration back and forth at that point, to understand the operation of how the LSB is cut-off by the appropriate
regeneration setting.

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 10/11
26.3.2021 qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm
Listenning on a signal, switch back and forth from the external antenna to the active loop and notice the differences in the signal
level and the background noise. The RF attenuator will be useful here. Rotate the loop to see the effect of rejecting interference
caused by home appliances and also to find the direction of the interference or the useful signals. Switch back and forth the active
filter on narrow band signals and notice the difference on the audio responce. Upon switching to the narrow audio filter you may have
to do careful fine adjustment of the frequency (more finely performed by the regeneration or even the RF gain control to some point),
so as to center the signal tone to the filter peak. Switch back and forth the regenerative/reflexed-regenerative switch and notice the
difference in the audio level but also the background noise.

All these controls, sometimes even interacting together, allow you to precisely define the way of the reception of a signal, starting
from the RF end, affecting the actual way of detection and ending to the AF, with every stage to have it's own user selectable
settings. The combinations are endless and it is only up to your available time to explore them. In any case, this receiver will enjoy
you not only because of it's operation and performance, but also because of its collective character. If you happen to be a collector
of electronics components you may find it fun to try to dig-out different rare resonator frequencies from the web, shops or flea
markets to try on this receiver.

Back to main site

qrp.gr/allbander/index.htm 11/11