Chapter 5: Transmitters

TRUE/FALSE 1. All transmitters produce spurious signals. ANS: T 2. Any amplifier will produce harmonic distortion. ANS: T 3. There is a simple correlation between supply power and output power for transmitters. ANS: F 4. Transmitters designed for two-way voice communications must be rated for continuous operation at full power. ANS: F 5. Baseband spectrum often must be restricted to keep transmitted bandwidth within legal limits. ANS: T 6. Compression is used to restrict baseband spectrum. ANS: F 7. The opposite of compression is expansion. ANS: T 8. In a transmitter, the ALC circuit prevents overmodulation. ANS: T 9. In a transmitter, the ALC circuit causes compression. ANS: T 10. Compression is commonly used in commercial broadcast transmitters. ANS: T 11. In full-carrier AM, modulation is typically done before the RF power amplifier. ANS: F 12. If the RF stages are all Class C, then AM must be done with low-level modulation. ANS: F

13. Commercial broadcast AM stations typically use high-level modulation. ANS: T 14. Low-level AM modulation requires linear RF amplifiers. ANS: T 15. For good frequency stability, a crystal oscillator is generally required. ANS: T 16. A variable-frequency oscillator cannot be crystal-controlled. ANS: F 17. Vacuum tubes are still used in high-power transmitters, even new ones. ANS: T 18. In a commercial broadcast AM transmitter, all the power in the sidebands came from the audio amplifier. ANS: T 19. Typically, some kind of matching circuit is required between a transmitter's output stage and the antenna. ANS: T 20. For testing purposes, the output of a transmitter should be disconnected from the antenna and left with an open-circuit load. ANS: F 21. In a transceiver, the same audio circuits are used by both the transmitter and the receiver. ANS: T 22. In solid-state transmitters, it is common to modulate both the driver and the power RF stage. ANS: T 23. Mixing and amplitude modulation are essentially the same process. ANS: T 24. DSBSC is never done at low level. ANS: F 25. To generate SSB from DSBSC, a mechanical filter can be used.

ANS: T 26. To generate SSB from DSBSC, a crystal filter can be used. ANS: T 27. It is possible that the LSB and the USB can become swapped during a mixing process. ANS: T 28. The RF power amplifiers in a SSB transmitter are Class C for better efficiency. ANS: F 29. In FM, a frequency multiplier will also multiply the deviation. ANS: T 30. Frequency doublers are usually Class B. ANS: F 31. Mixing can lower a carrier frequency as well as raise it. ANS: T 32. Indirect FM uses a phase modulator. ANS: T 33. Even low-power transmitters can cause an RF burn to the skin. ANS: T MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. The ability to change operating frequency rapidly without a lot of retuning is called: a. agility c. VFO b. expansion d. spread-spectrum ANS: A 2. The difference between the DC power into a transmitter and the RF power coming out: a. is a measure of efficiency c. may require water cooling b. heats the transmitter d. all of the above ANS: D 3. Baseband compression produces: a. a smaller range of frequencies from low to high b. a smaller range of amplitude from soft to loud c. a smaller number of signals d. none of the above

ANS: B 4. ALC stands for: a. Amplitude Level Control b. Automatic Level Control ANS: B 5. In an AM transmitter, ALC is used to: a. keep the modulation close to 100% b. keep the modulation below 100% ANS: D 6. With high-level AM: a. all RF amplifiers can be nonlinear b. minimum modulation power is required ANS: A 7. With high-level AM: a. the RF amplifiers are typically Class A b. the RF amplifiers are typically Class B ANS: C 8. With low-level AM: a. the RF amplifiers must be Class A b. the RF amplifiers must be Class B ANS: C 9. Power amplifiers must be linear for any signal that: a. is complex c. has variable frequency b. has variable amplitude d. all of the above ANS: B 10. In high-level AM, "high-level" refers to: a. the power level of the carrier b. the power level of the modulation ANS: D 11. In high-level AM, the power in the sidebands comes from: a. the modulating amplifier c. the driver stage b. the RF amplifier d. the carrier ANS: A 12. In an AM transmitter with 100% modulation, the voltage of the final RF stage will be: a. approximately half the DC supply voltage b. approximately twice the DC supply voltage c. approximately four times the DC supply voltage d. none of the above c. the power level of the final RF amplifier d. none of the above c. the RF amplifiers must be linear d. the RF amplifiers must be low-power c. the RF amplifiers are typically Class C d. the RF amplifiers are typically Class AB c. minimum RF power is required d. all of the above c. maximize transmitted power d. all of the above c. Accurate Level Control d. none of the above

ANS: C 13. Practical transmitters are usually designed to drive a load impedance of: a. 50 ohms resistive c. 300 ohms resistive b. 75 ohms resistive d. 600 ohms resistive ANS: A 14. Which of the following can be used for impedance matching? a. pi network c. both a and b b. T network d. a bridge circuit ANS: C 15. When a transmitter is connected to a resistor instead of an antenna, the resistor is called: a. a heavy load c. a temporary load b. a dummy load d. a test load ANS: B 16. When a transmitter is connected to a resistor instead of an antenna, the resistor must be: a. wire-wound c. 1% tolerance or better b. noninductive d. all of the above ANS: B 17. A Class D amplifier is: a. very efficient b. essentially pulse-width modulation ANS: D 18. To generate a SSB signal: a. start with full-carrier AM b. start with DSBSC ANS: B 19. The carrier is suppressed in: a. a balanced modulator b. a mixer ANS: A 20. To remove one AM sideband and leave the other you could use: a. a mechanical filter c. both a and b b. a crystal filter d. none of the above ANS: C 21. A direct FM modulator: a. varies the frequency of the carrier oscillator b. integrates the modulating signal c. both a and b d. none of the above ANS: A c. a frequency multiplier d. none of the above c. start with a quadrature signal d. all of the above c. essentially pulse-duration modulation d. all of the above

22. An indirect FM modulator: a. requires a varactor in the carrier oscillator b. varies the phase of the carrier oscillator c. both a and b d. none of the above ANS: B 23. AFC stands for: a. Amplitude to Frequency Conversion b. Automatic Frequency Centering ANS: C 24. Frequency multipliers are: a. essentially balanced modulators b. essentially Class C amplifiers ANS: B 25. With mixing: a. the carrier frequency can be raised b. the carrier frequency can be lowered c. the carrier frequency can be changed to any required value d. the deviation is altered ANS: C COMPLETION 1. The accuracy and stability of a transmitter frequency is fixed by the ____________________ oscillator. ANS: carrier 2. In the USA, the ____________________ sets requirements for accuracy and stability of a transmitter's frequency. ANS: FCC 3. In Canada, _________________________ sets requirements for accuracy and stability of a transmitter's frequency. ANS: Industry Canada 4. Frequency ____________________ is the ability of a transmitter to change frequency without a lot of retuning. ANS: agility 5. Power output of SSB transmitters is rated by ____________________. ANS: PEP c. essentially mixers d. none of the above c. Automatic Frequency Control d. Audio Frequency Control

6. Reducing the dynamic range of a modulating signal is called ____________________. ANS: compression 7. The opposite of compression is called ____________________. ANS: expansion 8. ALC is a form of ____________________. ANS: compression 9. High-level modulation allows the RF amplifiers to operate more ____________________. ANS: efficiently 10. Low-level modulation requires the RF amplifiers to be ____________________. ANS: linear 11. To isolate the oscillator from load changes, a ____________________ stage is used. ANS: buffer 12. The peak collector voltage in a Class C RF amplifier is ____________________ than the DC supply voltage. ANS: higher 13. Most practical transmitters are designed to operate into a ____________________-ohm load. ANS: 50 14. Transmitters built with transistor RF amplifiers often use a ____________________ network for impedance matching. ANS: T 15. Matching networks also act as filters to help reduce ____________________ levels. ANS: harmonic 16. Severe impedance ____________________ can destroy a transmitter's output stage. ANS: mismatch 17. Transceivers combine a transmitter and a ____________________ into one "box". ANS: receiver 18. To allow a high modulation percentage, it is common to modulate the ____________________ as well as the power amplifier in transistor modulators.

ANS: driver 19. Pulse-width modulation is the same as pulse-____________________ modulation. ANS: duration 20. Switching amplifiers are sometimes called Class ____________________ amplifiers. ANS: D 21. Because the sideband filter in a SSB transmitter is fixed, ____________________ is used to operate at more than one frequency. ANS: mixing 22. To generate a SSB signal, it is common to start with a ____________________ signal. ANS: DSBSC 23. Indirect FM is derived from ____________________ modulation. ANS: phase 24. Using a varactor to generate FM is an example of a ____________________ modulator. ANS: reactance 25. The modern way to make a stable VFO is to make it part of a ____________________ loop. ANS: phase-locked SHORT ANSWER 1. If a 50-MHz oscillator is accurate to within 0.001%, what is the range of possible frequencies? ANS: 50 MHz 500 hertz 2. What is the efficiency of a 100-watt mobile transmitter if it draws 11 amps from a 12-volt car battery? ANS: 75.8% 3. The power amplifier of an AM transmitter draws 100 watts from the power supply with no modulation. Assuming high-level modulation, how much power does the modulation amplifier deliver for 100% modulation? ANS: 50 watts

4. If the final RF amplifier of an AM transmitter is powered by 100 volts DC, what is the maximum collector voltage at 100% modulation? ANS: 400 volts 5. Suppose the output of a balanced modulator has a center frequency of 10 MHz. The audio modulation frequency range is 1 kHz to 10 kHz. To pass the USB, what should be the center frequency of an ideal crystal filter? ANS: 10.005 MHz 6. Suppose you have generated a USB SSB signal with a nominal carrier frequency of 10 MHz. What is the minimum frequency the SSB signal can be mixed with so that the output signal has a nominal carrier frequency of 50 MHz? ANS: 40 MHz 7. Suppose you have an FM modulator that puts out 1 MHz carrier with a 100-hertz deviation. If frequency multiplication is used to increase the deviation to 400 hertz, what will be the new carrier frequency? ANS: 4 MHz 8. Suppose you had an FM signal with a carrier of 10 MHz and a deviation of 10 kHz. Explain how you could use it to get an FM signal at 100 MHz with a deviation of 20 kHz. ANS: First, put the signal through a frequency doubler to get a 20-MHz carrier with a 20-kHz deviation. Then mix that signal with an 80-MHz carrier to generate a 100-MHz carrier with 20kHz deviation.