By the 1920s, the tuned radio frequency receiver (TRF) represented a major improvement in performance over what had been available before, it still fell short of the needs for some of the new applications. To enable receiver technology to meet the needs placed upon it a number of new ideas started to surface. One of these was a new form of direct conversion receiver. Here an internal or local oscillator was used to beat with the incoming signal to produce an audible signal that could be amplified by an audio amplifier.
H. J. Round developed a receiver he called an autodyne in which the same valve was used as a mixer and an oscillator, Whilst the set used fewer valves it was difficult to optimise the circuit for both the mixer and oscillator functions.
The next leap forward in receiver technology was a new type of receiver known as the superheterodyne, or supersonic heterodyne receiver. A Frenchman named Lucien Levy was investigating ways in which receiver selectivity could be improved and in doing this he devised a system whereby the signals were converted down to a lower frequency where the filter bandwidths could be made narrower. A further advantage was that the gain of valves was considerably greater at the lower frequencies used after the frequency conversion, and there were fewer problems with the circuits bursting into oscillation.
The idea for developing a receiver with a fixed intermediate frequency amplifier and filter is credited to Edwin Armstrong of the United States. Working for the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during 1918, Armstrong thought that if the incoming signals was mixed with a variable frequency oscillator (the "local oscillator"), a lower-frequency fixed tuned amplifier could be used. Armstrong's original receiver consisted of a total of eight vacuum tubes. Several tuned circuits could be cascaded to improve selectivity, and being set on a fixed frequency they did not all need to be changed in line with one another. The filters could be preset and left correctly tuned. Armstrong was not the only person working on the idea of a superheterodyne receiver. Alexander Meissner in Germany had taken out a patent for the idea six months before Armstrong, but since Meissner did not prove the idea in practice, and he did not build a superheterodyne radio, the invention is credited to Armstrong.
The need for the increased performance of the superheterodyne receiver was first experienced in North America, and by the late 1920s most radio sets were superheterodyne receivers. However, in Europe the number of broadcast stations did not start to rise as rapidly until later. Even so, by the mid-1930s virtually all receiving sets in Europe as well were using the superheterodyne principle. In 1926, the tetrode valve was introduced, and enabled further improvements in performance.
H. J. Round developed a receiver he called an autodyne in which the same valve was used as a mixer and an oscillator, Whilst the set used fewer valves it was difficult to optimise the circuit for both the mixer and oscillator functions.
The next leap forward in receiver technology was a new type of receiver known as the superheterodyne, or supersonic heterodyne receiver. A Frenchman named Lucien Levy was investigating ways in which receiver selectivity could be improved and in doing this he devised a system whereby the signals were converted down to a lower frequency where the filter bandwidths could be made narrower. A further advantage was that the gain of valves was considerably greater at the lower frequencies used after the frequency conversion, and there were fewer problems with the circuits bursting into oscillation.
The idea for developing a receiver with a fixed intermediate frequency amplifier and filter is credited to Edwin Armstrong of the United States. Working for the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during 1918, Armstrong thought that if the incoming signals was mixed with a variable frequency oscillator (the "local oscillator"), a lower-frequency fixed tuned amplifier could be used. Armstrong's original receiver consisted of a total of eight vacuum tubes. Several tuned circuits could be cascaded to improve selectivity, and being set on a fixed frequency they did not all need to be changed in line with one another. The filters could be preset and left correctly tuned. Armstrong was not the only person working on the idea of a superheterodyne receiver. Alexander Meissner in Germany had taken out a patent for the idea six months before Armstrong, but since Meissner did not prove the idea in practice, and he did not build a superheterodyne radio, the invention is credited to Armstrong.
The need for the increased performance of the superheterodyne receiver was first experienced in North America, and by the late 1920s most radio sets were superheterodyne receivers. However, in Europe the number of broadcast stations did not start to rise as rapidly until later. Even so, by the mid-1930s virtually all receiving sets in Europe as well were using the superheterodyne principle. In 1926, the tetrode valve was introduced, and enabled further improvements in performance.
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