Heterodyne Principle
Heterodyning is a method for transferring a broadcast signal from its
carrier to a fixed local intermediate frequency in the receiver so that
most of the receiver does not have to be retuned when you change
channels. The interference of any two waves will produce a beat frequency,
and this technique provides for the tuning of a radio by forcing it to
produce a specific beat frequency called the "intermediate frequency" or
IF. Heterodyning is used in the AM radio receiver and played a big part in making AM radio practical for mass communication.
An electromagnetic carrier wave which is carrying a signal by means of amplitude modulation or frequency modulation
can transfer that signal to a carrier of different frequency by means
of heterodyning. This transfer is accomplished by mixing the original
modulated carrier with a sine wave of another frequency. This process
produces a beat frequency
equal to the difference between the frequencies, and this difference
frequency constitutes a third carrier which will be modulated by the
original signal.
Heterodyning is extremely important in radio transmission -- in
fact, the development of heterodyning schemes was one of the major
developments which led to mass communication by radio. By fixing the
beat frequency between the incoming carrier and the local oscillator to a
fixed intermediate frequency (IF), most of a radio receiver can be
constructed so that it can be used by any incoming radio signal. When
the input radio frequency amplifier is tuned to the station's carrier
frequency, the local oscillator is tuned along with it to produce a beat
frequency equal to the fixed IF frequency. We now take for granted that
one radio receiver can be tuned to any of the locally broadcast radio
stations, but if it were not for heterodyning, you would have to have
one receiver for each broadcast station.
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