1

A STUOY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF

DESIGNING A SUPER-REGENERATIVE
RECEIVER TO MEET CERTAIN CRITICAL RE~Urn.EMENTS

Thaddeus Francis Kycia, B.Sc.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate

Studies and Research, McGill University, in partial
fulfilment of the requirements ror the degree of
Master of Science.
 ABSTRACT

A super-regenerative reeeiver has been designed for linear

mode operation in a band from 455 Mc ./see. to 510 Me ./see. For

1inear mode operation it was neeessary to use automatie gain stabi1ization,

whieh a1so kept the oscillator output pulses at a steady amplitude.

The reeeiver was constructed, having a band-width of 630 Ke./see

and a noise figure of 20 db. The experimenta1 resu1ts were in

good agreement with the theoretiea1 estimates, and numerical values

for eomparison are provided wherever possible.

The reeeiver ean deteet a minimum signal of 1.5~volts, and

it therefore IOOre than meets the sensitivity recpirements for use

as a deteetor in a l.I.h.f. "bridge".

 ACKNOWLEOOEMENTS

The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. J.R. Whitehead

who originated the project and under whose direction i t was carried

out; to Dr. H. G.I. ivatson for allowing the use of his laboratory

equipment and workshop, and to Mr. W. Avarlaid, Mr. B. Meunier,

Mr. M. Kingsmill, and the staif of the Physics building for their

kind cooperation.

Special thank s are due to Dr. T. w. h. East for hi s frequent

assistance and advice during both the project and the writing of

this thesis.

The writer is also indebted to the Defence Research Board,

whose financial assistance made this work possible.

 FIGURES
P~Gé

2.1 Block diagram of the super-regenerative receiver 13

3.1 The \.I.h.f. oscillator l'

3.2 Analagous lumped circuit of the .h.f. oscillator ~o

3.3 Plate current vs. grid bias voltage of the 5876 Jf

3.4 Transconductance vs. grid bias voltage of the 5876 2>

3.5 Determination of the gm cycle
3.6 Determination of the conductance cycle

3.7 Relative frequency response of the receiver '1

3.8 Noise band-width measurement 'J ~

3.9 a) Output noise for no input signal "

3.9 b) Detected pulses which form the noise ."

3.10 a) Output for large input signal 37

3.10 b) Superimposed output pulses of equal amplitude 37

3.11 a) Output for an amplitude modu1ated input signal li

3.11 b) Formation of the sine wave "38

3.11 c) Relative separation of the pulses '3<1

3.11 d) Superimposed pulses for the waveform of fig. 3.11 a) 31

4.1 Frequency bridge of the quench oscillator ~I

4.2 The quench oscillator

4.3 \.I.h.f. detector and automatic gain stabilizer

4.4 The meter circuit

5.1 Receiver, front view

5.2 Receiver, back view

5.3 Receiver, bottom view (without shi~ld)

5.4 IIBridge" measurement setup

 CONTENTS

1. Introduction
1.1. Fistory of super-regenerative receivers. 1

1.2. Purpose of the receivers. g

2. Princip1es of Super-Regeneration
2.1. Super-regenerative action. II>

2.2. The conductance cycle. If)

2.3. Linear mode and a.g.s. Il

2.4. General description of the receiver. 12.

3. The Super-Regenerative Osci11ator

3.1. Construction of the oscillator. Ir

3.2. The 5876 penci1 triode. /1
3.3. The equivalent circuit of the plate càvity. 1'1

3.4. The graphical determination of a-. '-:1-

3.5. Theoretical formula for the output. !J.:J

3.6. Super-regenerative band-width. '30

3.7. Noise figure. '3~

3.8. Oscillograms of oscillator output pulses. '31'

4. Other Sections which constitute the Receiver

4.1. Quehch osci1lator.
4.2. The u.h.f. detector and a.g.s. system.

4.3. The mater circuit.

5. Construction and Use of the Receiver

5.1 The 1ayout and operation of the receiver.

5.2 The super-regenerative receiver as a "bridge" detector. tI?

Summary and Conclusions

Appendix 1.

References
 '7

1. INTRODUCTICN

. 1.1 History of Super-regenerat1va receivars

The principle of the super-regenerati va osci1lator Was first introduced

by E.H. Armstrong in 1922. Its high gain 1fas reallzed, but its other remark-

able features were ovar100ked and i t was on1y thirteen yeaxs later that

turther investigation was pursued into the subject. H. Ataka, 1935; M.G.

Scroggie, 1936 and F.W. Frink, 1938 published papers exp1aining the pheno-

menon of super-regeneration. Lt about the SaIlle time severa1 unique circuits,

making use of super-regeneration, appeared in print.

W.B. Lewis and C.J.!. M.ilner (1936) designed a duplex operation trans-

ceivar (simu1taneous two wsy cOImnUnication) by mald.ng use of the reradiating

properties inherent in the super-regenerative osci1lator. It acted alterna-

t! valy as a recei ver and transmi tter during each quench periode Each trans-

ceiver would be sensitive to in-coming pulses at that specifie time when the

signal pulse just arrivad from the other transceiver.

S. Becker and L.M. Leeds (1936) described a two w~ police radio system.

This radio installation consisted of duplex operation trom headquarters to

eaeh car and simplex operation between the cars. The reeeiver had a com-

bination of both the super-regenerative and superheterodyne princip1es and

the resultant sensitivity was more than sufficient to fUlfillthe rigorous

requirements.

The super-regenerative circuit then found its w~ into numerous radio

amateur receivers, as weIl as the "walkie talld.e" developed by the U.S. A.r'tlJy

Signal Corps and later modified for use during the Seoond World War. It

bad the desired features of baing sensitive, light, simple and economioal.

Other contributors who promoted the understanding of super-regenerati "f9

theory were W.E. Bradley (1948); A. Hazelti"s; D. Richman and B.D. Lo\l..ghlin
 (1948); Macfarlane and Whitehead (1946, 1948); H.A. G1uckSlD;Bll (1949) and

L. Riebmann (1949).
The super-regenerative receiver became we11 known for its part in the

wartime I.F.F. (identification friend or f'oe) Mark 111 responder, deve10ped

at T.R.E. in Great Brita1n. The purpose of' the I.F.F. responder was to

indicate to an observer at a radar station whether soma distant aircrait

Was t'riandly. The respondar on the a1lied aircrait wou1d amplif'y the re-

ceived radar pulses and reradiate them. Theae were picked up by the radar

station and observed as long traces on the P.P.I. screen, compared to the

small dots which represented the refleoted pulses t'rom an enemy aircraf't.

The use of' a.g.s. (automatic gain stabilization) was made in these respon-

ders and this gave them the added f'eature of good stabi1ity over a wide

t'requency range (157-lS7Mc./ sec.). More than 200,000 of' these t'ully auto-

matic responders were produced to be fi tted into al1 the allied ships and

planes as a joint effort by the United states and Great Britain.

"Super-Regenerative Receivers" by J.R. Whitehead (1950) describes the

circui t of' the Mark 111 responder, as wall as ma.ny other circuits making use

of' the super-regenerative principle. The book a1so contains a comprehen-

sive treatment of' super-regenerative theory as we11 as physical interpre-

tation of' the resu1ts.

Another major piece of work published after that time on super-regen-

erative theory was by HeA. Whee1er in the form of two monographs on the

analysis of super-regenerative selectiv1ty.and design f'ormulas.

1.2 Purpose of the receiver

The o~ect of' the work undertaken was to stuQy the feasibi1ity of a

super-regenerative receiver operating in the Unear mode at 500Mc./sec.,

with specific properties which could make it use able as a "bridge" detector.
 "
It would 'he used as a null indicator for a General Radio admittance me ter •

The specifications are that it would be able to detect IO/f'\t of signal or

better and that it would have a sufficient amount of stability. The par-

ticular receiver discussed here cao detect 1.5;'f'V: of signal and achieves

its very reliable operation through the use of the automatic gain stabili-

zation. The purpose of the a.g.s. is to keep the receiver in the linear

mode of operation, thus adding to the complexi ty of the receiver. On the

whole, however, it is much simpler than a superheterodyne operating at the

srune trequency.
 /0

2. PRINCIPLE OF SUPER-REGENERATION

2.1 Super-regenerativa aotion

A parallel tuned circuit can maintain oscillations i f enough energr

is supplied te it te overcome the resistiva losses. If, at a.ny time, more

energy is supplied than dissipated, the oscillations will grow.

A. positive feedbaek amplifier, which may consist of one tube, can be

made to supply the nacessary energy. The condition that oscillations be

maintained is that the transconductance of the tube equa.l a certain value

which depends on the losses in the circuit. The transconductance is a

function of both the plata voltage and grid bia.s voltage. By periodical1y

varying ei ther ·o f the se , one can get tœ tube into a s tata where the oscil-

lations grow, or wbere they decay. The general practice is to modulate

the grid bias voltage with the output of a quench oscillator whose waveform,

for simplici ty, is sinusoidal. Over part of the quench cycle the grid bias

is very negative and no oscillations existe The grid then becomes Iess œga-

tive until it reaches the grid bias voltage, which is just necessary for os-

cillations to existe The osoillations begin to grow as the bias becomes

still less negati va, until they reach a peak in amplitude which comes at a

time wben the grid bias returns to its critieal. value. Beyond that instant

the oscillations decay and, under proper opersting condi tiens, are well

below noise at the time ..han the next cycle of build-up begins. The output

of the super-regenerative oscillator is in the form of pulses at intervals

equal te the period of the quench frequency.

2.2 The conductance Cycle

There is an al ternativa method of stating the cri ta ri on for o~illa­

tions in a tu.ned circuit. In effect, the tuned circuit can be represented

 1/

by an inducti~~capacitance
-.
~/
and conductance, all in parall.el. The conductance

part of the circuit · damps any oscillations that may be induced in it. The

positive feedback amplifier, to which the tuned circuit is connected, acts

like a negative conductance and, when the net resultant of the conductance

across the tuned circu! t ls zero, the tube is in a state of steady oscillations.

That i8 equi valent to saying that enough energy ia being supplied to overcOlll8

the resistive losses. Basides acting as a negative conductance, the 08cll-

lator tube also has some small reacti ve effect, which causes a variation in

the frequency of oscillation during the build-up cycle.

When the oscillations are growing, i t indicates that the net conductance

across the resonant circuit is negative. The net conductance varies directl1'

as the transconductance of the tube which, in turn, varies as the grid bias

voltage. The conductance cycle, as a function of time, can be obtained gra-

phically by knowing the variations of the grid bias volt&ge with time.

A complete theory of the super-regenerativa princip1e has been formulated

in which use i8 made ot the conductance cycle curve. A numerical example,

showing ho. the experimenta1results compare wi th the theoretical formula, is

illustrated in a later section.

2.3 !anser mode and a.g.s.

It was stated earlier that the super-regenerati va (uhf) oscillator was

to operate in the linear mode. Under that type of operation, amplitude modu-

lation on the input signal is linearly reproduced by the output pulses. The

requirements on the uhf oscillator are that the groTdng oscillations œver

reach saturation, if i t is to operate in the linear mode.

The oscillations always start tram noise and the signal induced in the

oscillator at the input. If the oscillator had i ts mean D.C. bias so adjusted

as to give adequate gain for low signal amplitUdes, it wou Id not require much
or. an inerease in signal amplitude to have the oscillations reaching saturation.

Automatio gain stabilization is, therefore, necessary.

The detected output pulses are _amplified and rectified by the a.g.s. sys-

tem to give a negative D.C. voltage which oontrols the mean bias of the u.h.f.

oscillator tube. Now, if a large signal is applied to the u.h.f. oscillator,

the a.g.s. system makes the grid bias more negative, thus keeping the output
pulses of the oscillator approximatelY constant.

2.4. General description of the receiver

Jt. block diagram of the receiver is shown in figure 2.1. The output of

the quench oscillator is at a frequency near 50 Kc./see. and bas a peak ampli-

tude of about five volts under normal operating conditions.

The a.g.s. system consists of the amplifier, phase inverter and rectifier.

The a.g.s. amplifier is tuned to quench frequency Md so i t responds on1y to

the .general frequency component of the detected pulses. Its output is, there",

fore, a quench frequency sine Wave. The phase inverter, followed by a double

diode deteotor, gives out the D.C. control voltage. This voltage provides

the bias for the u.h.f. oscillator, thus completing the feedback loop.
The other rectifier, connected to the output of the phase inverter, gi ws

out a positive output which is compared to an adjustable D.C. voltage by the

microammeter. For this case, the meter ia at the "Signal Strength Indicator"

position, since changes in the output of the a.g.s. are caused by changes in

the input signal amplitudes.

 1
QUE:.NCH
~ RCC.T\F\E.~ ~ METE.R 1

05C.1l-l..ATOR
1

QÙ~NGH
VOLTAGE

INPUï
SI~NAl.. SOPE'R'R(GENEAATNf R . y:: Q .•. À.G.5. Q .F. PHASoe:. Q.F. Q.I='. "-
~1'-l..ATOR
r--- OCTEC.ïOR AMPl-IFïE:R
f---
IN'ILRTER
REC.T\F'~R 1--- V-\

D.C..GON""O\..
'101-,.,o..ca~

F"IG. 2.\ ~'-oc.K OlAG'R AM OF' THE: Sl,)~~R·Rt:CaENERAi\VE. RE.CE:IVER

 Ir

!ha oa'dtv oœb1nation bad t.en pre'tioualy llM la aD u.h.t. apl1ts..r

ad ... oonwrted 1Dt.o UN t~r aD o..lllator br 1ll8Olatlng ths grid OODDl.Uoa

tJoca tt. aromd ad t1tUng in a teedbuk loop. !ba oeell1ator, u .bon la

n.cun '.1, oozud.lIt. ot • 'tame! iDplt aaYitq at tM aat.bode and. a t1uw4 oat.-
pu.t o.Y1:ti7 at tJ. plate of tbl S8'16 paDaU triode.
b gr14 i . grounded to li .h.r. 0e01l1at1o~ tbroqh C, ... 06. c, 0 ...

111... of oapult.aDn betwHn the tn 11198 ot the tlup holder &Bd poo11D4.
~m be!JII tbI dieleotn.. C, bu a ftlue et 100 pt. &Bd 0, ... deter-

IIiaId tfta tœ paraUel plate t_'a te haw a 'ftlue of 300 pt. !bit two

oapaoltaœe. aM up to gs.w 4DO pt., wb10h bu aD. !Jape4aH of 0.'5 . . a"

SCOllo./....
In ao'bal. practio., the Wo aadUe. &1"8 le •• than 1 ca. a~ tàI f'l.aIIp

of the 5876 t.lng the ~ part or tœ tube _"ea t.bI NdUe •• Ioth thI

o8oth. and plate of the tube tlt lnto 1IOa:D.t11J1 blooka, wbioh are oaPUlt.aJ»~­

ooupàd to the quarter waw lim.. ., iDlreu1.ag tM oapMi'" iD t.be ...u..

.ra Or ad 02, the .tteoUw elHtrioal 1enath of ta l1aI 18 lDOftU84, 'thu

gl'i4 ct the triode ' 1 . gifta .. 2~5 pt. !hie doe. Ilot afteot the electorioal
l.eDgth of tt.. liDi very .uah, e1Doe 1'.m oathoda 1. ooupled to 1t at tba low
1apeàalMJe end. The plate, on 't.J» ott..r haII4, 18 ooa.pled to the bigh iape4aHe-

_. of the lJ.llII and .0 the plate to lrid oapuita.Doe ot 1.4 pt. oontribtte.
_h to the .hartleaing of the Uœ iD t.œ plate aad'tu, &8 1. lhowD ln til. J.1.
!lai oeaU1&tioo freqano;r oan be ftJ"1ed b7 aeau ct \ and °2 trca 455 W
'10 ~.I..o.
'1'be lnpllt aIId output loopa are 81tuaW at the low iapedanoe, ar hip
 U. H. F. OSC'LLATOR

INPUT
C.ONNt.C. 'TOR

INPUT
1..00P
c..

C:A'T"'OCE ......
6.l \1.. lAI'" i ~ C...."(\TY
T vt
-=?" J:'i:['DeJlCK
C.OUP\..lNG
OUTPUT OF' ~.P. c.. , ( R.F.' c.. 2 \0 K,n.
QUE:NC.H 05C. ~ bblJG
1
RI OUTPUT
or A..cas.

[ --,'-----------------'mTIT?---
R.".C.. &
1 ~
2.:'K•.n.
&
& ..
300'1.
C2
1 1

Pl.-A.'TE.
stI'?6 C"''II'T'(
OUTPU'T
CONNE.CïOFt
ïO oe:"Tt:.C,"TOA
F\G.3.\
 16

UHF OSCILLATOR

Li st 0 f Compon En t s

Cathode cavity

Plate cavi ty

V1 5876 ~.f. High-Mu Triode

tl.h.f. trimmers
Input 100p
Output loop

Feedback coupling
C3 100 pf. ceramic condenser
C4 coupling capacitance of 130 pf. to cathode cavity

65 coupling capacitance of 130 pf. to plate cavity

C 0.05/,",f.
7
R1 l<X..n.

R2 2.7ILn...
R.F.C. l choke to quench oscillator
R.F.C. 2 choke to a.g.s •

.tl.F.C. 3, H.• F.C. 4 chokes to heaters

R.F.C. 5 choke to cathode
R.F.C. 5 choke to plate
C6 consists of capacitance, amounting to 300 pf. between the grid
and the cavity through 0.25 cm of polystyrene insulation.
 /7

current ends of their respective cavities. The loops are coupled to the strong

magne tic fields which exist at those ends. The feedback loop, on the other

band, is coupled to the magnetic field in the plate cavity and electric field

in the cathode cavity. The electric field coupling is in the form of a capa-

citive probe.

Preliminary test showed that, at its best, ·the receiver could just detect

rive microvolts of input .signal. This indicated that the input termination

was weale and so the inpat ' loop was increased in size. The same type of loop

was inserted at the output. Atter these modifications, - it was evident frem

an observation of the low D.C. control voltage supplied by the a.g.s., that the

DeW loops increased the lQading on the cavities. To overcome this extra load-

ing, the feedback loop was improved by lerghening the capaci tive probe. Fol-

lowing this change, the D.C. control voltage went to its normal value. It

was then found that the minimum detectable signal decreased to one and a halt

microvolts.

The super-regenerative gain innepers is given as à/4J where à represents

the integral wi th respect to tim.e of the negative part of a conductà,nce cycle

and C 1s the equi valent capac1 tance of the plate cavi ty. One would then ex-

pact to have the gain of the rece1ver to 1ncrease with frequency , s1nee C

decreases and the corresponding D.C. control voltage from the a.g.s. tode-

crease the gain by an equal amount, by simply becoming more negative and tlms

deereasing ~ This was the case from 455Mc./sec. to about 490t6.c./sec.,

after which the D.C. control voltage started becaming less negat1ve as the fre-

quency was increased to 510 ~ c./sec. S1nce the 5876 can osc1l1ate at a fre-

quency as high as i700 MC./seC., it is quite justifiable to assume that the

transi t time of the 5f!J76 would not cause such a large effect. The conclusion

ia that the efficiency of the feedback loop drops with 1ncreasé in frequeney
 in
1
the receiver band.

. 3.2 The 5876 pencil triode

The 5876 is a new tube developed only' recently for u .h.f. frequencies

and can be used as an oscillator up to l700M c./sec. It has the features of

minimum. transit time, low cathode to plate capaci tance, 10.. lead inductance

and good thermal stabili ty. As much as 6 watts of energy can be dissipated

at the plate if the plate cylinder should have a large surface of contact

wi th i ts support.

The tube, when oscillating at 490M c./sec., dissipates at the plate 2.7

watts for no signal input, 1.5 watts for a large continuous wa~rt~~, f.~I;'''' ·
0.5 volts and 6.0 watts if the grid should accidentally became ~o~ed~ If

the oseillator should be detuned so that no oscillations exist, the plate dis-

sipation would be 3.7 watts. The tube should not be allowed to dissipatë.

more than 3.5 watts at the plate for aD1 long length of time, sinee the poly-

styrene insulation for the plate support would weaken with the bigh rise in

tempe rature •
3 • .3 Equivalent circuit of the plate cavity
In order to give a numerical example of the oscillation build-up and de-

ca:y, it is first necessary to find an equivalent lumped resonant circuit for

the plate cavi ty. An analagous lumped circuit of the oscillator ls illustrated

in fig. 3.2. No attempt is made tofind the equivalent resonant circuit far

the cathode cavity, sinee it does not enter the theory directly, but bas soma

second order effects.

The line of the plate cavity can he represented by an inductance, a capa-

citance and a conductance, all in parallel, while the trimmer can be assumed

to he an extra variable capaoi tance across the tuned circuit. Of the three un-

knowns, the capaci tance and inductanoe arma will be first determined.

The trimmer aots llke a paralle1 plate oondenser with adjustable plate

separation and air as a dielectric. The effective area of the plates was round
2
to be 2.2 cm and their separation w~s 0.10 cm. when the osci1lator was tuned
to 455 MC./seo. (fI). For an oscillator frequency of 480 MC./sec. (f2 ), the

average separation was 0.18 cm. The capacitance of the paral1el plate conden-
ser is given by the expression 1.11 KA/4rrd pf.,

where K is the dielectric constant and equals uni ty for air

A is the area of each plate in cm2

d ia the separation between the plates in cm. The formul8. gives a value

of 1.95 pf. for 455 Mc./sec. and 1.08 pf. for 480 MC./sec., the change in

capaci tance C thus being O.~ pf. The value of the inductance L is found

from the fundamental relation

where

Substituting in the values

 .... ...
..
~ , " ~~" .- ;.
" . '.:,.
:J.D

5
0-

B
It-
~~AWI'II~
u..
~~

l1
~"4:
2

.
~
-
ta..
 :J/

:: 0, (;) l-a y, ""',

For f - 488 Mc./sec. the equivalent capacitance 1/ (2nf)2 is 7.7- pf. and for

f • 500 Me./sec., it is 7.4 pf. The next problam was to determine the equiva-

lent conductance.

It is knoWll that the bandwidth of a quiescent circuit is gi ven by

G
b -2 ::'c at - 3 db., where Go i6 the equi valent paraIIel conductance of the qui-

escent circuit. To find Go i t is only necessary to measure b since C bas already

been calculatad. The procedure was as follows:-

The power in the receiver was turned off while the output of the signal

generatorconnected to the output loop of the receiver was increased to above

0.5 volts at 1$0 Me./sec. The cathode cavity was detuned and the plate cavity

tuned to 480 Me./sec. For a fixed output of the signal generator, the detected

portion; which was fed into a D.C. amplifier on an oscilloscope, gave an indi-

oation of the amount of off-resonance of the plate cavity from the signal gene-

rator frequency. At resonance the cavity absorbed little power and thus a larger

output was observed on the C.R.T. When not in resonance, the impedance of the

cavity, observad at the loop, decreased and so did the output voltage. The de-

tector had been previously calibrated so that the frequency could be set 't othe

values_ giving an output of 3 db.balow resonance. The advantage of this method

was that there were always large detected signaIs to be observed, even at -1

neper from resonance. The quiescent band-width obtained for the plate cavity

"as b. 2.6 Mc./sec. (at -3 db.)

The equation for the conductance in parallel 1d th the resonant circuit is

then (3.4.1.)

• 12y mhos.
The equi valent circuit for the plata oan ty is now approXimataly known.
3-.4 The graphical determination of a-

A graphie method for f1nding the value of a- under a partieular set of con-

dit10ns is descr1bed fully in Chapter 5 of "Super-Regenerative Receivers" by

J.R. Whitehead. It i8 the most accurate method sinee it makes a1.most no use of

approximations for the osc11lator tube characteristic curves. As had been men-
rJ-U"-' a. ~l1 d..L-
tioned previously, a- ia the integral with respect to time ?f the negative part

of the resonant circuit conductance G. The expression for G is

where qUi.s scent conductance of the tuned circuit

k: constant for gi ven circuit conditions

gm • transconductanee of the oscillator tube

From this equation i t is apparent that when oscillations Just start, G ia

zero and gm has its cr1tical value &no. The expressioll f9l'kis" .thereforé.,

k: Go/&no

The charaeteristic values of the quieseent circuit were

Band-width b • 2.6 Mc./sec. (at-3db)

Capacitanee C • 7.9 pf.

Resonant frequency fo • 480 Me./sec.

Shunt conductance Go • l29~ mhos.

Other data consisted of

QueÏlch frequency fq: • 54 Kc./sec.

Quench amplitude Jq • 5.0 V

5876 plate voltage Va • 250 V

Output pulse peak Vl • 0.25 V

Input signal V • l2.5~V

Bias for oscillations to begin Vgo • - 3.4 V

Mean grid bias voltage

 . . 'r . .
The transoonduotanoe ~In
grid bias voltage ourve for the 5F!f76 triode is not
!.
availab1e in the published tube data and so it was neoessary to obtain it ex-

perimentally. First, the P+ate ourrent la was reoorded for different grid bias

voltage values Vg , the plate being kapt at 250 V. The resu1ts were p10tted

and shown in fig. 3.3. The slope of the ourve 6LJAEa whioh is defined as &Il

was then found for differenot Vg values and similar1y p10tted in fig. 3.4. The

required part of the transoonductance (gm) cycle oan be seen in fig. 3.5. It
is simp1y obtained b,y projeoting the grid bias voltage as a funotion of tima on

the tube transconductallce a.. grid bias voltage, and getting the transoonductanoe

as a function of time. In the third quadrant i8 a 5 volt quenoh oyo1e super-

imposed on a -7.4 volt mean grid bias. In the first is the resu1t, with the

osoi1latory reg10n being above gmo • 3.5 m. mhos. corresponding to a grid bias

of - 3. 4 volts. The value k is noll' found from e quation (3. 4. 2.) to be

0.037 x 1~·.

Knowing this, the conductanoe oyole in fig. 3.6 is oonstructed from the

transoonduotanoe oycle by using equation (3.4.3.). On the same figure i8 a

grid bias voltage oyole showing fram the conduotanoe ourve how the osoi1lator

behaves during various parts of the quenoh periode The· regenerative period,

during whioh the input osoil1ations are amplifie d, is followed by the super-

regenerative period, during which the oscillations grow rapid1y. Then comes the

damping period and the existing osoillations deoay. The detected output pulse

is also sketohed from the traoe on the osoillo.oopa, with i ts peak at the end of

the super-regenerative periode The area a- Was measured and found to be l05.~

mhos.~seo.

3.5 Theoretioal formula for the output

Provided that several oondi tions are met, the expression for the osoilla-

tion amplitude aorOS8 the plate oavity is given at any time t b,y
 \8

IGt
S8r6
U.H.F. HICaH MU T~IOCE:

v.,, zSOV. 14

IOJ
IYnI.OJ.

10

, :

-8 -6 · -~
o
-JO
tr VOL..T~.

F'ICa.l~ PLATt. C.URRENT V~ CaRlO al~ VOLTACaE

 58"7E,
U.H.r. H1GH MU TRIODE

Vit>..:' ZSO V. '7

/
z

-8
~
-.
VOL..TSa
o

F'lCa. 3.4 TRANSaC.ONOUCi'ANC.ë: vs. GRIO !aIA~ VOL...TAC.e:.

 ...' .
-.: ~

w \J
.
~ ~ ....t)
~~
~
~
2
'" J
0
)0-
0
(
~

~
0
w
r
1: t-
l:~ ls.
~ ,,~l:Ul 0
0 z
Q
~
z
~
,
N
OC
Id
1-
IJ
il
\II
~
•
.ri .
"
li.

..•

•
W
II)
10
•
~ III

"
~~
~
~
0-
.~'"
... 0
> Id
J
2, JI ~
v
~ lai
il ~
-
tr ~
\l 0
H ?
•

' ''f
 o

GR\D &l~$
-2
vo\..TAC.t. c."'(CL.E.

-4

-8 0 10

1
1
1
'I~ 1

- -
CAM~ Re..c..t.~I:.AATIVE.tR(~yP~\'Itt--
PERIO, . ç:>e..RIOO P6Gào
Df'\MPINCa
PERloe

100
C.ONO\JCT~Ct.

G 1$ CYC~&

/-< MHOS.

O+--------+~~--_+----~ ___r_------~------------~-
~O ~
fi'- SEC..
-u

-s

0·1
v, Ol
VOL.TS 0.1

o+-----------~-----------~--~~-----~------------~-
s 10

F"IG.3.tO DtïERMlNAT'ON OF' Tl-\~ CONCUC.,.ANCe: CfCI-E.

 ..l-
y,~) :: Vs G.r (! ~~J z ( :.) ~ [ -e (;;;)z]
;t
K ~[ :b JG{X) ~
.;(',
~ [WoT -f(W-W~Z-,]

wbere vI.. t) = oscillation amplitude at time t

,. .
.
~

r ;... ~ 1..

Vs = absolute signal amplitude

)

Wo = 21ffo : radial frequency of the osc111ator

LV - 211" f : radial frequency of the signal

C = capac1 tance of the plate cavi ty

G'(t,) = derivative of the conductance with respect to time at t =t,
The ratio of V, over Vs cail be obtained from above and then greatly

aimplif1ed when the input signal i8 tuned to the rece1ver. It ia given by

1 ;t-
v~ = G. [
s
c :,pc;I7 ~[ ;~ f G('()~ ~
('3. 5 .:1)

whare the éinusoidal variation with time is also laft out.

For t =t 2 the oscillation amplitude V, ia simply the peak of the output

:r~
pulse and - Jz,
G(x) dx becomes a- as Was defiœd previously. The last equation

then reduces to

V~=G. (3.5.3. )
.J'

wbich can he rewri tten 80 as to get an expression for a-, namely

a-- = -'c h [[C~,)]:f ~~:J (3.5.4.)

= II~~~.~~
which compares favourably wi th lO~ mhos.ft sec. from the gr.aph1cal method.

Judging from the reading accuracy in conducting the valillus measurements, i t

is estimated tbat the value of C is lalown to witbin : 20% and that of b ia

known to w1 thill t 10%. The possible error for a- is about 20%, since most of

its contribution comes tram the C outside the logarithm in equation (3.5.4.).
T-he discrepancy in the two values of a- is well within this error.

An expression for the total receiver gain Nt CaD. he obtained from equation

(3.5.3.) by taking the natural logarithma of both sides. This gives

~* = h [ v'::-~ J]
= .~ [ Go [FK,(;t-,)] { ] ~ ~
= )10 +}1s ~ (3.5.5.)
so that #0:: ~ [G.[ C;'C.i"J1] ~ (3.5.6.)
and (3.5.7.)

No is called the slope gain. It ia the contribution to the total gain that

oceurs during the regenerative period, when the net conductance across the reso-

nant circuit is positive but is dropping to zero. Ns has already been mentioned

bafore and is called the super-regenerative gain, since it acts during the super-

regenerative periode No worka out te he 2.62 nepera or 22.S db and Ne, as ob-

tained graphically, is 6.65 nepers or 57.0 db. Under normal operating conditiops

the mean grid bias voltage may be much smaller, in which case the super-regene-

rative period would be longer and the regenerative pariod shorter. That would

be accompanied by a 1arger Ne and smaller No_

There were several conditions which had te he met in order that equation

(3.5.1.) be valide Firstly, it is a formula for the slope-contro1ed state and

the requirement.'for slope control ia that

-
12 C
(3.5.8.)
wbere to is defined in fig. 3.6. It is found that
-*, -..;r 0 -:.: "3. S"./"'"'~. (3.5.9.)

-
/2 ~
G.
which satisry the condition stated in equation (3.5.S.).
(3.5.1~

The oscillation amplitude ia actually obtained as the sum of two parts, of

which VI is the more important term if the condition for slope contr01is satie-
fied and that

(3.5.11)
The first condition has been met and the second is also satisfied from
knowing that

t2 - to • 3.~ see. (3.5.12)

and fram equation (3.5.9).

3.6 Super-regenerative band-width

Equation O.5.1) shows how the super-regenerative oscillatbr ~eaets to fre-
queneies other than that of the reeeiver. The frequency response S(f) oan be
described by
. l
srJ_) =:. ~ ~j [ e (c.v- W.,) ]
!t'Y' Wo --~, G'U,)

a ::L ~r -m,II!' (-1-;-0)']

~ G ,~,) (3.6.1)

which behaves Iilœ a Gaussian error-curve for f not[!~:~different from to;

The band-width b s • 2(f-fo) is obta1ned approximately when

~ [ -~1T'~:lf.)'J" ~[-/J 0.6.2)

ks = ~[ S:,J( ~ (3.6.3)
Fig. 3.7 gives the relative response of the receiver in db. The band-
width 91 is measured at -8.7 db. to be 0.63 Mc./see. The expeoted band-width
from equation (3.6.3.) ls

t /J." lite. !.AJ..e..

 '3/

- 0
~6,.O
~'9.0

F"~. ~.'"l RE~Tl\IE F'RE.QUE:NC.Y RESPONS[. 01=' ïHE ~ECElve:R

which compares very well with the experimental value.
The ensrgy band-wi.th for noise calculations ia derined as
+OQ

J 1sr-hl" 4-
:<f.)'
--
where the experimental results of IS(f)/2 are given in fig. 3.8. Since

S(t o ) • l, the area under the C'l.n'Ve, which is just the integral, gives the
band.-width. This is illustrated by means ot a rectangle having a béight
equal to uni ty aDd a width equal to the band-width, which turned out to be

0.38 Mc./sec.

3.7 Noise figBt!

The performance ot the receiver must be compared with an 1dea1 receiver
with respect to noise. For normal purposes it ls only possible to receive
signaIs in a band whose width equa1s the quench frequency f" so that the 1dea1

comparison receiver must have a band.-width t,,- 54 Kc./sec. a1so.

The noise generated in a 54 EC./sec. band-w1dth 1s

7
where K • Bottzman's constant 1.37 x 10- 23 jou1esl'°K

T • Temperature o~ the resistanoe in degrees Kelvin

R • InternaI res1stance of the source in ohms.
f • Rece1ver noise band-width in cycles/sec.

It was necessary to determine the amount ot noise present in the receiver •

.1. 100% amplitude modulated signal was fed to the receiver and the signal am-

plitude was decreased ontil the peak noise level in the valleys ot the
 '.' .
- ~ '. ",

419.0 480.0
S\GNÂ\.. F"RtQUt.NC't IN Me:/ ~EC..

flCa,3 ,B NO\~~ aANO-W 10iH Mt.A~U~E.M~Nï

 modulation rose to the mean carrier level. The r.m.s. carrier voltage Was

3.0"pv. which indicated that the "1% leveln had a value of 4.24,r v. If we

assume what happens to be the peak value of noise as the level which is ex-

ceeded for 1% of the time 1 this level is 2.3.3 x r.m.s. value, thus giving

1 l. 1.82~v. for the r.m.s. noise.

"Jo .. . .fl.
./ : ! '.
Now /-1- - s = 10
,
' ... .!lr
and the approximate noise figure = ~ 0 x~. 10 ::L:l 0 d!.J,-

It has been shown by H.A. Wheeler that the noise figure of a super-regene-

rative receiver is larger than that of a straight amplifier, having the sarna

band-w.i.dth, by a factor which equals

where b s • the super-regenerative band-width

and ff. the quench frequency

The reason for this is that the super-regenerative receiver is sensitive

to noise in a band equal to b s , but i t heats wi th the component frequencies of

the general spectrum and appears in a band who se width equale the quench fre-

quency ft"

The ratio can he worked eut and is

I:J .0
Subtracting from the noise figure the value of this ratio, yeu obtain 9 db,
which is a reasonable noise figure for the 5876 triode alone in a first-class

conventional circuit.

3.8 Oscillograms of oscillator pulses

The 500 MC./sec. oscillations leave the oscillator in the form of pulses at

quench frequency. These pulses are detected and observed on an oscilloscope.

Fig. 3.9a shows the randam noise output wben no signal is presen~while in
fig. 3.9b one can see the superimposed output pulses for only noise at the
raceiver input. The pulses have a Gaussian wavef6rm and a wide distribution
in amplitude corresponding to the wide amplitude variation of the noise at the
input. Fig. 3.10a shows the detected output for a large, continuous wave sig-
nal at the input, with fig. 3.10b giving the constituént superimposed pulses.
These are ail of the same amplitude and he.nce the trace appears as a solid
line. One can observe how the pulse resembles a Gaussian waveform, as had been
pradicted by the ory •

Fig. 3.il iilustrates how the pulses f»l'Im an amplitude modulated sine
wave. In fig. 3.lla is shown a linearly amplified output of a signal whose
amplitude was modulated with l Kc./sec. In the next pictura, one can see the

individual pulses, of which it takes 54 to reproduce one wavelength. The third

picture shows the relative separation of the pulses and fig. 3.111 gives the
pulses aIl superimposed. There are sharp limits at the top and bottam which
correspond to the pulses describing the top and bottom peaks of the amplitude
modulated signal.
FIG- 3.CJ (~) OUT'PlJT NOISE Fo~ No INPuT SIG-NAL
 1
1 1 1 1
,

. ,! "

Fl a. :S .l O Cc:).) OUTPVT FOR L..AR.<;.~ INPUT SlcPNfH_

FI~ 3. Il (0) OUTPUT FoR AN AM'?L.I(UDE M0.DUL.A'EJ) INPVT SI6-NIH..

FïG- 3.11 (b) FORMATiON OF THe. S/WE WAVE

 '3f

FIG- 3.(1 Cc) REl.AT'''E Sç'PARATIDN O~ T"HE puLSeS-

FIG s.1I (cL) SIJPEllIM'PoSE:D PUt..SES FoR THG w~VEFORM OF FIG- 3.II{o.J
 4. OTHER SECTIONS WHICH CONSTITUTE THE RECEIVER

4.1 The guench oscillator

As had been mentioned bafore, the quench oscillator voltage modulates the

u.h.r. oBcillator bias voltage. The frequency can be varied from 44 Kc./sec.

to 58 Kc./sec. and normally operates near 50 Kc./sec. The oscillator is of the

bridge type, being a modification of the Wien type. The frequency determining

network is shown in fig. 4.1. ei. (ef - e r ) and eo are the input and output
voltage to the amplifies. The ratio of er to e o is given by
1
-!:i-=
..L 0 (4.1.1)

= --.-L
:3

1 -= A (-!::::i
:e." D
- ~
-t.- 0
)
::. 11{"i -k)
It is, the re fore , necessary to make K greater than 3 and to have no phase shift
ft
(no imaginary part in A) at resonant frequency. A diagram of the circuitVshown
in fig. 4.2. The 3 watt tungsten 1amp R is a non-linear arm of the bridge and
accounts for the stable oscillations. Its temperature i6 high enough to pre vs nt

instability.

Rp acts as a grid leak and RL as a cathode bias resistor. C4 and R4 de-

couple the quench oscillator trom the restor the circuit. It was also impor-

tant to shield the oscillator trom the a.g.s., which is tuned to the detected

quench frequency pulses from the super-regenerative oscil1ator. The band-width

of the tuned amplifier stage in the a.g.s. is 2 Kc./sec., a maximum drift of

..... . . r " - :. ~-!... ~.. _ : •• -.

'1/

. . ~ .

.~. ;
. ~ ...: ~' '. , ... '

" t ,
"
", '

, ..
• • Ô:" '

" ., , '.
0
: ... . w
. . ...
... .. .
OC
0
,~ ,

"
~ J
lX
tJ
~ J

-dl v-
0
OC
J

0
\1) ...
.~

-v.
~ ÙJ: .
z
W 1:. "-
l.L
:l ~
'
: ';
..,
8tt Wcr
IL. Z
1-
~
0 co
v
,. ?" '
 ;,r~l': ;~l~~~~{ ·/,'tt,~f;·f.;) ':· .
\~i;~'.'E> ',,',',' *~~
;1 . t ""

l' . .....

~.: ... .. .-:' .,.:

~1,
• •• ... " .')

.,,: .If

QUE:NCH OSCILLATOR
RIS
r----------------------------------------------------------,-------------------r-------.v·~..~.~~~~ .. ~()()\I.
22K.n

.3O~.n.
RJ
lS~4~..
..
( III _CaRID. OF
U.H.r. 05C.
o.001p"
Cil

--- 1
n III...C.~I~O_--,
Q.I)AF'
'JA'
S.S
Rg
0.&.,. ... =r <:'14
~
TEST k
. - -_ _ _1'-';.1 JAC.t<.
JI

1I0PF" 30t<4
ca Ru
L.A.MP
RIO

"Il ~~
2

~6SNl Y26SN7

if":i Ga .4. 2. ' ,}

...
. ~~

1;

~ '.,.~~_'::d. ~.~~~, ., . ·.~~:. :i\:~(: ' -" f

"
" ' ..
 QUENCH OSCILLATOR

List of Components

V2 ' , v 2 r, 6SN7 double triode

R3 30K~

R4 25K.n. 2 watt polentiometer

R5 22K..n 1% tolerance

R6 22K..s'\. 1.% tolerance

R7 10K$I. potentiometer )
) ganged together
RS 10K..n. . potenticmeter )

R<t 5.5K .n.

RIO 3 watt lamp (non-linear resistance)

Rll 30K .n..

R12 ~.n.

R13 22K ...1'\..

Cs 110 pf. 1% tolerance

C9 110 pf. 1% tolerance

CIO O.l/"f.

CIl 1.1"'" f •
C12 O.5..;ttf.

C13 0.OO7~f.

014 0.5 ~f.

JI test jack
l Ke./sec. or 2% cao be tolerated in the quench fraquency, which ia given by

l/2ffRs C9 • Rs consists of a fixad 22 K.n. resistor in series with a fraction of

an Ohmi te 10 K.n. potentiometer. The maj or variation in Rs will be due to tem-

perature changes, whereas C9 has a zero temperature coefficient. Rs will not

change by more than -0.02% per Oc rise. For a 200 C change from the normal opera-

ting tempe rature only 0.4% change would be observed in the frequency, which is

well within the a.g.s. band-width.

A maximum amplitude of 25 volts peak cao be fad into a 7K.o. load with very

little distortion in the waveform. Almost no distortion exists for an output

of less than .5 volts.

4.2 The u.h.f. detector and a.gaS. sIstem

A schematic diagram of the circuit is shown in fig. 4.3.

The output pulses from the u.h.f. oscillator are detected by a IN 54 A ger-
""'\

manium diode and fed into a tuned amplifier. The tuned amplifier has a t6~id

and a capacitor C16 for the tuned circuit and R4 as a damping resistance to ob-

tain a band-width of 2 Kc./sec., R4 (47K~) reduces the Q of the plate load

from 45 to Z7, thus decreasing the equi valent damping resistaoce t'rom 30.5 K.Jl.

to 18.5 K..n... The amplification at resonance is given by

w" '-, Q

:; G~ w~ L, Cf

The measured amplification was found to be 28 which is in close agreement

with the ory. It was necessary to decouple the tuned amplifier from the other

stages in order to reduce the feedback through the B + supply, which had origi-

nally reduced the gain of the tuned amplifier to 23 and sometimas aven maintained

oscillations.
" , ~". ' .

U.H.F: DE:TECTOR AND AUTOMAï\CGA1N STAS\L\Ze:.R

8+
300V.

.~
C. 16
l 't<n
0. !J,lf' R38 · GRIO
c.n
U.\oI.F.QSt

0.1»"
~----~----~ Cza

Er.1'7 A EF'3'7A E.F 37,... 6SN'7 E»ALS

OUTPUT OF' U. H.'-. ,.UNEO F'IRST SECOND

PHASE GRIO OF'
U. '"'. F'. OSOC.. VOL.T~GE VOLïA<6L REC.",~\ER ~ urtF. ose.
DE.TEC.'ïOR AMPLlF'\ER INvE:RTER
ÂMPLlFI!:.A ~MPL.'F\ER.

F'G.4.3 .
 The . tuœd amplifier ..as rolloœd by two stagee ot volte.g8 ampl1ticat1oa,
each haviDg a gain of about 50 at a frequency ot 54 le./seo. The gain ot the

tir.t 'V01.~ amplifier was made var1able by having a po"tentiolD8ter tor \hl

plate load. The outplt ot the seoond voltage amplifier red 1nto the pLu. 1n-

verter .hoae output ilIlpeda.nce, at the plate, equalled R33 or 5.6 I..n , and at

the oathode equalled the re01prooal ot the trazwoonductanoe or 2.. 30,.JL • 'fbI

val• • or the oomponents tor these aeotioœwe:re oho88n rran obae:nr1ng the ttt'be

obaraoterietios t~ the Er 'J1J.. and the (mr1. A double diode "7 reotifia4 the

54 rco./..o. voltage at the plate and oathode ot "6 togiw out a negat1ve D.O.

oon'b'ol voltage tor truf grid of the u.h.t. oaol11ator.

In ordsr to 8AU8ry the NYCJll.t orlter1on tor 8tabillty1n the te"baok

loop, it 1fU naoellsary te in'troduoe a t.1.m lag wh10h would be greawl" than

tw10e tl» 100p gain, mult1pl1ed br the 81Dl or the phase !age and delay. ot til»
whole loop. This _. the reuon for the large time oonstant (0.05 . . . ) of

R38 and 029 , and the slow re.pon.. ot the lIIystem. B.r maJd ng a rapid l M " "

in 8ignal amplitude at the input or the reoelwr, 1t Was possible to .. e a

large Pllse for a fraotion ot li. second at the orystal IN 541 bafore the oontrol

ot the a.g.8. 1fas r~etored.

POl" the u.h.t. ol!lcillator to al..eys operate in tœ 11n.eel' mode, the re-

quirement on the a.g.s. ls simply to ha," .nough gain .e. that for the large.t
input a1gnal the osoillationa do not reaoh sa.turation. It ie obviou. that, U

the lnput signal 18 decreaeed; tœ outPlt pulsee oan Dot lnorease and 210 tœ

oscl11ator can never f'ind itselt in the loger1thmic mode.

4.3 Tm aster oircuit

1 clrcuit ehowing the met3r connections 1111 civen in tig.4.4. Vs 18 a

double rectifier; being simi1a.r 1n operation ta V ,

7 rut giv1.ng out a poaitiw

voltage 1.natead. For po si tion 3 of the two-pole six-poai tion swi tch, ODi
 '1.
: ~~rf': ',.··.· ,,~~~~~;t.. . "" t'},
C,:,' .~ .
~ :
1.' •

' ' ;'<:,:~~' ,: .~ -

,:~. ~
/.,;.,

,;

'* : ~ '-, .

THE: Me:T~R CIRCUlT

Sl~t-IAL.. 5iRtNGiH.
?\..ATt or &8'76
• 0·$00\1.
INOiCATOR 3 4

R.'.c:..S.
CURREN'i IN 587'- H.T. 'IIOL..TAC.E.
o-so M.A. .~ s·o-SOO\!-
3~
I.$.A ~TOGRIt:>
or s&'T6
.... .....
a~
O·~S".
ON !ta..,. .1 6eME.T&R OUT
~
-...l
OF C.I~C.UI T

.3!~A.
~

Zll<.n.
TO en • =:;1 ,. . . . ~"
TO C.~8-

6ALS

S:-\G.4.4

..
--~--- ,' .
 I{f

terminal of the mater 18 connected to the output of Vs and the other 1. b&ebd

off a variable D.C. voltage with Bi" as It8 souree, as ehawn in tige 4.4. fi»

50 K.Q. potenticaeter ie ueed as the ~ro centerlng ot the meter. An exterDlll

meter cm be connected to the jack below the meter, i f the panel .. ter le DOt

sutf'ioie ntly &Ccur ate.

All the other positions of the Ind toh are qui ta simple. For poei UODa l,
5 and 6 tbrJ mater bas a large resistan.ae in Mrie. wi th i t and aota lik. a YOl't-
_ter. For poeitionil,it ha.e a 1.S..n.. Bmmt, thu,. acting lib a milllaDIMter.

The eT-ternal meter oan ha ueed wi th poe! tion l, 4 or 6 if it ha., a 5'!t ap.

._tull
moye_nt and poetion 2 if it bas a resleteDoe ot 1.S I..n.., and still haw'tJ»:.:o

scale dètlecUon ail the panel meter.

 5. CONSTRUCTION OF THE RECElVER

5.1 The layout and operation of the receiver

Three views of the receiver are shown in fig. 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. AlI the
controls are on the front panel wi th only two test jacks at the raar of tha
chassis, as S3en in fig. 5.2. The wavaform of the datected pulses can be ob-
served on the oscilloscope b,y co~necting to the jack labeled ttOetected Output
Pulses". The output from the other jack gives the quench voltage, which is fad
to the grid of the 5876. It enables one to observe the waveform of the quench

frequency, measure i t9 amplitude and frequency, as weIl as to use i t as an ex-

ternal trigger for an oscilloscope if one should try to observe the oscillator

output pulses.

The two controls on the front panel,for the frequency and amplitude of the
quench voltage, are shielded te minimize frequency drift of the quench oscilla-
tore The a.g.s. gain control is not provided with a kno~ since,after it is set
and locked, it does not need resetting very frequently.
The cathode and plate cavities are tuned by means of the two knobs on the
front panel and can aIso be locked if desired, since the tuning shafts are pro-
vided with locking nuts. The other controls have already been mentioned in

para. 4.4.

5.2. The super-regenerative receiver as a "Bridge" detector

A view of the equipment necessary for making measurements with the admit-
tance meter (u.h.f. "Bridge") is shown in fig. 5.4. The signal generator on

the right provides the u.h.f. power for the "Bridge", while the receiver at the

centr~with its po\~r supply on the laft, acts as a datector. The advantage of
this type of detector i9 the fact that,at such high frequencies, the super-rege-

nerative principle is more efficient tham the superheterodyne principla.

3
-uJ
">

-
w
u
llJ
cl

-
~

L-L
J,
 5"/

)
->
U)

v"-
ct
~

cL
LU
:::>
lU
u
W
P'

y
.
01.
g
-
UJ
ù
U)
~

-
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 The suggestad method of detection is to m1x the unbalanced signal from the

admittance meter with the output of a local osci1lator and detact the interme-

diata frequency with an amplifier. The difficu1tJ lies in finding the desired
T

frequency !rom the beats of the harmonies. This arrangement has a sensitivity

of approximate1y 5,..u.. volts.

It doos not compare very we1l wi th a sensi ti vi ty of 1.5"P vol ta, which ia

possible with the super-regenerative receiver. The reradiating oscillations

of the super-regenerative receiver is of no disadvantage, sinee their presence

is equally felt in all the arms of the admittance meter and doos not affect

the balance.
 SUMMARY AND
CONCLUSIONS

A super-regenerative receiver was designed, and found to be feasible, for

operation in a frequency band from 455 MC./sec. to 510 Mc./sec. The value of

a- was obta1ned, graphically, to be 105~ mhos. /" sec., while from the formula

it turned out to he 114/"mhos./sec.

The super-regenerative band-width was measured to be 630 Kc./sec. under nor-
mal operating conditions at a general frequency of 54 Kc./sec. and a quench am-
plitude of 5 volts peak. This result of the band-width was in excellent agree-
ment with the theoretical value of 660 Kc./sec.

The noise figure was determined to be 20 db., of which Il db. was calculated
to be due to the super-regenerative principle, thus leaving 9 db. for the 5876
triode, which is what one would expect from a first class conventional circuit.

The receiver was able to detect 1.5fo volts of input signal and hence eas-
ily fUlfilling the sensitivity requirements for its use as a "bridge" detector.

The receiver is also sufficiently sensitive and stable to be used as a

field strength meter. At the "Signal Strength Indicator" position of the switàh
on the panel, the meter has an approximately logarithmic response. It would

be possible to get signal strength directly in db. when the meter ls calibrated.
 APPENDIX l

The Power Supply for the Heceiver

The pwwer supply should have an internal. resistance of less than

50 J\.. at D.C and at 54 Kc ./sec. In the power supply that was us ed,

there were two filament transformers. One of these with its centre

top grounded was used for all the tubes whose cathodes were near ground

potential. The other was used for the fila.ment of the 6SN7 phase

inverter whose cathode was at a mean potential of fi) volts and a

possible peak potential of 120 volts.

The power supply is connected to the receiver through a six

conductor cable with an octal socket. The places on the power supply

to which the wire are connected can be known by observing the colours

of the wires. The connections to the octal socket are numbered below

together with the colour of the wire going to each connector.

1. ground blue

2. general filaments black

3. B+ 300V white

4. not used

5. V6 filament brown

6. V6 filament green

7. general filaments red

8. not used
 57

REFERENCES

Armstrong, E. H., Some recent developments in regenerative circuits.

Proc. Inst. h.a.dio Engrs., N.Y. 10, 244 (Aug. 1922).

Ataka, H., On super-regeneration of an ultra-short wave receiver.

Proc. Inst. Radio Engrs., N.Y. 23, 481 (Aug. 1935).

Schroggie, M. G., The super-regenerative receiver. .iirele as Engr.,

13, 581 (Nov. 1936).

Frink, F.W., The basic principles of super-regenerative reception.

Proc. Inst.Radio Engrs., N.Y. 26, 76 (Jan. 1936).

Lewis, 'tI. B. and }ülner, C. J., A portable duplex radio telephone.

wireless Engr., 13, 475 (Sep. 19)6).

Becker, S. and Leeds, L. M., A modem two way radio system. Proc. Inst.
Radio Engrs., N.Y. 24, 1183 (Sept.1936).

Bradley, W. E., Super-regenerative detection theory. l!..1.ectronics 2l,

96 (Sept. 1948).

Hazeltine, A., Richman, D. and Loughlin, B. D., Supe r-regenera ti ve

design. Electronics p. 99 (Sept. 1948). ' . "

Macfarlane, G. G. and~itehead, J. R., The super-regenerative receiver

in the linear mode. F .': Instn. Elect. Engrs., 93 Part III A,
p. 284 (March-May 1946).

Macfarlane, G. G. and 'W hitehead, J. R., The theory of the super-

regenerative receiver operated in the linear mode. F. Instn.
Elect. Engrs., 95 Part III, p. 143 (May 1948).

Glu ck sman, H. A., Super-regeneration; an analysis of the linear mode.

Proc. Inst. Radio Engrs., N.Y. 37, 500 (May 1949).

Whitehead, J. R. ~ Super-Hegenerative ft.eceivers, Cambridge University

Press (1950).

i'lhcùer, H. A., Wheeler l{onographs, Volume l, Numbers 3 and 7, Wheeler

Laboratories Great Neck, New York (1953).