RADIO RECEIVER (commonly also called a radio) is an electronic device that

receives radio waves and converts the information carried by them to a usable
form. It is used with an antenna. The antenna intercepts radio waves
(electromagnetic waves) and converts them to tiny alternating currents which are
applied to the receiver, and the receiver extracts the desired information.
Types of radio receivers
Various types of radio receivers may include:

Consumer audio and high fidelity audio receivers and AV receivers used by
home stereo listeners and audio and home theatre system enthusiasts as well
as audiophiles.

Communications receivers, used as a component of a radio communication

link, characterized by high stability and reliability of performance.

Simple crystal radio receivers, also known as a crystal set, which operate
using the power received from radio waves.

Satellite television receivers, used to receive television programming from

communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

Specialized-use receivers such as telemetry receivers that allow the remote

measurement and reporting of information.

Measuring receivers or measurement receivers are calibrated laboratorygrade devices that are used to measure the signal strength of broadcasting
stations, the electromagnetic interference radiation emitted by electrical
products, as well as to calibrate RF attenuators and signal generators.

Scanners are specialized receivers that can automatically scan two or more
discrete frequencies, stopping when they find a signal on one of them and
then continuing to scan other frequencies when the initial transmission
ceases. They are mainly used for monitoring VHF and UHF radio systems.

Internet radio devices

History
Radio waves were first identified in German physicist Heinrich Hertz's 1887
series of experiments to prove James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. Hertz
used spark-excited dipole antennas to generate the waves and micrometer spark
gaps attached to dipole and loop antennas to detect them. These primitive devices
are more accurately described as radio wave sensors, not "receivers", as they could
only detect radio waves within about 100 feet of the transmitter, and were not used
to attempt communication but were instead used as part of an experiment to verify
a theoretical proof.
Spark Era

The earliest radio communication systems, used during the first three
decades of radio, 1887-1917, called the wireless telegraphy or "spark" era, used
spark gap transmitters which generated radio waves by discharging a capacitance
through an electric spark. Each spark produced a transient pulse of radio waves
consisting of a sinusoidal wave which decreased rapidly exponentially to zero. Spark
transmitters produced strings of these damped waves, and could not generate the
sinusoidal continuous waves which are modulated to carry sound in modern AM and
FM transmission. Thus spark transmitters could not transmit audio (sound), and
instead transmitted information by radiotelegraphy; the transmitter was switched
on and off rapidly by the operator using a telegraph key, creating different length
pulses of these damped radio waves ("dots" and "dashes") to spell out text
messages in Morse code.
Therefore, the first radio receivers did not have to demodulate the radio signal extract an audio signal from it as modern receivers do - just detect the presence or
absence of the radio signal, and produce a sound in the earphone during the "dots"
and "dashes" of the Morse code. The device which did this was called a "detector".
Since there were no amplifying devices during this era, the sensitivity of the
receiver mostly depended on the detector, and many different detector devices
were tried. Radio receivers during the spark eraconsisted of these parts:

An antenna, to intercept the radio waves and convert them to tiny radio frequency
electric currents.
A resonant circuit (tuned circuit), consisting of a capacitor connected to a coil of
wire (an inductor), which acted as a bandpass filter to select the desired signal out
of all the signals picked up by the antenna.
A detector, which produced a pulse of DC current for each damped wave received.
An indicating device such as an earphone, which converted the pulses of current
into sound waves. The first receivers used an electric bell instead. Later receivers in
commercial wireless systems used a Morse siphon recorder,[4] which consisted of an
ink pen mounted on a needle swung by an electromagnet (a galvanometer) which
drew a line on a moving paper tape.
Type of receiver
Coherer receiver
Tuning
Inductive coupling
Patent disputes
Crystal radio receiver
Heterodyne receiver and BFO

Vacuum tube Era

The Audion (triode) vacuum tube invented by Lee De Forest in 1906 was the first
practical amplifying device and revolutionized radio.Vacuum tube transmitters
replaced spark transmitters and made possible four new types of modulation:
continuous wave (CW) radiotelegraphy, amplitude modulation (AM) around 1915
which could carry audio (sound), frequency modulation (FM) around 1938 which had
much improved audio quality, and single sideband (SSB).A vacuum tube receiver
required several power supplies at different voltages, which in early radios were
supplied by separate batteries. These were the standard batteries used in early
radios:
"A" battery - This supplied current to heat the filaments of the tubes, which
consumed the bulk of the power in early radios. The first tubes used 6V at several
amperes, so lead-acid automobile batteries were often used, as they could be
recharged. Later tubes used 3V or 1.5V from dry cell batteries.
"B" battery - this supplied the plate (anode) voltage for the tubes, including the
audio output power to the earphone or loudspeaker. These were rectangular
multicell carbon-zinc batteries. They were made in multiples of 22.5 volts: 22.5, 45,
67.5, and 90 volts, and often had taps to give different voltages.
"C" battery - a few radios required a third voltage of about 4V to bias the grid of the
tubes negative.
Type of receiver
The first vacuum tube receivers(Audion)
Regenerative (autodyne) receiver
Superregenerative receiver
Tuned radio frequency (TRF) receiver
Neutrodyne receiver
Reflex receiver
Superheterodyne receiver
Semiconductor Era
The invention of the transistor in 1947 revolutionized radio technology, making truly
portable receivers possible, beginning with transistor radios in the late 1950s.
Although portable vacuum tube radios were made, tubes were bulky and inefficient,
consuming large amounts of power and requiring several large batteries to produce
the filament and plate voltage. Transistors did not require a heated filament,
reducing power consumption, and were smaller and much less fragile than vacuum
tubes.
The development of integrated circuits (ICs) in the 1970s created another
revolution, allowing an entire radio receiver to be put on a chip. ICs reversed the
economics of vacuum tube radios; since the marginal cost of adding additional
amplifying devices (transistors) to the chip was essentially zero, the size and cost of
the receiver was dependent not on the active components as with vacuum tubes,
but on the passive components; inductors and capacitors, which could not be
integrated easily on the chip.[4] As a result, the current trend in receivers is to use
digital circuitry on the chip to do functions that were formerly done by analog
circuits which require passive components. In a digital receiver the IF signal is
sampled and digitized, and the bandpass filtering and detection functions are
performed by digital signal processing (DSP) on the chip. Another benefit of DSP is
that the properties of the receiver; channel frequency, bandwidth, gain, etc. can be

dynamically changed by software to react to changes in the environment; these

systems are known as software-defined radios or cognitive radio.
In modern wireless technology, radio transmitters and receivers are embedded in
portable digital devices such as laptops, cell phones, GPS receivers, Bluetooth
headsets, wireless routers and work automatically, in the background, to keep the
device in touch with other devices, without wires. They transmit binary digital data
by modulation methods such as frequency shift keying (FSK) allowing portable
digital devices to communicate via wireless networks.
Types of receiver
Digital technologies
DSP technology
PC controlled radio receivers
Radio control software
Software-defined radios

AM receiver
-amplitude modulation (AM) is a modulation technique used in electronic
communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier
wave. In amplitude modulation, the amplitude (signal strength) of the carrier wave
is varied in proportion to the waveform being transmitted. That waveform may, for
instance, correspond to the sounds to be reproduced by a loudspeaker, or the light
intensity of television pixels.
FM receiver
-Frequency modulation is used in radio broadcast in the 88-108MHz VHF band. This
bandwidth range is marked as FM on the band scales of radio receivers, and the
devices that are able to receive such signals are called FM receivers. The FM radio
transmitter has a 200kHz wide channel. The maximum audio frequency transmitted
in FM is 15 kHz as compared to 4.5 kHz in AM. This allows much larger range of
frequencies to be transferred in FM and thus the quality of FM transmission is
significantly higher than of AM transmission.
Communications receiver
-is a type of radio receiver used as a component of a radio communication link. This
is in contrast to a broadcast receiver which is used to receive radio broadcasts. The
difference between the two is that broadcast receivers only receive broadcast
bands, such as the medium wave and/or longwave AM broadcast bands and the VHF
FM broadcast band, while a communication receiver receives a wider part of the
radio spectrum not used for broadcasting, that includes the shortwave bands. They

are often used with a radio transmitter as part of a two way radio link for shortwave
radio or amateur radio communication, although they are also used for shortwave
listening.

-Commercial communications receivers are characterized by high stability and reliability of

performance, and are generally adapted for remote control and monitoring. For marketing
purposes, many hobby-type receivers are advertised as a "communications receivers" although
none are suited for heavy-duty, reliable 24-hour use as the primary form of communication for an
isolated station.
-Typically, a communications receiver is of the superheterodyne type in double, triple or, more
rarely, quad conversion. It features multiple RF and IF amplification stages and may have at least
one IF stage that is crystal controlled. It usually has a BFO and a product detector for SSB and
CW reception. The frequency coverage of receivers of this type is typically in the range of
500 kHz to 30 MHz. Communication receivers are suited for operation near powerful
transmitting facilities and so must have good internal shielding, front-end filtering. They have
design features to provide high selectivity and stability. Rejection of unwanted signals (images,
intermodulation products) will typically be much greater than a consumer-type general coverage
or broadcast receiver.
-The front panel controls are typically more comprehensive than those on a broadcasting
receiver. Usual features include: signal strength meter; RF gain control; AVC/AGC adjustments;
band switching or preselector switching; selectable bandwidth filters; BFO tuning; audio limiters
or attenuators. Precise, calibrated, analog tuning and display dials are used, with a separate
bandspread control to allow selective tuning of signals close in frequency. In more recent units
electronic digital frequency displays are provided. In communication receivers, the decorative
wooden cabinets typical of early broadcast receivers were replaced with utilitarian metal cabinets
to provide electromagnetic shielding and mechanical ruggedness.
-Communications receivers as an identifiable product type originated in 1933. The older
generation of tube-based communications receivers are affectionately known as boatanchors for
their large size and weight. Such receivers include the Collins R-390 and R-390A, the RCA AR88, the Racal RA-17L and the Marconi Electra. However, even modern solid-state receivers can
be very large and heavy, such as the Plessey PR2250, the Redifon R551 or the Rohde & Schwarz
EK070/D2-80.
Single-sideband modulation (SSB) or single-sideband suppressed-carrier
modulation (SSB-SC)
-is a refinement of amplitude modulation which uses transmitter power and
bandwidth more efficiently. Amplitude modulation produces an output signal that
has twice the bandwidth of the original baseband signal. Single-sideband

modulation avoids this bandwidth doubling, and the power wasted on a carrier, at
the cost of increased device complexity and more difficult tuning at the receiver.

-Radio transmitters work by mixing a radio frequency (RF) signal of a specific frequency, the
carrier wave, with the signal to be broadcast. The result is a set of frequencies with a strong peak
signal at the carrier frequency, and smaller signals from the carrier frequency plus the maximum
frequency of the signal, and the carrier frequency minus the maximum frequency of the signal.
That is, the resulting signal has a spectrum with twice the bandwidth of the original input signal.
In conventional AM radio, this signal is then sent to the radio frequency amplifier, and then to
the broadcast antenna. Due to the nature of the amplification process, the quality of the resulting
signal can be defined by the difference between the maximum and minimum signal energy.
Normally the maximum signal energy will be the carrier itself, perhaps twice as powerful as the
mixed signals.
-SSB takes advantage of the fact that the entire original signal is encoded in either one of these
sidebands. It is not necessary to broadcast the entire mixed signal, a suitable receiver can extract
the entire signal from either the upper or lower sideband. This means that the amplifier can be
used much more efficiently. A transmitter can choose to send only the upper or lower sideband,
the portion of the signal above or below the carrier. By doing so, the amplifier only has to work
effectively on one half the bandwidth, which is generally easier to arrange. More importantly,
with the carrier suppressed before it reaches the amplifier, it can amplify the signal itself to
higher energy, it is not wasting energy amplifying a signal, the carrier, than can (and will) be recreated by the receiver anyway.
-As a result, SSB transmissions use the available amplifier energy more efficiently, providing
longer-range transmission with little or no additional cost. Receivers normally select one of the
two sidebands to amplify anyway, so implementing SSB in the receiver is simply a matter of
allowing it to choose which sideband to amplify on reception, rather than simply choosing one or
the other in the design stage.
Independent sideband (ISB)
- is an AM single sideband mode which is used with some AM radio transmissions.
Normally each sideband carries identical information, but ISB modulates two
different input signals one on the upper sideband, the other on the lower
sideband. This is used in some kinds of AM stereo (sometimes known as the Kahn
system), but is generally otherwise prohibited in the U.S. by the FCC.

ISB is a compromise between double sideband (DSB) and single sideband (SSB) the other is
vestigial sideband (VSB). If the sidebands are out of phase with each other, then phase
modulation (PM) of the carrier occurs. AM and PM together then create quadrature amplitude
modulation (QAM). ISB may or may not have the carrier suppressed.
Suppressed-carrier ISB was employed in point-to-point (usually overseas) radiotelephony and
radioteletype by shortwave (HF). In military use, ISB usually referred to a close pair of FSK

radioteletype channels which could be demodulated by a single receiver, and employed in fleet
broadcast, point-to-point, and between larger vessels and shore stations on HF and UHF.