DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY - DASMARIÑAS

College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology

Demodulation of Amplitude – Modulated AM Signals

Experiment No. 7

By:
John Michael E. Macahilig
ECE42

Principles of Communications Laboratory

Date Performed: 28 November 2017

Date Submitted: 20 December 2017

Engr. Conrado D. Monzon

Instructor
I. Introduction
While changing the amplitude of a radio signal is the most obvious method to modulate it, it
is by no means the only way. It is also possible to change the frequency of a signal to give
frequency modulation or FM. Frequency modulation is widely used on frequencies above 30
MHz, and it is particularly well known for its use for VHF FM broadcasting.

Although it may not be quite as straightforward as amplitude modulation, nevertheless

frequency modulation, FM, offers some distinct advantages. It is able to provide near
interference free reception, and it was for this reason that it was adopted for the VHF sound
broadcasts. These transmissions could offer high fidelity audio, and for this reason, frequency
modulation is far more popular than the older transmissions on the long, medium and short wave
bands.

In addition to its widespread use for high quality audio broadcasts, FM is also used for a
variety of two way radio communication systems. Whether for fixed or mobile radio
communication systems, or for use in portable applications, FM is widely used at VHF and
above.

To generate a frequency modulated signal, the frequency of the radio carrier is changed in
line with the amplitude of the incoming audio signal.
 When the audio signal is modulated onto the radio frequency carrier, the new radio
frequency signal moves up and down in frequency. The amount by which the signal moves up
and down is important. It is known as the deviation and is normally quoted as the number of
kilohertz deviation. As an example the signal may have a deviation of plus and minus 3 kHz, i.e.
±3 kHz. In this case the carrier is made to move up and down by 3 kHz.

Broadcast stations in the VHF portion of the frequency spectrum between 88.5 and 108 MHz
use large values of deviation, typically ±75 kHz. This is known as wide-band FM (WBFM).
These signals are capable of supporting high quality transmissions, but occupy a large amount of
bandwidth. Usually 200 kHz is allowed for each wide-band FM transmission. For
communications purposes less bandwidth is used. Narrow band FM (NBFM) often uses
deviation figures of around ±3 kHz.

It is narrow band FM that is typically used for two-way radio communication applications.
Having a narrower band it is not able to provide the high quality of the wideband transmissions,
but this is not needed for applications such as mobile radio communication.
II. Objectives of the Experiment

1. To observe the dynamic response of frequency-modulated (FM) wave

2. To determine the frequency deviation and modulation index

3. To investigate the spectra of FM waves

4. To understand the process of FM demodulation

III. Results
Table 1: Characteristic of the FM Modulation
VDC (volts) fVCO (kHz) VDC (volts) fVCO (kHz)
-10 19.39 1 20.25
-9 19.47 2 20.33
-8 19.55 3 20.41
-7 19.63 4 20.49
-6 19.70 5 20.57
-5 19.78 6 20.65
-4 19.86 7 20.72
-3 19.92 8 20.79
-2 20.01 9 20.89
-1 20.09 10 20.96
0 20.17

Diagram 1: Modulator Characteristics of FM Modulation

Diagram 3: Dynamic Response of the FM Signal

Diagram 4: Dynamic Response of the PM Signal with a Square Wave

Table 2: FM Spectrum

f (kHz) VPM (dB)

18.7 -49
19 -33.4
19.3 -19.8
19.6 -10.6
20 -8.59
20.2 -10.6
20.5 -19.8
20.8 -33
21.1 -48.2

Diagram 5: FM Spectrum with 300-Hz Modulating Signal

Table 3: FM Spectrum
f (kHz) VPM (dB)
18.4 -47
18.9 -27.8
19.4 -13.8
19.9 -5.79
20.4 -13.8
20.9 -28
21.4 -45

Diagram 6: FM Spectrum with 500-Hz Modulating Signal

Diagram 7: Dynamic Characteristic for FM Demodulation (t2)
Diagram 8: Dynamic Characteristic for FM Demodulation (t1)

Diagram 9: Demodulated Signal with Pre-emphasis

IV. Discussion
The experiment takes a look on the modulation and demodulation using the Frequency
Modulation (FM) method of propagating a wave. The experiment also explores the various
effects of the modulating signal to the final output of the FM signal and how we can extract the
actual message that is being sent using the FM demodulator module in the laboratory.

We first take a look at the effect of a separate DC source and the frequency of the signal
that it produces. The DC voltage starts at -10 V and ramps up to +10 V. As we can see from the
data gathered, the signal’s frequency increases as the DC voltage increases. This means that the
produced signal is directly proportional to the input DC voltage that is introduced in it.

Next, we take a look on the effect to the final signal with the input signal. As we can see
from Diagrams 3 and 4, we can see that the FM output signal with a 10 Hz sinusoidal input has a
sort of an uneven output in the sense that the signal is changing in phase in certain points of the
output signal and at the PM modulation side of a square wave, we have a 10 Hz 10 Vpp input
square wave and as with the sinusoidal input at the FM modulation, the modulated signal is
somewhat uneven at a certain point at the output signal, but despite the signal being a square
wave, the output signal produces a sinusoidal like output and this is probably because of the
composition of a square wave being a composition of various voltage levels of a sinusoidal wave
and because the modulating signal is also a sinusoidal wave.

After this, we take a look on the FM modulated signal itself and the effects of a varying
input signal to it. We can see in the frequency spectrum that the FM signal, whatever is its input
signal, sort of forms a series of peaks at different frequencies other than the actual carrier
frequency. This is because unlike the AM modulation where there are only two sidebands, the
FM modulation, in theory, has an infinite number of sidebands with decreasing values of power
and voltage as it goes frequency deviates farther than the carrier frequency. This concept is very
evident in the FM modulation of both a 300 Hz and a 500 Hz input signal.

Finally, we take a look at the demodulation of a FM signal. There are two settings on the
laboratory module we have, the knob marked t1 and t2. The effect of the t2 knob is that it sort of
keeps the final demodulated output close enough to the voltage value of the original input signal
(as seen in Diagram 7) and the effect of the knob t1 is that the final demodulated output voltage is
double the original voltage value of the input signal (which is displayed in Diagram 8).

V. Conclusion/Findings
There are various ways of propagating a signal and another way of doing this is through
Frequency Modulation (FM). As we have seen in the outputs produced in the experiment, the
main difference of the FM modulation with AM modulation is that the modulated signal in FM
does not have variations in terms of the amplitude levels of the output, though the frequency or
speed of which the final signal is transmitted varies at certain points unlike in the AM
modulation where there are constant variations on the modulated signal though the frequency of
the final output is constant. The main reason we use FM modulation is that we can easily
eliminate any unnecessary signals in the final output if we know the carrier frequency of the
signal since the noise and other unneeded signals in the output is out of line of the constant
amplitude of the final signal and therefore can be easily spotted and eliminated.
 Other than this, the other main takeaway for this experiment is the frequency spectrum of the
FM modulated signal. We can see that despite having various input signals, the frequency
domain graph of a FM signal shows a constant kind of thing, which is the numerous sidebands
that the FM signal is producing. In comparison to the AM modulation that only has two
sidebands (or one depending on the AM technique used) which also carry power, the FM signal’s
numerous sidebands also consumes power that is needed to transmit the signal, though the power
on this sidebands steadily decline as its frequency goes further away from the carrier frequency.

VI. Reference/s
(n.d.). Electronics Notes: Learn basic radio & electronics techniques & history . What is FM
| Frequency Modulation | Electronics Notes. Retrieved December 3, 2017, from
http://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/radio/modulation/frequency-modulation-fm.php