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Old April 21st 09, 05:20 AM posted to sci.electronics.design,rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
AF6AY AF6AY is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Mar 2007
Posts: 229
Default If Superheterodyne, why not Subheterodyne?

On Apr 20, 1:57�pm, Tim Shoppa wrote:
On Apr 20, 3:44�pm, John Larkin

didn't really trust Wikipedia on this (it uses unusual language to
talk about perfectly conventional subjects) but I did find my December
1922 QST, and it says (page 11):

In December, 1919, Major E. H. Armstrong gave
publicity to an indirect method of obtaining
short-wave amplification, called the Super-
Heterodyne. The idea is to reduce the incoming
frequency which may be, say 1,500,000 cycles
(200 meters), to some suitable super-audible
frequency which can be amplified efficiently, then
passing this current through a radio frequency
amplifier and finally rectifying and carrying on
to one or two stages of audio frequency
amplification.

To me that sounds a little less awkward and more natural than the
derivation that Wikipedia tries to draw.


Everyone ought to realize that "Wikipedia" data can be written by
ANYONE
and that the ARRL (who has always published QST) is NOT a technical-
expertise source. Ed Armstrong's original patent on the
superheterodyne
can be found on the 'web in digitized image form. Takes some
searching.

The word prefix 'super' generally refers to something 'better' than
the word
without that prefix. Armstrong got a patent for the regenerative
detector, He
also got a patent for a SUPER-Regenerative detector.

Think also SUPERman. 'Mercado' has already been mentioned, but folks
have neglected the MARKET...which expanded into SUPERmarket, generally
a chain of them under one label or another.

73, Len AF6AY
ex-ARRL member (for good reason)