Jean-Christophe wrote:
On Apr 20, 5:50 pm, Tim Shoppa wrote:
A terminology question I suppose about the derivation of the term
"Superheterodyne" more than anything else:

Does the "Super" actually mean anything? Is there a Subheterodyne?
Traditionally superhets mix a higher radio frequency down to a lower
IF frequency, but certainly in the past few decades radios with IF's
above the RF frequency have become very common in broadband
applications, and those are still called superhets, not subhets :-).
Google turns up a couple hits on subheterodyne but other than one that
might mean "IF higher in frequency than RF" I don't recognize what
they mean..

A superheterodyne can be Supradyne or Infradyne,
depending of the IF against the RF.

I suspect that "Super" was more a marketing term than anything
else :-).

I don't superthink so.
There was a type of circuit called the 'heterodyne', which is actually
just a direct conversion receiver. Adding the IF stage made it a
'super' heterodyne.

Also remember the 'super-regenerative' circuit? That was an improvement
over the regenerative receiver in that feedback could be increased past
the self oscillation point to get even more gain via the use of a
supersonic quench oscillator. So maybe the prefex DOES refer to supersonic.