Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#22
![]() |
|||
|
|||
![]()
Yes, by using an amplifier, you can lower the loading caused by the
detector. There is an optimum load impedance for the detector output in terms of best output power for a given input signal, and for small signals it's a pretty high impedance (resistance), because the diode's dynamic impedance is quite high for very small signals. You can find info on this at the Agilent web site (at least till Agilent sells off their semiconductor business...). Look for ap notes and data sheets covering zero-bias detector diodes. It gets a bit technical. But the optimum load is, as a rule, rather high resistance. An FET-input amplifier chosen for low input voltage noise is probably ideal. HOWEVER, the crystal radio purists would probably complain that it's not a crystal radio then. As Bill says, a matching transformer can help you out a lot. I've done some work using zero-bias Schottky detector diodes driving DC amplifiers to look for small signals, and can detect signals down in the few tens of microvolts---but the output is in the vicinity of a microvolt at picoamp currents. The other thing that lowers the loaded Q of the coil is coupling to the antenna. Remember, the antenna looks like some impedance. A resonant antenna looks like a resistance, and an antenna coupler or tuner will make a non-resonant antenna look resistive also. And that resistance, coupled to the tank coil in your crystal radio, will lower the Q. If you couple too lightly, you won't get all the signal you can, and if you couple too heavily, you will lower the Q so much that you won't get the desired selectivity. It's a balancing act. In fact, in a multiple-resonator tuner, the bandpass shape is adjusted by changing the coupling from one resonator to the next, which changes the loaded Q of each resonator. When you have but one resonator, you just change the bandwidth (and signal level) as you change the coupling and loaded Q. Coupling that's too light mostly just changes the signal level, with minimal change in bandwidth. Coupling that's too tight mostly changes the bandwidth, with minimal change in signal level. Hope these thoughts help some... Cheers, Tom |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Simple questions on receivers | Homebrew | |||
Receivers, software, etc. | Shortwave | |||
Simple tests | Shortwave | |||
Question Pool vs Book Larnin' | Policy | |||
a page of motorola 2way 2 way portable and mobile radio history | Policy |