On Apr 20, 12:50*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..

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

Tim N3QE

Remember that his previous receiver invention, the regenerative
detector, would produce an audible heterodyne when used in the
oscillating-detector mode (for reception of CW, not AM signals). So
it would make sense for him to think of his new principle as producing
a supersonic heterodyne (IIRC around 50kHz or so).

And then there's the super regenerative detector, a regenerative
detector which is driven into and out of oscillation at (typically) a
supersonic frequency.

Mike