A Simple Receiver - the DC40

Home A Simple Receiver - the DC40

A receiver project's diary

Usual construction write-ups only deal with a finished desi n that is lo ically e!plained and the performance is discussed clinically" Such te!ts overloo# the unpredicta$le path that an e!perimenter ta#es durin a pro%ect" &he final form is often a result of initial specifications' personal choices' accidents and availa$ility of time and material" Hence' this article( a %ournal that follows a receiver)s $irth" &his receiver was made over several evenin s' spendin less than an hour each day" *or those real hams who never read the entire articles' + follow my convention of #ey caveats and some tips" Here is the entire circuit(

Remem$er this while assem$lin the receiver( ," Shield the -*." +t should $e inside a metal $o!" + soldered pieces of copper clad $oard /$lan# 0C1 material2 around the -*. circuit" 3" + don)t thin# you understood how important it is" So' + am sayin it a ain' SH+45D &H4 -*." &his is a ma ic $ullet cure for common ills of a direct conversion receiver"

6" &he receiver layout is uncritical" 1ut #eep it clean" 7,' 73 and 76 form a tric#y circuit" Dou$le chec# the connections" 4" +t mi ht $e temptin ' $ut don)t use a $attery eliminator" +t will produce hum" Use a re ulated power supply with ade8uate filterin " A ,9 volt supply with 3300 u* capacitor followed $y a :;,3 re ulator is recommended" 9" + have included the volta es to $e e!pected at all the transistor leads" Use that as a uide to trou$leshootin the receiver" <" Dou$le chec# the two transformer windin s polarities" :" Usually' the *4&s have a very odd pin out' with the drain lead often put $etween the ate and source leads" 1e careful and sure that you solder it correctly" ;" +f the oscillator doesn)t oscillate' swap the two ends of the -*. coil and try a ain"

Advice on building this receiver

&his receiver is for someone loo#in for a wee#end pro%ect" 1ut it is 8uite a performer" &he receiver has %ust si! transistors and a very common audio +C" =ou can su$stitute the audio +C with any other audio amplifier circuit" &he oscillator too can $e su$stituted $y another desi n" A $ipolar oscillator as a -*. /loo# at my 1+&> desi n2 can $e a lower cost su$stitute" &he *4& transistor used costs as much as all the other components put to ether" &he entire receiver cost is still under Rs",00 /a$out two dollars2 in +ndia" + have noted the volta es at all the transistor leads to help you trou$le shoot your receiver" 1ut don)t $e surprised if it wor#s strai ht off" &he only critical thin is to et the -*. inductance ri ht" =ou can use another receiver to set it for proper covera e" &his receiver can $e adapted to ;0 meters as well as 60 meters" ?ith some sort of -*. sta$ili@in scheme it can wor# on hi her $ands too" Aothin is sacred" Anythin oes"

Why build a receiver

Why do you want to build it? These are available at the Dubai Duty Free as#ed Harish' an old friend' when he spotted us stru lin over the DC40 one evenin " + didn)t have an answer to this 8uestion and considerin the amount of wor# piled this 8uarter' it appeared to $e a sensi$le thin to as#" + thin# this 8uestion is answered $y us all in different ways" By personal answer would $e $ecause we human $ein s are fundamentally tool $uilders" ?e have an opposa$le thum$ that allows us to rip the solderin iron" *or an en ineer /$y the word Cen ineer)' + don)t %ust mean those who have a de ree' $ut anyone who applies technical #nowled e to $uild thin s2 the act of $uildin a receiver is a fundamental proof of her competence and capa$ility" +t is much easier to put out , watt si nal than it is to receive a , watt si nal"

A simple definition of a ood receiver is that a ood receiver consistently' clearly receives only the intended si nal' such a definition hides a wide ran e of re8uirements" &he receiver has to $e sensitive enou h to pic# up the wea#est si nal ima ina$le /note( clearly2' it has to $e selective enou h to eliminate other si nals /only2' it has to $e sta$le enou h /consistently2" *or a ham or an en ineer' $uildin a usa$le receiver is a personal landmar#" +t esta$lishes a personal competency to $e a$le to understand the very fundamental operation of the radio and mastery over it"

A direct conversion design

A direct conversion desi n is simple and pure" A si nal arrives from the antennaD it is converted to audio $y simply mi!in it with a local R* source and played to your ears throu h an audio amplifier" &he principle can $e e!plained to anyone on a piece of paper in a few minutes" 1ut havin the principle e!pounded so simply' the issues of sensitivity' sta$ility' dynamic ran e' etc" that confront a $uilder are e!actly the same as those that will confront anyone $uildin a far more comple! system" ?e chose a direct conversion desi n $ecause( ," +t could $e assem$led easily from parts already availa$le in the %un# $o!" 3" A direct conversion receiver needs as much desi n consideration as superhet does to achieve accepta$le performance" 6" + hadn)t e!perienced a direct conversion receiver for a lon time" 4" +t would $e an innovative pro%ect su$mission"

!nitial Design
?e didn)t plan the receiver minutely" ?e #new that we re8uired somethin li#e in the fi ure $elow(

So' the initial desi n was to fill up these four $o!es in the followin way(

R* *ilter( Dou$ly &uned Circuit centered at :"090 Bh@ 0roduct Detector( a two diode sin ly $alanced detector A* amplifier( discrete transistors used as audio amplifier to drive ?al#man headphones" -*.( 1ipolar transistor $ased' low noise oscillator"

?e reasoned that a dou$ly tuned circuit will prevent stron out-of-$and si nals from AB $rea#throu h" &he sin ly $alanced detector would $e simply enou h /%ust one trifilar coil to wind2 and an audio amplifier $ased on discrete transistors would $e $etter than the 5B6;< /that + was $e innin to hate the 5B6;< for hi h noise2" Havin read in the 4BR*D /Ref" ,2 that the local oscillator radiation can cause tuna$le hum and microphonics' it was contended that an R* amplifier mi ht $e re8uired"

Day "# $eginning at Audio %nd

?e $e an the receiver construction $y fishin out a copper clad $oard that was a$out ; inches $y 3-,E3 inches" Usin an old ra@or $lade it was scrapped until the copper loo#ed $ri ht" &his was to $e our new receiver)s $ase" ?e had decided to use discrete transistors in our desi n instead of the standard 5B6;<" ?e fished around in the %un# $o! for an A0A-0A0 transistor pair to $e used in the output sta e" ?hile loo#in around' an 5B6;< turned up" After a $it of head scratchin ' hate a ainst the 5B6;< 8uic#ly ave way to an old familiarity" ?e decided to use the 5B6;< after all" A few seconds on Foo le turned up the datasheet of the 5B6;<" &he 5B6;< comes in many flavors accordin to the datasheet' we were not sure of what the top operatin volta e of our chip was /our version was not from Aational Semiconductors2' so we decided to shoot for a conservative <-G volts ran e for our desi n" &his was simply achieved $y placin a resistor from the ,3 volts supply line to the pin < /the power supply pin2 of the +C" ?e were not too sure of whether we re8uired the additional ain re8uired $y addin a capacitor from pin , to pin ;( +t was left out for the time $ein " &he uidin principle $ein HDon)t as# for more ain' unless you a$solutely needH" +n any case' the e!tra ain' if re8uired would $e only a capacitor away" +t too# us ,9 minutes to complete the audio amplifier" ?e immediately wanted to fire up the amplifier" Ao suita$le spea#er was availa$le" 5oo#in around the shac#' it was noted that the 0C was hoo#ed up to a Cam$rid e Sound ?or#s) System" &hose spea#ers were connected to their out$oard amplifier usin RCA %ac#s" .ne spea#er was disconnected from the 0C sound system' an RCA %ac# was soldered to the output of the amplifier" 5a@iness too# over' and the ,3- power line was directly soldered to amplifier" 0ower was applied and a fin er on pin 6 of 5B6;< produced a loud $u@@ /with a trace of the local AB station2" +t was alive" 0in < was e!pectedly hoverin around ; volts" A wet fin er applied to the 5B6;<)s $ody revealed no heat" &hat wrapped up the initial tests of the audio amp" &o test it further' the output of the 0C)s sound card was soldered directly to the 5B 6;<)s input and the 0C was $ooted" 5B6;< proved to $e 8uite sensitive to the 0C)s output and the sound volume had to $e cut down from the 0C)s end" &he evenin ended with some Iim Borrison flowin out of the 5B6;<" ?hile the party mood had set in' the en ineer in me reali@ed that the pumpin $ass of 5onnie Bac# on Roadhouse $lues was intermodulatin Ro$$y Jrie er)s $luesy uitar" Aote to myself( #eep your eyes on the distort and your hands upon the ainK

Day &# 'he (scillator

&he #ey issue pla uin us at this time was( what #ind of tunin mechanism should we useL By %un# $o! has a fast depletin stoc# of varia$le capacitors /%ust four more to o2" .n the other hand' varactor tunin would mean oin out and $uyin a decent ,00J linear potentiometer" -aractor tunin also adds noise to oscillator" +t was decided to par# this issue for the time $ein and et on with the rest of the oscillator" A Hartley oscillator $ased on a *4& was decided upon" +t is easy to et a Hartley oscillator wor#in " &he num$ers of crucial fre8uency determinin components are few" ?e started the wor# with windin a coil" A nylon tap washer was used as toroidal former to wind the oscillator coil" A toroidal coil)s inductance in micro-henries is iven as /# ! s8uare of num$er of turns2" &he # for these nylon toroids varies $etween ,nH per turns s8uared to ,"9 nH per turns s8uared" A coil with ;0 turns /with a tap at 30 turns2 was wound to ive an estimated inductance of 6"<uH" &he oscillator was fa$ricated at the other end of the main $oard" Some space was left out to accommodate a $i tunin capacitor if re8uired" +t was discovered that we didn)t have a Mener diode or a volta e re ulator chip in the %un# $o!" ?e decided to o ahead without it for the time $ein " ?e didn)t find a polystyrene capacitor either' so we used a disc ceramic ,00 pf instead" &o #eep the circuit simple' an elementary emitter follower was used as a $uffer to the -*." &he output of the emitter follower was hoo#ed to an oscilloscope pro$e and power was applied to the -*." Ao output was noted" 0ower was removed immediately and the $oard was ta#e out into the sun and e!amined carefully" *ortunately the Hartley is such a simple oscillator that one can easily visually verify the entire oscillator)s connections" &he $oard was $rou ht $ac# into the la$' power was applied a ain and the drain volta e was noted to $e around G volts" &he entire -*. was powered throu h a 4:0 ohms resistor" Hence a <mA current appeared to $e normal for the *4&" &he emitter follower was disconnected and the still no oscillations were o$served at the *4&)s source" At this time' %ust as + was fi htin the ur e to use the $oard as a pro%ectile' the coil started loo#in suspicious as the rest appeared proper and the DC volta es around the oscillator appeared normal" +t was decided to wind a new coil" &his is an advanta e of usin the tap washers( &hey cost 90 paise each /a$out , cent2 and you can throw away a $ad one" A new coil was wound and soldered in" &he old one)s enamel was pro$a$ly not scrapped well at the tap" &he oscillator was now wor#in well" &he output of the -*. was connected to a homemade fre8uency counter and the fre8uency was found to $e around 9"9 BH@ instead of : BH@" +t was also noted that the oscillator was 8uite sta$le considerin that the power supply to the -*. was not sta$ili@ed" &he ,00 pf tan# capacitor was chan ed to 4:pf to et the fre8uency down to :"< BH@" An air varia$le capacitor was soldered across the coil with hoo#up wire to ma#e it tuna$le" &his made the oscillator unsta$le" Any hand movement near the -*. would ma#e the fre8uency chan e" 4ven a li ht tap on the ta$le would ma#e the oscillator %ump its fre8uency" +t was clearly due to the varia$le capacitor)s addition" &he varia$le capacitors are 8uite temperature sta$le' and this $ehavior was pro$a$ly due to the loose hoo# wires that connected the tunin capacitor to the oscillator" Clearly' we needed a front panel that would mount the tunin capacitor and hold it firmly" At this point' we declared the day close"

Day )# 'he $o*

+t was decided that an air varia$le capacitor without a slow motion drive will $e used to tune the receiver" A second piece of copper clad that was ; inches $y 3 inches /+ ot a lar e collection of them as discards from a local 0C1 ma#in shop2 was selected to $e the front panel" Appro!imate location of the tunin capacitor was

selected such that it would not cover the oscillator components and #eep the shaft at mid hei ht from the $ottom of the panel to allow the $i est #no$ possi$le" Usin a hand drill' three holes were drilled for the tunin capacitor' the volume control and the ear-phones %ac#" &he tunin capacitor re8uired two screws to affi! it to the panel' these were mar#ed after insertin the shaft throu h the main hole and they were also drilled out" *rom a small piece of scrap copper clad $oard' three ri htan led trian les a$out an inch to a side were cut and smoothened with a flat file" &hese were soldered in standin position on the main $oard and the front panel was in turn soldered onto these an les /see the pictures2" &he main tunin capacitor was screwed in and so were the volume control and the phone %ac#" &he oscillator was found to $e oscillatin at :"<Bh@ so a 33pf trimmer was added in parallel with the 4: pf to )net) the oscillator at :"000 BH@" Aow the tunin ran e started at :"0 BH@ and went up to :"9 BH@" &his was 8uite a wide ran e especially $ecause we were not usin a slow motion drive" A 4: pf capacitor in series with the varia$le capacitor reduced the tunin ran e to ,;0 JH@" &he oscillator was set usin the preset to tune from <G;0 to :,<0 JH@"

Day 4# 'he audio pre-amp and the $ig $ang

&he ?:45 /+ am not sure if it is his ori inal desi n' he is one of the most creative R* desi ners + have come across2 audio pre-amp is now a classic" +t consists of a common $ase sta e $iased at 0"9ma to ive a 90 ohms input impedance that matches the output impedance of a diode product detector" &his sta e is directly coupled to a common emitter amplifier" 1oth these sta es are powered throu h another transistor used as an active decoupler" &he common $ase sta e provides a sta$le 90 ohms matchin impedance to the detector output' the active decoupler #eeps power supply hum and noise out of this crucial sta e and the second sta e provides $ul# of the ain" ?e didn)t have any te!t $oo#s at hand to refer to' so all we #new was that we should $ias the first sta e to 0"9mA current which we did and that the second sta e should $e $iased well within the active re ion to handle at least a swin of ,- si nal at the output" &his is what we did achieve with the audio pre-amp" A 90 ohms resistance in series with a 0", capacitor was fashioned as )pauper)s diple!er) at the input of the audio preamp" &he diple!er is supposed terminate all fre8uencies a$ove the audio ran e that could come out of the diode mi!er" Aow' we had everythin in e!cept the diode mi!er in place" ?e couldn)t wait to et the first noise out of the receiver" So we hastily slapped to ether a two diode mi!er /sin ly $alanced2' connected it to the oscillator' hoo#ed up the audio chain' tac# soldered a sin le piece of wire from the 30 meter dipole)s coa! to the center tap on the diode mi!er and powered the receiver on" ?e well did receive - a num$er of AB stations" &unin the receiver around resulted in whirrs and whooshes' some of them distin uisha$le as R&&= stations and some constant carriers" &here was a stron hum-li#e noise across the $and" Until now' our pro ress was more or less smooth' our performance pro$lems were 8uite distinct and their solutions 8uite distinct" 1ut our current pro$lems were not easily measura$le and )#nowa$le)" All we #new at this point was that the receiver was not receivin " + su ested two thin s" *irst' introduce some selectivity in the front-end" Second' et a #nown si nal that you can tune to"

?e 8uic#ly fashioned a coil and cap tan# for the front end that was coupled li htly throu h 33pf capacitors to the antenna lead and the diode mi!er" A :090 BH@ crystal was soldered into a test oscillator and used as a si nal enerator" ?e found that we could tune in the si nal" So the receiver was $asically wor#in " At this point' my cousin was losin coura e" &his was not the way she saw it" *rom her point of view' we had desi ned and $uild the circuit" All $loc#s were wor#in as e!pected $ut due to some evil spirit we were not havin a wor#in receiver" At this point' we decided to sleep over the pro$lem and revisit it the ne!t day" ?e needed a plan for the ne!t day to #eep the spirits up"

Day +# Completion
.ur pro$lems were clearly centered around our product detector' we decided to do somethin a$out it" +t could have $een any of the followin ( ," +nsufficient drive from the -*.( ?e had a simple emitter follower as a $uffer to the oscillator" &he oscilloscope showed that it had insufficient $ias and it was clippin on the down-swin " 3" Sin ly $alanced( &he R* input was not $ein $alanced out at the detector output" ?e needed a dou$ly $alanced detector" 6" Accordin to Ric# Camp$ell)s te!ts' -*. lea#a e into the R* input is responsi$le for tuna$le hum and microphonics" A trip was made to the mar#et and G",- Mener was procured that was soldered $etween the power line of the -*. and the round" &he supply resistor was chan ed from 4:0 to 330 ohms so that the Mener had reasona$le $ias current" &he -*.)s $uffer amplifier was chan ed from the s#impy sin le sta e desi n to usin a two sta e amplifier with feed$ac# with unity ain and the -*. was completely shielded from all sides $y solderin copper clad $oards all around it" /See the pictures2" A dou$ly $alanced detector was fa$ricated usin two trifilar coils and four diodes" A simple diple!er of a 0",uf in series with a 90 ohms resistor was added to the detector output to properly terminate the mi!er" A simple low pass filter was added on a trial $asis to the input of the detector" &he receiver was fired up" Success at lastK &he receiver was now wor#in %ust as well" Connected to a lon wire /actually' the shield end of the 30 meters inverted -2' it pulled si nals from all around" &he noise floor was sufficiently low to mar# a dramatic %ump in the noise when connected to the antenna"

,er-ormance
?e do not have the tools to ma#e performance measurements on the receiver" Hence' we rely on our actual receiver e!perience instead" &he receiver is clearly far more sensitive than is re8uired for this $and"

?e used a re ular disc ceramic capacitor in the -*.' $ut still' it is 8uite sta$le" &he local SS1 nets could $e monitored continuously without needin to retune" 4ven the initial warm-up too# less than a minute and the drift was less than , JH@ durin this period /not measured2" &he initial audio $andwidth was much reater than 6 JH@" A 0", u* at the output of the audio preamp $rou ht the $and-width down to accepta$le levels" +deally' an active first or second order low pass filter $ased on opamps should have $een used" However' the current arran ement is sufficient for us" + personally prefer a wider than normal $andwidth" At rare instances' a sli ht trace of AB $rea#throu h can $e heard' if we had an R*C' we could have inserted it $etween the A* amplifier and the detector to #eep the R* out of audio sta es" &he AB $rea#throu h' when it happens' it hardly percepti$le and it ta#es a $it of concentration to discern it a$ove the $and noise"

Conclusion
?e had started with an over-en ineered desi n that included an R* amplifier' etc" .ur first cut was a su$optimal desi n' and the final version was a reasona$le compromise $etween performance' effort and component availa$ility" &he receiver performance is very clean and the sta$ility is 8uite ood' it is now the standard ni ht-stand receiver $y the $ed"