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#superheterodyne#radio#signalprocessing

The Superheterodyne Radio: No really, that's its name

Technology Connections

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  • A classic. People kept recommending it from 2019 to 2024.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

987K views7 years ago3 recommendations

HardwareElectronics

An explanation of how superheterodyne radio receivers use frequency mixing and algebra to solve the problem of tuning radio signals.

You can support this channel on Patreon! Link below The superheterodyne receiver may seem like a radio with a silly name, but in fact it’s a completely logical name that describes the key action these radios take to become excellent radios. The superhet solved a tricky problem in a clever way, and using our friend Algebra (as well as wave phenomena) proved to be the most effective way of tuning in a radio signal. Technology Connections 2 (my second channel where I upload weird stuff from time to time) youtube.com/channel/UClRwC5Vc8HrB6vGx6Ti-lhA You can support this channel on Patreon! It has been amazing what Patreon has done for this channel, but also for me (your dorky host) personally. Through the support of people just like you, Technology Connections has become my job and I am so excited and thankful for it! If you’d like to join the fine folks in a pledge to help the channel grow, please check out my Patreon page. Thank you for your consideration! patreon.com/technologyconnections And thank you to the following Patrons! Charlie Quigley, Dakota Williams, Adam Erickson, Kevin Terrell, Tommi Hares, Trevor Smith, Callum Brieske, Tomas, Chuck Floyd, Emil Gilliam, Andy Copsey, Bitcore, Filip, Per 'Zapro' Jensen, Ward Sutherland, Örn Arnarson, Alberto Amatucci, etho624, Tomasz Kolinko, Carles Codony, Samuel Plainfield, Jason McMillon, Michael Pacheco, Jason Ganiatsas, Mike Gerow, Marc Schroth, Andrew J Thom, Samuel Blakey, Mrpirate707, Frank Harris, Joseph Spiros, Patrick Meister, Sergey Kiselev, Clara Latter, Ashley Grant, Scott Emmett O'Donnell, Tianyu Ge, jeekl, rozboris, Paul Fisher, Stephen Vrazel, Applied Science, Peter ford, Sophie Haskins, James Id, Brendan Sheehy, Jay Foreman, Rich Theobald, Kyle Olson, Bryan Reid, Quinton Wilson, Jeremy DeGuzman, Sean Spark, Lucas Hartbarger, Taylor Cuzela, David Lastres, Granger Meador, Jeremy Kitchen, Jason Wellband, Shane Belaire, Paul Emmerich, Matthew Rossi, Paul Craigie, Alex Smith, Nick, Tyler, Paul Williams, Steven Hidy, Fredrik Grufman, Kollin O'Dannel, RJ Kent, Yona, Kevin Strehl, Tony DeSimone, Mike Bailey, Maggie Brown, Howard Kraut, T.J. Steckbeck, Pavlo Pravdiukov, Marco Anastasi, Peter Byrd, Trix Farrar, Matthew Razza, Mitchel J. Mullin II, Jakob Strande Langgaard, Jan Staval, Paul Walton, Matt Falcon, Steven First, Denver Alexander, Conor Hennessy Sykes, FinaleGrande, Christopher Dickey, OnlyOneSolutionTBHFam, Tim Juchcinski, Wayne Marsh, Ernie Smith, foophoof, Stein Strindhaug, Brady Brown, Giacomo Scaparrotti, Winfield Trail, Marc Ethier, Joseph Hill, John Semander, Bill Basch, Robert Toth, blouerat, PK, Richard Lindsey, Lars JJ, Patrick Musson, Matt Taylor, Johan Schoeman, Thomas Jew, Josef Citrine, Marcus Schwartz, Ryan Cozzubbo, Christopher Bassett, Julian Rapoport, Ed Hall, Jason Portwood, Jesse Cardone, Michael Snowden, Drew McClain, Boh00711, Jon-André Haraldstad, The8TrackKid, Daniel J Schless, Sebi Jecklin, Casey Kikendall, Craig Leverenz, Charlie

Why it's here

3 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an exceptionally clear and accessible explanation of superheterodyne receivers and signal filtering.

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On “Roaring 20s Superhets”

Heterodyne is a signal processing technique, and superheterodyne is an application of that for radio tuning. This video is a great explainer (and I also highly recommend every other video on the channel): link to this video

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On “Radios, how do they work?”

This reminds me of a really cool video on superheterodyne receivers that Technology Connections did. link to this video

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On “An adjustable filter that can prevent interference in the range 600 MHz to 6 GHz”

This kind of work sounds potentially (?) important for continuing to improve network technology. Unfortunately I don't have the background to understand why it works in the slightest. However, it reminded me of an older approach to signal filtering that I just recently learned about: the superheterodyne radio receiver. It's a simple idea that enabled us to build cheap, tunable radios. YouTube video if you're curious: link to this video . Definitely an accessible introduction to a neat trick in signal processing!