Analog Communications

Unit 6
Lecture Notes 44
AM Transmitter

Fig 1 shows a typical block diagram of an AM transmitter, which may be either

low-level or high-level modulated. It is seen that there asre a lot of common features.
Both have a crystal oscillator, buffer amplifiers and subsequent RF power amplifiers. In
both types of transmitters the audio voltage is processed, that is, filtered so as to occupy
the correct bandwidth (generally 10 KHz), and compressed somewhat to reduce the ratio
of maximum to minimum amplitude. In both modulation systems audio and power AF
amplifiers are present, culminating in the modulator amplifier, which is the highestpower audio amplifier. In fact, the only difference is the point at which the modulation
takes place. To exaggerate the difference, and amplifier is shown here following the
modulated RF amplifier for low-level modulation, and it is seen that this amplifier must
be a linear RF amplifier, i.e, class B. However, students are reminded that this would also
have been low-level modulation if the modulated amplifier had been the final one,
modulated at any electrode other than the plate.
In general, the higher the level of modulation, the larger the audio power required
to produce modulation; thus the high-level system is definitely at a disadvantage here. On
the other hand, if any stage except the output stage is modulated, each stage following it
must handle sideband power as well as the carrier. Also, all these subsequent amplifiers

Fig 1 AM Transmitter block diagram

T. Kalpana,ECE,GMRIT

Analog Communications

Unit 6
Lecture Notes 44

must have sufficient bandwidth for the sideband frequencies. Further more, as in Fig 1,
all these stages must be capable of handling amplitude variations caused by the
modulation. Such stages therefore cannot be class C, and are in consequence less efficient
than class C amplifiers.

Fig 2 Anode-Modulated class C amplifier

Each of the systems is seen to have one great advantages: low modulating power
requirements in one case, and much more efficient RF amplification with simpler circuit
design in the other. Finally, it has been found in practice that an anode-modulated class C
amplifier tends to have better efficiency, lower distortion and much better power
handling capabilities than a grid-modulated amplifier. Because of these considerations,
broadcast AM transmitters today almost invariably use high-level modulation, and TV
transmitters use grid modulation of the final stage. The other methods are used in lowpower and miscellaneous applications, AM generators and test instruction.

T. Kalpana,ECE,GMRIT