Chapter 9
IF Filters: General Filter Theory
A number of IF filters are used in radio re-
ceivers today. In addition to the L-C filters,
various types of crystal filter, monolithic ce-
ramic filters, and mechanical filters must be
considered. In this chapter, we look at the
various types of IF filter, their characteristics,
and their applications.
Before delving into the topic, however,
we look at some general filter theory as ap-
plied to IF passband filters and how these
filters are used. Figure 9.1A shows the
Butterworth passband characteristic: The
passband is relatively flat. The Chebyshev
filter is shown in Figure 9.1B. It has a rip-
pled passband but steeper slopes than the
Butterworth design.
The bandwidth of the filter is the band-
width between the –3 dB points (Figure
9.1A). The Q of the filter is the ratio of center
frequency to bandwidth:
FO
Q= (9.1)
B
where
Q is the quality factor of the filter;
FO is the center frequency of the filter;
B is the –3 dB bandwidth of the filter.
Note that FO and B are in the same units.
151
The shape factor of the filter is defined
as the ratio of the –60 dB bandwidth to the
–6 dB bandwidth. This is an indication of
how well the filter will reject out-of-band in-
terference. The lower the shape factor is, the
better (shape factors of 1.2:1 are achievable).
Figure 9.1C shows a generic IF ampli-
fier with the filters in place. The IF amplifier
provides most of the gain in a superhetero-
dyne receiver, as well as the bulk of the se-
lectivity of the receiver. Selectivity is the
function of the IF filter. It has the narrowest
bandpass of all the filters in the receiver.
The IF amplifier may or may not use
two (or more) filters, depending upon the
type of design. Where only one filter is used,
the filter usually is placed at the input of the
amplifier to eliminate the mixer products that
can affect the IF amplifier performance. The
noise produced by the IF amplifier can be
significant, which means that an output IF fil-
ter is indicated to eliminate that noise.
L-C IF FILTERS
The basic type of filter, once the most com-
mon, is the L-C filter, which comes in various
types (Figure 9.2). The type shown in Figure
152 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK

0 dB
-3 dB
-6 dB

-60 dB

A FL FO FH B FO

FROM IF TO
IF FILTER IF FILTER
MIXER AMPLIFIER DETECTOR

C
Fig. 9.1 Passband filters: (A) Butterworth; (B) Chebyshev; (C) in use in a typical superheterodyne receiver.

9.2A contains two parallel-tuned L-C sec-
tions. Although it is not apparent here, the
input and output sides of the L-C network
need not have the same impedance, but that
usually is the case. This type of IF amplifier
filter has largely been eclipsed by other types
except in certain IC amplifiers.
A more common form today is shown
in Figure 9.2B. This form has a low-imped-
A impedance matching.
ance tap for transistor or IC applications,
with the high impedance portions still avail-
able. In Figure 9.2C, we see a common form
of IF filter in which the low-impedance tap
is available to both input and output sides,
but one side of the high-impedance portions
of the transformer is not. In Figure 9.2D, we
see a single-tuned IF filter. It has a standard
IF filter input side, but it has only a low-
impedance link on the output side. The IF
filtering is performed by the tuned L-C cir-
cuit, whereas the low-impedance link is for

B D

C E

Fig. 9.2 Various L-C IF filter circuits: (A) with two parallel-tuned L-C sections; (B) with a low-impedance
tap for transistor or IC applications; (C) with a low-impedance tap to both the input and output sides;
(D) single-tuned IF filter; (E) double-tuned IF filter.
 IF Filters: General Filter Theory 153

In Figure 9.2E, we see a double-tuned IF circuit. Because of these features, it can be

filter that is not magnetically coupled (so it is
not a transformer) but rather is coupled
through a common impedance. In this case, a
small-value capacitor is used as the common
impedance, but inductors can be used as well.
CRYSTAL FILTERS
The quartz piezoelectric crystal resonator is
ideal for IF filtering, because it offers high Q
(narrow bandwidth) and behaves as an L-C
used as a high-quality receiver as well as a
single-sideband transmitter (filter type). Figure
9.3 shows a typical quartz crystal used for os-
cillators and filters. Shown are the various cuts
of the crystal and the ideal use for each partic-
ular cut. Quartz has a dielectric constant of
about 3.8.
The schematic symbol for a crystal is
shown in Figure 9.4A, and the equivalent
L-C-R circuit is shown in Figure 9.4B. The
equivalent circuit shows a series inductance
(Ls) and capacitance (Cs) as well as a series

AT
GT ZERO
JT CUT
HIGH TEMPERATURE
FREQUENCY COEFFICIENT
OSCILLATORS

BT
LOW
X BC ET
Y
FREQUENCY FT CT
OSCILLATORS
DT AC

Y X FILTERS
Y
HARMONIC CUT NT X
OSCILLATORS CUT

MT

Z
Fig. 9.3 Crystal structure.
154 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK

A B CP

LS CS RS

XL
INDUCTIVE REACTANCE

PARALLEL
RESONANCE
RANGE

ANTIRESONANCE
ESR

FREQUENCY
CAPACITIVE REACTANCE

FS

C
XC

Fig. 9.4 Crystal schematics: (A) schematic symbol; (B) L-C-R circuit; (C) impedance vs. frequency curve.

resistance (Rs). The series inductance and ca-
pacitance sometimes are called the motional
reactance values. There also is a parallel ca-
pacitance, Cp.
The parallel capacitance resonates with
the inductor to form a parallel resonance,
while the series capacitance resonates with
the inductor to form a series resonance. This
is graphed in Figure 9.4C. The graph illus-
trates reactance (capacitive and inductive)
against frequency. The frequency, marked Fs,
is the series resonance point. The antireso-
nance is “officially” the parallel resonance;
but in practical terms, there is a range of par-
allel resonance.
Figure 9.5 shows a typical crystal pack-
age and its mounting on a printed circuit
board. The basic package is shown in Figure
9.5A. Note that the pins might be actual pins
or they may be wires. A cut-away view,
shown in Figure 9.5B, is a bit more informa-
tive about how the crystal works. Figure 9.5C
shows how the crystal usually is mounted on
a double-sided printed circuit board. An in-

METAL
A CASE
SUPPORT
STRUT
INSULATOR
CRYSTAL
INSULATOR
C
PCB
Fig. 9.5 Crystal package: (A) external view; (B) internal view; (C) mounting on a printed wiring board.
sulator is placed on the board to prevent
short circuiting the board tracks with the
crystal package.
Figure 9.6A shows a simple crystal filter
that has been around in one form or another
since the 1930s. Figure 9.6B shows the atten-
uation graph for this filter. A “crystal phasing”
capacitor, adjustable from the front panel,
cancels the parallel capacitance, which can-
cels the parallel resonance, leaving the series
resonance of the crystal.
Although the 1930s vintage filters did
not use it, this filter is built in trifilar form.
This means that the windings of T1 are
wound together, interlaced with each other.
Figure 9.7A shows the circuit for a half-
lattice crystal filter, and Figure 9.7B shows
the attenuation curve. This type of crystal fil-
ter is used in low-cost radios. Like the simple
crystal filter just described, this version uses a
trifilar coil for T1 but with a second crystal in
IF Filters: General Filter Theory 155
QUARTZ
CRYSTAL
ELECTRODE
SUPPORT
STRUT
PINS
the circuit instead of the phasing capacitor.
The frequency relationship between the two
crystals is shown in Figure 9.7B. They have
overlapping parallel and series resonance
points so that the parallel resonance of crys-
tal no. 1 is the same as the series resonance
of crystal no. 2.
We can use the half-lattice filter to build
a cascade half-lattice filter (Figure 9.8) and a
full lattice crystal filter (Figure 9.9). The cas-
cade half-lattice filter has increased skirt se-
lectivity and fewer spurious responses than
the same passband in the half-lattice filter. It
is a back-to-back arrangement on a bifilar
transformer (T1). In practice, close matching
is needed to make the cascaded half-lattice
filter work properly.
The full-lattice crystal filter (Figure 9.9)
uses four crystals like the cascade half-lattice
filter, but the circuit is built on a different ba-
sis than the latter type. It uses two tuned
156 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK

A Y1
CRYSTAL
T1

INPUT

RL
C1
PHASING
INSERTION
LOSS

-3 dB

Fig. 9.6
Simple crystal filter: (A)
schematic; (B) resonance
curve. FS

CRYSTAL Y1 FS1 FP1 B

CRYSTAL Y2 FS2 FP2

Y1
CRYSTAL
A T1
No. 1

INPUT C1

RL

Y2
CRYSTAL
No. 2

Fig. 9.7 Half-lattice crystal filter: (A) schematic; (B) resonance curve.

transformers (T1 and T2), with two pairs of
crystals that are cross-connected across the
tuned sections of the transformers. Crystals
Y1 and Y3 are of one frequency, while Y2
and Y4 are the other frequency in the pair.
A different sort of filter is shown in
Figure 9.10A, with its asymmetrical attenua-
tion curve shown in Figure 9.10B. This filter
has a more gradual fall-off on one side than
on the other (Figure 9.10B). The filter has the
 IF Filters: General Filter Theory 157

Y1 Y3

T1

C1

INPUT
Fig. 9.8 RS Y2 Y4 RL
Half-lattice crystal
filter.

Y1

Y2
T1 T2

INPUT C1 C2 RL

Y3

Fig. 9.9
Full-lattice crystal filter. Y4
OUTPUT (dB)

Y1
T1 T2

C1

Y2

A B FREQUENCY

Fig. 9.10 Asymmetric crystal filter: (A) schematic; (B) attenuation curve.

advantage that the crystals Y1 and Y2 are the 1. All crystals are the same frequency (no
same frequency. A capacitor (C1) in the cir- matching is required);
cuit tunes to the desired passband. The
bandwidth of this filter is only half what is 2. Filters may be constructed using an
expected from the half-lattice crystal filter. odd or even number of crystal;
3. Spurious responses are not harmful
Crystal Ladder Filters (especially for filters over four or more
sections);
Figure 9.11 shows a crystal ladder filter. This fil-
ter has several advantages over the other types: 4. Insertion loss is very low.
158 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4

INPUT C34 CEND

CEND C12 C23 RL
RS

Fig. 9.11
Crystal ladder filter.

Both Butterworth and the equiripple or RS is the end termination of the filter
Chebyshev responses can be created using (RS > REND);
this design. Ideally, in the Chebyshev design, REND is the end termination to be used
the number of positive peaks should be the without matching capacitors.
same as the number of crystals and of equal
amplitude over the passband of the filter. In A special version of the crystal ladder
reality, fewer peaks than that are found, filter is the Cohn (minimum loss) filter of
some merging with each other. In addition, Figure 9.12. This filter rotates the end capac-
the amplitude of the ripple increases toward itors and gives the shunt capacitors equal
the edges of the band. value. It preserves a reasonable shape factor,
The design of this filter can be simpli- while minimizing loss when built with prac-
fied by using a test fixture to dope out the tical resonators. Like the crystal ladder filter,
problem first. The value of the end capaci- the Cohn filter uses the same frequency crys-
tors is tals throughout. The error in frequency be-
tween the crystals (∆FO) should be less than
 1.59 × 105   RS  10% of the desired bandwidth of the filter.
CEND =  × −1  −5 (9.2) The design procedure given by Hayward
 RS FO   REND  (1987) is simplified here:
The value of the coupling capacitors is 1. Pick a crystal frequency (between 2
and 12 MHz). Hayward used 3.579
 ∆f  MHz color burst crystals;
C JK = 1326   − 10 (9.3)
 Bk JK FO  2. Pick a capacitance for the filter (200 pF
is a good start, a higher capacitance
And the value of REND is

 120B  Table 9.1 Normalized k and q Values

REND =   − RS (9.4) (Butterworth)
 q∆f 
N q k12 k23 k34 k45
where 2 1.414 0.7071 — — —
3 1.0 0.7071 0.7071 — —
B is the bandwidth in hertz (Hz);
4 0.785 0.8409 0.4512 0.8409 —
CEND is the end capacitance in pico-
farads (pF); 5 0.618 1.000 0.5559 0.5559 1.0
CJK are the shunt capacitors in pico-
farads (pF); Table 9.2 Normalized k and q Values
FO is the crystal center frequency; (Chebyshev)
∆f is the bandwidth measured in a test N q k12 k23 k34 k45
fixture; 2 1.638 1.6362 0.7016 — —
kJK is the normalized values given in
3 1.433 0.6618 0.6618 — —
Tables 9.1 and 9.2;
4 1.345 0.685 0.5421 0.685 —
q is normalized end section Q given in
Tables 9.1 and 9.2; 5 0.301 0.7028 0.5355 0.5355 0.7028
 IF Filters: General Filter Theory 159

C Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 C

INPUT C
C C RL
RS
Fig. 9.12
Cohn filter.

Table 9.3 Cohn Three-Crystal Filter

Bandwidth C (pF) REND (Ω)
380 200 150
600 130 238
1000 70 431
1800 30 1500
2500 17 3300

yields a narrower bandwidth but

higher insertion loss);
3. Vary the end termination impedance
to obtain a ripple-free passband
while providing sufficient stopband
attenuation.
Table 9.3 gives various Cohn filter
bandwidths, termination impedances, and
capacitor values for a three-crystal filter.
Monolithic Ceramic Crystal Filters
Figure 9.13 shows a monolithic crystal filter.
These filters often are made with synthetic
piezoelectric resonators rather than quartz.
The filters are made in small packages, some
in crystal packages and some in special pack-
ages. Some of the special packages are smaller
than crystals and others are larger.
MECHANICAL FILTERS
Considerable improvement in filter action is
possible with the use of the mechanical fil-
ter. These filters once were used in Collins
high-end radio receivers and SSB transmit-
ters but now are more widespread (although
the Rockwell/Collins company still makes
the filters).
Fig. 9.13 Monolithic crystal filter.
The basic principle of operation is the
phenomenon of magnetostriction; that is, the
length or circumference of a piece of mater-
ial changes when it is magnetized. Nickel
does this, although the effect is 1 part in
about 20,000. Other materials, such as the
ferrites or powdered iron type (61, Q1, or
4C4), provide much stronger magnetostric-
tion effects. In addition, these materials have
a high electrical resistivity, so eddy current
losses are minimized; and they have a me-
chanical Q on the order of several thousand.
These materials make far better filters than
nickel. The typical ferrite material is formed
at 1300–1400ºC and has a Q determined by
the proportion of oxides used in the forma-
tion of the ferrite material.
Figure 9.14A shows a magnetostrictive
resonator, and Figure 9.14B shows the equiv-
alent circuit. In Figure 9.14A, the ferrite rod is
wound with a coil such that it is a slip fit. It is
biased magnetically with either a permanent
magnet or a DC component to the electrical
signal applied to the coil (L). When alterna-
160 THE TECHNICIAN’S RADIO RECEIVER HANDBOOK
tive current flows in the coil, L, it adds to or
subtracts from the magnetic field of the bias,
causing the ferrite length to oscillate. But the
parallel resonant component (Figure 9.14B)
causes a sharp peak in the response at a fre-
quency equal to the mechanical resonance
frequency. When the ferrite rod is wound into
a toroidal shape, the circumference (hence,
the radius) or the toroid shape varies as it is
magnetized.
Figure 9.15 shows a mechanical filter
built using toroidal resonators. Various me-
chanical filters are available in frequencies
between 60 and 600 kHz. A pair of trans-
ducers are located at either end of the filter
to translate electrical energy to mechanical
energy and vice versa. The resonators sup-
FERRITE
ROD
INDUCTANCE
L
A B
Fig. 9.14 Magnetostrictive (A) resonator and (B) circuit.
TRANSDUCER
RESONATORS
Fig. 9.15
Mechanical filter.
ply a sharp shape factor of up to 1.2:1
(60 to 6 dB), with Q values of 8,000–12,000
(this is up to 150 times the Q value of crys-
tal filters). Over a temperature range of
–25º to +85°C, the change of resonant fre-
quency is as little as 1.5 parts per million. In
one test, the frequency shift for eight
months was 1 ppm.
The mechanical filter consists of three
basic parts: the transducers, the mechanically
resonant disks, and the disk coupling rods.
The transducer is a magnetostrictive device
that converts electrical energy to mechanical
vibrations and vice versa. The resonant disks
form parallel resonant circuits, so increasing
the number of disks decreases the bandwidth
of the circuit.
R C
TOROIDAL TRANSDUCER
HEADER
PINS

SAW Filters
The surface acoustic wave filter is a crystal
in which mechanical energy is first con-
verted to mechanical energy, and then back
to electrical energy. This provides a very
narrow bandpass. A SAW filter consists of a
thin substrate sliced from a single crystal on
which two sets of aluminum comb-shaped
electrodes are vapor deposited. When a high
frequency is applied to one of these elec-
trodes, that power is converted to mechani-
cal energy, transmitted across the crystal,
and converted back to electrical energy at
the other end. The most common substrate
materials include quartz, lithium niobate,
lithium tantalate crystals, and langasite, with
some lithium tetraborate.
SAW filters tend to have a higher fre-
quency than many IFs and are used in
VHF/UHF/microwave receivers. SAW filters
can be had from about 21 MHz and up, so
they easily fill the bill for 30, 50, or 70 MHz IFs.
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Carver, Bill. “High Performance Crystal Filter
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Colin. “Narrow Bandpass Filters Using Identical
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Cohn, S. “Direct Coupled Resonator Filters.” Pro-
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