Germanium Diode 3 Carnegie Mellon University（锗二极管3 卡内基梅隆大学）.pdf

Germanium Diode LAB AM Radio 3 3.1 Introduction In this laboratory exercise you will build a germanium diode based AM (Medium Wave) radio. Earliest radios used simple diode detector circuits. The diodes were made out of Galena crystals (also called cat’s whisker) and these radios were really simple. Despite all of the advances in modern electronics, there are thou- sands of crystal sets in daily use throughout the world. A crystal receiver is pow- ered solely by the radio waves that it pulls from the air. Figure 3.1 shows the picture of an early Ge diode radio. Figure 3.1—An antique diode radio. This radio is a MW and SW radio that works without any power supply. Amplitude Modulation The point to modulation is to take a message bearing signal and superimpose it upon a carrier signal for transmission. For ease of transmission carrier signals are generally high frequency for severable reasons: 1.For easy (low loss, low dispersion) propagation as electromagnetic waves 2.So that they may be simultaneously transmitted without interference from other signals 3.So as to enable the construction of small antennas (a fraction, usually a quarter of the wavelength) 4.So as to be able to multiplex; that is, to combine multiple signals for transmis- sion at the same time. 1 Lab 3: Germanium Diode AM Radio