A new method for treating electron tubes when used as superregenerative detectors: Part I. Superregenerative circuits under no-signal condition

Abstract

This is the second of a series of papers dealing with a comprehensive study of superregenerative detection. In the first paper1 the analysis under no-signal condition was given. In this paper, the analysis of superregenerative circuits under signal condition is presented. It is shown that the amplitude to which the oscillation under signal condition builds up, depends fundamentally on the quenching source and the nonlinearity of the tube characteristic. The automatic volume control action, the sensitivity, the selectivity, the stability, and the synchronization with the signal voltage or the semisynchronization (the synchronization with one of the equivalent side bands) of the signal voltage are clearly explained. The existing idea that the effect of the signal is merely to start a free oscillation with an amplitude depending on the signal is erroneous and does not conform with the fact. What actually happens when the signal is present, is that the system must, in general, be in some state of synchronization with the signal frequency or with one of the equivalent side bands. This latter is defined as semisynchronization. In order to have satisfactory reception, the free oscillation is generally suppressed. In general, no previous author has mentioned such synchronization or semisynchronization processes. Numerical examples are given for clarification.