CIRCUIT IDEAS

MOSFET-BASED PREAMPLIFIER SAN

I TH
EO

FOR FM RADIO DXing

N.S. HARISANKAR,VU3NSH borrowed from amateur radio operators. much higher gain—approaching that of a
It means ‘distance unknown’; ‘D’ stands vacuum tube. These are classified into

F
M transmissions can be received for ‘distance’ and ‘X’ stands for ‘unknown.’ junction FETs and MOSFETs. On compar-
within a range of 40 km. If you are For an FM receiver lacking gain, or hav- ing the FETs with a vacuum tube, the gate
in fringe areas, you may get a very ing a poor signal-to-noise ratio, using an implies the grid, the source implies the
weak signal. FM DXing refers to hearing external preamplifier improves the signal cathode, and the drain implies the plate.
distant stations (1500 km or more) on the level. In a transistor, the base implies the grid,
FM band (88-108 MHz). The term ‘DX’ is The dual-gate MOSFET preamplifier cir- the emitter implies the source, and the
collector implies the drain.
In dual-gate FETs, gate 1 is the signal
gate and gate 2 is the control gate. The
gates are effectively in series, making it
easy to control the dynamic range of the
device by varying the bias on gate 2.
The MOSFET is more flexible because
it can be controlled by a positive or nega-
tive voltage at gate 2. The resistance be-
tween the gate and rest of the device is
extremely high because these are separated
by a thin dielectric layer. Thus the MOSFET
has an extremely high input impedance.
Dual-gate MOSFETs (DG MOSFETs) are
very popular among radio amateurs. These
are being used in IF amplifiers, mixers,
and preamplifiers in HF-VHF transceivers.
The isolation between the gates (G1 and
G2) is relatively high in mixer applications.
This reduces oscillator pulling and radia-
tion. The oscillator pulling is troublesome
particularly in shortwave communications.
It is a characteristic in many unsophisti-
cated frequency-changer stages, where the
incoming signal, if large, pulls the oscilla-
tor frequency slightly off the frequency set
Fig. 1: Circuit of MOSFET-based preamplifier for FM DXing by the tuning knob and towards a fre-
quency favourable to the (large) incoming
cuit shown in signal. A DG MOSFET can also be used
Fig. 1 gives for automatic gain control in RF amplifi-
an excellent ers.
gain of about DG MOSFET BF966S is an n-channel
18 dB. It depletion-type MOSFET that is used for
costs less and general-purpose FM and VHF applications.
is simple to In this configuration, it is used for FM
design. radio band. The quadratic input character-
Field-ef- istic of the FET input stage gives better
fect transis- results than the exponential characteristic
tors (FETs) of a bipolar transistor.
are superior Gate 1 is meant for input and gate 2 is
to bipolar for gain control. The input from the an-
transistors in tenna is fed to gate G1 via C1 and L1.
many appli- Trimmer VC1 is used to tune and select
cations as the input frequencies. Capacitor C4 (100
Fig. 2: Different antennae used for FM DXing these have a kpF) at the gain control electrode (gate 2)

NOVEMBER 2003 ELECTRONICS FOR YOU

CIRCUIT IDEAS

decouples any variation in G2 volt-

Coil & Capacitor Details for DXing of Various Frequency Bands
age at radio frequencies to main-
tain constant gain. Set preset VR 10m band 6m band 3m band 2m band
(47k) to adjust the gain or connect (28 MHz) (50 MHz) (98 MHz) (144 MHz)
a fixed resistor for fixed gain. The amateur radio amateur radio FM radio FM radio
output of the circuit is obtained via
L1 core 17T, 28 SWG 12T, 26 SWG 7T, 5mm dia., 5T, 20SWG,
capacitor C5 and fed to the FM re-
Amindoncore OnT-37-10,Tap 20SWG ½-inch ID, ½-inch L
ceiver amplifier.
(T-50-6), Tap at 5T from GND Aircore, 1cm Length, Tap 2 from GND
For indoor use, connect a ¼-
at 6T from GND Tap 3T from GND
wavelength whip antenna, ½-wave-
L2 core 17T, 28 SWG 12T, 26 SWG 8T, close winding, 4T, 20 SWG,
length 1.5m wire antenna, or any
Amindoncore On T-37-10, 5mm dia. Air-core, No tap
other indoor antenna set-up with
T-50-6, without tap No tap
this circuit. You may use a 9V
Without tap
battery without the transformer and
VC1 & VC2 60 pF 22 pF 22 pF 15 pF
diode 1N4007, or any 6V-12V power
supply to power the circuit (refer
Fig. 1). The RF output can be taken on page 72 of Electronics Projects Vol. 8.) strong signal overloading. It produces less
directly through capacitor C5. For an im- Mount the DG MOSFET BF966S at the cross-modulation than a conventional tran-
proved input and output impedance, solder side of the PCB to keep parasitic sistor having negative temperature coeffi-
change C1 from 1 kpF to 22 pF and C5 capacitance as small as possible. Use an cient, doesn’t succumb to thermal run-
from 1 kpF to 100 kpF. epoxy PCB. After soldering, clean the PCB away at high frequencies, and decreases
For outdoor use at top mast, like a TV with isopropyl alcohol. Use a suitable noise. In VHF and UHF, the MOSFET
booster, connect the C5 output to the enclosure for the circuit. All component produces less noise and is comparable
power supply unit (PSU) line. Use RG58U/ leads must be small. Avoid shambled wir- with JFETs. DG FETs reduce the feedback
RG11 or RG174 cable for feeding the power ing to prevent poor gain or self oscilla- capacitance as well as the noise power
supply to the receiver amplifier. The PSU tions. Connecting a single-element cubical coupled to the gate from the channel,
for the circuit is the same as that of a TV quad antenna to the circuit results in giving stable unneutralised power gain for
booster. For TV boosters, two types of ‘Open Sesam’ for DXing. wide-band applications.
mountings are employed: The fixed tuned You can use a folded dipole or any This circuit can be used for other
booster is mounted on the mast of the other antenna. However, an excellent per- frequency bands by changing the input
antenna. The tunable booster consisting formance is obtained with a cubical quad and the output LC networks. The table
of the PSU is placed near the TV set for antenna (refer Fig. 2) and Sangean ATS- here gives details of the network compo-
gain control of various TV channels. (For 803 world-band receiver. nents for DXing of stations at various
details, refer ‘High-Gain 4-Stage TV Booster’ In an amplifier, FET is immune to frequency bands.

ELECTRONICS FOR YOU NOVEMBER 2003