College of Electronic Technology, Bani-walid

Communication Department
5ed Semester
Communication systems Lab

Experiment No.1
AM Modulator

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

AM Modulators

1.1 Educational Objectives:

 Understanding the principle of amplitude modulation (AM).
 Understanding the waveform and frequency spectrum of AM signal and
calculating the percent of modulation.
 Designing an amplitude modulator using MC1496.
 Measuring and adjusting an amplitude modulator circuit

1.2 Background Information:

Modulation is the process of impressing a low-frequency intelligence signal onto a
high-frequency carrier signal. Amplitude Modulation (AM) is a process that a high
frequency carrier signal is modulated by a lowfrequency modulating signal (usually
an audio). In amplitude modulation the carrier amplitude varies with the modulating
amplitude, as shown in Fig. 1-1.
If the audio signal is Amcos(2πfmt) and the carrier signal is Accos(2πfct),
the amplitude-modulated signal can be expressed by

(1-1)
Where
ADC = dc level
Am = audio amplitude
Ac = carrier amplitude
fm = audio frequency
fc = carrier frequency
m = modulation Index or depth of modulation = Am /ADC

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Fig.1-1 Amplitude modulation waveforms

Rewriting Eq.(1-1), we obtain

( 1-2 )

The first term on the right side of Eq.(1-2) represents double sideband signal and the
second term is the carrier signal. According to Eq. (1-2), we can plot the spectrum of
AM modulated signal as shown in Fig. 1-2. In an AM transmission, the carrier
frequency and amplitude always remain constant, while the side bands are constantly
varying in frequency and amplitude. Thus, the carrier contains no message or
information since it never changes. This means that the carrier power is a pure
dissipation when transmitting an AM signal. Thus, the transmitting efficiency of
amplitude modulation is lower than that of double-sideband suppressed carrier (DSB-
SC) modulation, but the amplitude demodulator circuit is simpler.

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Fig.1-2 Spectrum of AM signal

The m in Eq.(1-1), called modulation index or depth of modulation, is an important

parameter. When m is a percentage, it is usually called percentage modulation. It is
defined as

(1-3)

It is difficult to measure the ADC in a practical circuit so that the modulation

index is generally calculated by

(1-4)

Where Emax=Ac+Am and Emin=Ac-Am, as indicated in Fig. 1-1.

As mentioned above, audio signal is contained in the side bands so that the
greater the sideband signals the better the transmitting efficiency. From Eq.
(1-2), we can also find that the greater the modulation index, the greater the
sideband signals and the better the transmitting efficiency. In practice, the
modulation index is usually less or equal to 1; if m > 1, it is called over
modulation.

In the following experiments we will implement an AM modulator using a monolithic

balanced modulator MC1496. According to different input signal frequencies, the

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

MC1496 may be used as a frequency multiplier, an AM modulator, or a double

sideband suppressed carrier (DSB-SC) modulator..

Fig. 1-3 shows the internal configuration of MC1496. The differential amplifier Q5 and
Q6 is used to drive the differential amplifiers Q1Q2 and Q3Q4. The constant-current
source generator Q7 and Q8 provides the differential amplifier Q5 and Q6 with a
constant current. Overall gain of MC1496 can be controlled by externally connecting a
resistor between pins 2 and 3. For AM modulation, the modulating signal should be
applied to pins 1 and 4, and the carrier to pins 8 and 10. The bias current to pin 5 is
commonly provided by connecting a series resistor from this pin to the power supply.

Fig.1-3 MC1496 internal circuit

Fig.1-4 shows an AM modulator circuit, whose carrier and audio signals are
single-ended inputs, carrier to pin 10 and audio to pin 1. The gain of entire
circuit is determined by the R8 value. The R9 determines the amount of bias
current. Adjusting the amount of VR1 or the audio amplitude can change the
percentage modulation.

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Fig.1-4 Amplitude modulator using MC1496

1.3 EQUIPMENT REQUIRED

1. Module KL-92001
2. Module KL-93002
3. Oscilloscope
4. RF Generator

1.4 Tasks to Study

Experiment 1-1 Amplitude Modulator:

1. Locate AM modulator circuit on Module KL-93002. Insert connect plugs in J1 and

J3 to set R8 =1k: and R9 =6.8k:.
2. Connect a 250mVp-p, 1 kHz sine wave to the audio input (I/P2), and
a 250 mVp-p, 100 kHz sine wave to the carrier input (I/P1).
3. Connect the vertical input of the oscilloscope to the AM output (O/P). Observe the
output waveform and adjust the VR1 for the modulation index of 50%. Record the
result in Table 1-1.
4. Using the spectrum analyzer, observe and record the output signal
spectrum in Table 1-1.

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

5. Using the results above and Eq. (1-4), calculate and record the percentage
modulation of output signal in Table 1-2.

6. Using the oscilloscope, observe the output signals for the audio
amplitudes of 200 mVp-p and 150 mVp-p and record the results in Table 1-1.
7. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
8. Connect a 150mVp-p, 1 kHz sine wave to the input (I/P2), and a 100
mVp-p, 100kHz sine wave to the carrier input (I/P1).
9. Using the oscilloscope, observe the AM signal at output terminal
(O/P) and record the result in Table 1-2.
10. Using the spectrum analyzer, observe and record output spectrum in
Table 1-2.
11. Using the results above and Eq. (1-3), calculate the percentage
modulation of output signal and record the results in Table 1-2.
12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 for carrier amplitudes of 200mVp-p and 300mVp-p.
13. Connect a 150mVp-p, 3 kHz sine wave to the audio input (I/P2), and
a 250mVp-p, 100 kHz sine wave to the carrier input (I/P1).
14. Using the oscilloscope, observe the modulated signal at output
terminal (O/P) and record the result in Table 1-3.
15. Using the spectrum analyzer, observe and record the output signal
spectrum in Table 1-3.
16. Using the results above and Eq. (1-3), calculate and record the
percentage modulation of output signal in Table 1-3.
17. Repeat steps 14 to 16 for the audio frequencies of 2kHz and 1kHz.
18. Connect a 150mVp-p, 2 kHz sine wave to the audio input (I/P2), and a
250mVp-p, 500 kHz sine wave to the carrier input (I/P1).
19. Using the oscilloscope, observe the modulated signal at output terminal
(O/P) and record the result in Table 1-4.
20. Using the spectrum analyzer, observe and record the output
spectrum in Table 1-4.
21. Using the results above and Eq. (1-4), calculate and record the
percentage modulation of output signal in Table 1-4.
22. Repeat steps 19 to 21 for the carrier frequencies of 1MHz and 2MHz.

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Table 1-1
(Vc=250mVp-p, fc=100 kHz, fm=1 kHz)

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Table 1-2
(Vm=150mVp-p, fc=100 kHz, fm=1 kHz)

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Table 1-3
(Vc=250mVp-p, Vm=150mVp-p, fc=100 kHz)

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

Table 1-4
(Vc=250mVp-p, Vm=150mVp-p, fm=2 kHz)

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Communication systems Lab Experiment 1 5th Semester

3.5 QUESTIONS:

1. In Fig. 3-4, if we change the value of R8 from 1 kΩ to 2 kΩ, what is the

variation of the AM output signal?
2. In Fig. 3-4, if we change the value of R9 from 6.8 k: to 10 k:, what is
the variation in the dc bias current of the MC1496?
3. Determine the ratio of Emax to Emin if m=50%.
4. What is the function of the VR?

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