The Basic lessons · Station assembly, practice and safety · B-003-005

How an SSB/CW Receiver Works

This lesson explains the step-by-step journey of a radio signal through a receiver, from the antenna to the speaker. You will learn why each stage exists and how it transforms the signal to make voices and Morse code audible.

This lesson is part of SignalPrep Pro. The subsection's 10 exam questions are free to practise: practise B-003-005.

What this subsection asks

• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the antenna?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the radio frequency (RF) amplifier?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the mixer?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the signal generated by the local oscillator?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the intermediate frequency (IF) filter?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the product detector?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the signal produced by the beat frequency oscillator (BFO)?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, what is the purpose of the audio frequency (AF) amplifier?
• In an SSB/CW receiver, which stage could include an audio band-pass filter?