How Superheterodyne Radio Receivers Work

**nova_robotics** · Jan 19, 2022, 03:16 AM

A neat video on how old style radios mixed multiple frequencies to tune a single radio station.

**hemmjo** · Jan 21, 2022, 04:07 AM

Very interesting. When I was a kid, in the 50's, there was a guy across the street had been a navy radio man in WWII. When it would stop working, he came over with his black case of tubes. Open up the back and change one of two of them and make it work again. I always found that fascinating, still only have a very basic concept of how it all works.

**nova_robotics** · Jan 21, 2022, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by hemmjo

Very interesting. When I was a kid, in the 50's, there was a guy across the street had been a navy radio man in WWII. When it would stop working, he came over with his black case of tubes. Open up the back and change one of two of them and make it work again. I always found that fascinating, still only have a very basic concept of how it all works.

Tubes are black magic. Very cool, but I know very little about their operation in practice. I'd love to have an old tube ratio or something. My grandmother used to have an old floor model TV that had tubes. When you turned it on you'd get sound almost right away, but it would be like 10 minutes before the tubes warmed up and you got a picture.

**sossol** · Jan 21, 2022, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by nova_robotics

Tubes are black magic. Very cool, but I know very little about their operation in practice. I'd love to have an old tube ratio or something. My grandmother used to have an old floor model TV that had tubes. When you turned it on you'd get sound almost right away, but it would be like 10 minutes before the tubes warmed up and you got a picture.

I've only recently been able to understand how tubes work, and now that I do they fascinate me even more. This is the video that kicked the cobwebs loose and let me follow more technical descriptions, which in turn led to a working understanding. I am now confident enough in tube technology to say without any doubt that tubes function through a careful application of magic.

Neil