On Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:50:05 -0700 (PDT), Tim Shoppa
wrote:
A terminology question I suppose about the derivation of the term
"Superheterodyne" more than anything else:
Does the "Super" actually mean anything? Is there a Subheterodyne?
Traditionally superhets mix a higher radio frequency down to a lower
IF frequency, but certainly in the past few decades radios with IF's
above the RF frequency have become very common in broadband
applications, and those are still called superhets, not subhets :-).
Google turns up a couple hits on subheterodyne but other than one that
might mean "IF higher in frequency than RF" I don't recognize what
they mean..
I suspect that "Super" was more a marketing term than anything
else :-).
Tim N3QE
Supersonic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheterodyne_receiver
John