Question 3-58H2

In a Single Sideband (SSB) transmitter, audio intelligence (voice or data) must first be converted from sound waves into an electrical signal by a microphone. This weak electrical signal then needs to be amplified to a suitable level before it can be used to modulate a carrier wave. * **Block 1** typically represents the microphone, which *generates* the audio intelligence signal. * **Block 2** represents the **audio amplifier**. This stage takes the weak signal from the microphone and amplifies it. It is at this point that the amplified audio intelligence is "inserted" or fed into the modulation stage of the transmitter. * **Block 3** is the balanced modulator, which combines the amplified audio intelligence with a carrier signal to produce a double-sideband, suppressed-carrier signal. * **Block 4** is the filter, which removes one of the sidebands to create the SSB signal. Therefore, the audio intelligence, in its amplified electrical form, is inserted into the main RF processing chain at **Block 2**, the audio amplifier, before it reaches the balanced modulator.