That's a great little circuit, it saved me putting one together myself. Note: I ended up running mine with a 9V battery and all still worked fine. Thanks
Hello Ian ! , Even is too late , in schematics provided at 5:12 , the base of Q1 is wrong connected as is shorted to collector, should've been tied straight at Pin 6 before resistor not after resistor. I got it noticed coz I am in keen using MC1494 as product detector and remembered using it 20 years ago. Still a fantastic product this days I would say. 73's , Gabriel yo8rxp sorry, just seen you already Updated the info, my bad
heh you are exactly right Gabriel - good spot! I did spot this too - but too late to correct the video (schematic in github is correct though I think). Thank you for the comment!
the Q1 connection is very wrong, the base is connected to vcc which will leave the transistor fully on and bringing out high without bringing out signal, the base should be connected before the resistor
Very good! As you say, this chip is 50 years old, almost as old as most hams ! 🤓 If you are building analog radios, it is still a great mixer choice, particularly as they are still being made, are in SOIC, and cheap. So, what's an example of a 'modern ' replacement?
I was thinking of the ultra modern SA602 ;) For audio mixing though I would do the mixing in DSP - I was thinking of doing a video on that a while back and you just reminded me. Thank you for the comment Paul
@@na5y I guess that's my point. After the 1980s, the Minicircuits DBM analog RF mixers took over, IC makers moved onto complete receivers in a single IC, and no new Gilbert Cell mixer ICs were brought to market. Unless I've missed one. So the question stands... who can name an RF mixer IC that dates to the 1990s or later, is still in production, is suitable for amateur or hobbyist use, and equals or exceeds the specs and utility of the MC1496 or SA612?
@@Paul_VK3HN Interesting question. There is this SA636 www.nxp.com/products/radio-frequency/rf-mixers/low-power-fm-if-systems/low-voltage-high-performance-mixer-fm-if-system-with-high-speed-rssi:SA636 but I can't seem to find any for sale anywhere. For a passive mixer I have used the ADEX-10 www.minicircuits.com/WebStore/dashboard.html?model=ADEX-10 but I don't know of an equivalent to the common SA602.
@@na5y Thanks again for digging out the SA636. It's an LO Mixer for sure, but designed for wideband FM data demodulation. The ADE-10 Is a new L7 DBM to me, I've used the regular picks, ADE-1, JMS-1, TUF-1, SBL1. I guess the world gas moved on from Gilbert Cell mixer ICs. I wonder if anyone else has any suggestions. In the meantime I'll keep my stock of SA612 and LM1496 fresh!
Hi Alex - do you mean matching into the MC1496 itself or matching externally from the signal source? If its the former there is some discussion on the datasheet about bias resistor choice for current concerns but nothing I read other than that As far as matching from outside - yes certainly. Whatever bias resistors you are using would be the input impedance. For a compare to the SA602 Have a look at page 4 of this document www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/SA602A.pdf. The SA602 is basically the MC1496 with all the bias resistors already there for you (plus an oscillator circuit). That 1.5k resistor on pin 1 is basically the input impedance of pin 1.
That's a great little circuit, it saved me putting one together myself. Note: I ended up running mine with a 9V battery and all still worked fine. Thanks
Thank you David. Its always fun to see those mixing products come through on the scope
Hello Ian ! , Even is too late , in schematics provided at 5:12 , the base of Q1 is wrong connected as is shorted to collector, should've been tied straight at Pin 6 before resistor not after resistor. I got it noticed coz I am in keen using MC1494 as product detector and remembered using it 20 years ago. Still a fantastic product this days I would say. 73's , Gabriel yo8rxp
sorry, just seen you already Updated the info, my bad
heh you are exactly right Gabriel - good spot! I did spot this too - but too late to correct the video (schematic in github is correct though I think). Thank you for the comment!
Thanks Ian, great stuff. The Weaver project will be fun!
Thank you Ian - I'll hopefully get started on the Weaver in a few days
the Q1 connection is very wrong, the base is connected to vcc which will leave the transistor fully on and bringing out high without bringing out signal, the base should be connected before the resistor
You're exactly right - I fixed the schematic a little while back
The SO42P is the same just works on much higher frequencies.
I haven't tried that one. Here's the datasheet for those interested
datasheetspdf.com/datasheet/SO42P.html
Thank you for the comment David!
Very good! As you say, this chip is 50 years old, almost as old as most hams ! 🤓 If you are building analog radios, it is still a great mixer choice, particularly as they are still being made, are in SOIC, and cheap. So, what's an example of a 'modern ' replacement?
I was thinking of the ultra modern SA602 ;)
For audio mixing though I would do the mixing in DSP - I was thinking of doing a video on that a while back and you just reminded me. Thank you for the comment Paul
@@na5y I guess that's my point. After the 1980s, the Minicircuits DBM analog RF mixers took over, IC makers moved onto complete receivers in a single IC, and no new Gilbert Cell mixer ICs were brought to market. Unless I've missed one. So the question stands... who can name an RF mixer IC that dates to the 1990s or later, is still in production, is suitable for amateur or hobbyist use, and equals or exceeds the specs and utility of the MC1496 or SA612?
@@Paul_VK3HN Interesting question. There is this SA636
www.nxp.com/products/radio-frequency/rf-mixers/low-power-fm-if-systems/low-voltage-high-performance-mixer-fm-if-system-with-high-speed-rssi:SA636
but I can't seem to find any for sale anywhere. For a passive mixer I have used the ADEX-10
www.minicircuits.com/WebStore/dashboard.html?model=ADEX-10
but I don't know of an equivalent to the common SA602.
@@na5y Thanks again for digging out the SA636. It's an LO Mixer for sure, but designed for wideband FM data demodulation. The ADE-10 Is a new L7 DBM to me, I've used the regular picks, ADE-1, JMS-1, TUF-1, SBL1. I guess the world gas moved on from Gilbert Cell mixer ICs. I wonder if anyone else has any suggestions. In the meantime I'll keep my stock of SA612 and LM1496 fresh!
Thanks for the video. My understanding is that this circuit doesn't care too much about impedance matching, right?
Hi Alex - do you mean matching into the MC1496 itself or matching externally from the signal source? If its the former there is some discussion on the datasheet about bias resistor choice for current concerns but nothing I read other than that
As far as matching from outside - yes certainly. Whatever bias resistors you are using would be the input impedance.
For a compare to the SA602 Have a look at page 4 of this document www.nxp.com/docs/en/data-sheet/SA602A.pdf. The SA602 is basically the MC1496 with all the bias resistors already there for you (plus an oscillator circuit). That 1.5k resistor on pin 1 is basically the input impedance of pin 1.
Please reply! What are the new ICs that superseded the MC1496 or LM1496.... Please reply!
Thx
Can use MC 1496 as micro or milli volts multiplier for synchronous demodulation ?