Tuned amplifiers can be found in aircraft autopilot systems.
A tuned amplifier is a type of electronic device designed to amplify specific ranges of electrical signals while ignoring or blocking others. It is commonly used in devices that work with radio frequency signals, such as radios, televisions and other types of communication equipment; however, it can also be useful in many other applications. Tuned amplifiers can be found in aircraft autopilot systems, audio systems, scientific instruments, spacecraft, or anywhere else when it is necessary to select and amplify specific electronic signals while ignoring others.
An FM radio has a tuned amplifier that allows you to listen to only one radio station at a time.
The most common tuned amplifiers that the average person interacts with can be found in portable or home entertainment equipment such as FM stereo receivers. An FM radio has a tuned amplifier that allows you to listen to only one radio station at a time. When the knob is turned to change the station, it adjusts a variable capacitor, inductor, or similar device inside the radio, which changes the inductive load of the tuned amplifier circuit. This retunes the amplifier to allow a different specific radio frequency to be amplified so that a different radio station can be heard.
Tuned amplifiers can be found in cell phones.
All radio-based communication devices, including stereos, televisions, and cell phones, simultaneously receive all signals present in a given area. The tuned amplifier inside the device is what allows it to amplify only a certain frequency, through a process called bandpass filtering. In bandpass filtering, the electronics are configured to allow only a specific band of frequencies to pass through the filter. On some devices, like FM radios, the filter is adjustable. In others, such as mobile phones or WiFi computer networks, the filter is set to a single, specific frequency range.
Tuned amplifiers can be found in televisions.
Fixed frequency tuned amplifiers can also be found in audio processing equipment such as graphic equalizers. For example, on a five-band graphic equalizer, there are five separate controls. Each of these controls manipulates an individual tuned amplifier. In this case, each of the bandpass filters in the tuned amplifiers is fixed, allowing a different range of sound frequencies to pass through each of the controls. Adjusting the control for one of these sound frequency bands adjusts the amount of boost for the band, not the actual frequency range of the band itself.
Tuned amplifiers can have tunable bandpass filters, tunable amplifiers, both, or neither. The feature that identifies a tuned amplifier is that the amplified signals are limited, or tuned, to a specific frequency band or band. The ability to be configured in so many variations for so many different purposes has made the tuned amplifier a mainstay in almost every sophisticated electronic device out there.