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From: Cursitor Doom <cd999666@notformail.com>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: "Sampler??"
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:58:35 -0000 (UTC)
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On Tue, 30 Jul 2024 05:16:24 GMT, Jan Panteltje wrote:

> On a sunny day (Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:29:04 -0700) it happened john larkin
> <jlarkin_highland_tech> wrote in
> <72gfajl8ke966lsu54bpajpang9dvgmt63@4ax.com>:
> 
>>On Mon, 29 Jul 2024 05:19:06 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On a sunny day (Sun, 28 Jul 2024 21:40:41 -0000 (UTC)) it happened
>>>Cursitor Doom <cd999666@notformail.com> wrote in
>>><v86dsp$3n74$1@dont-email.me>:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I still can't see where the 'sampling' bit comes into it.
>>>>AFAICT, there's are two signals into this thing and one signal out.
>>>>The signal from the LHS is passed through a very fast diode which
>>>>generates harmonics from that fundamental. The signal from the RHS is
>>>>unmodified and mixed with the desired harmonic to give the necessary
>>>>output signal which is then filtered to get rid of the unwanted mixing
>>>>products. If that's all correct, as I believe it is, where does any
>>>>*sampling* come into it?
>>>
>>>A 'sampler' is fact a non-linear mixer.
>>
>>In the audio world, a "mixer" is a linear summer.
>>
>>In RF, a mixer is usually a multiplier, typically a 4-quadrant diode
>>thing or a Gilbert cell type circuit. Or a 2-quadrant thing like a
>>pentode. Or even a single diode. All do some flavor of multiplying.
>>
>>Some mixers inherently multiply a signal by a square wave, which
>>resembles other multiplier-type things once you lowpass filter the
>>output. That's a "synchronous detector", which we usually do in an FPGA.
>>
>>A sampler is a signal multiplier too.
>>
>>These are all variations on the basic idea of multiplying two signals.
> 
> A the word 'mixer' in RF is not the same as a multiplier,, 
> Multipliers are like harmonic generating stages say you have a 1 MHz
> distorted sine wave and then a second stage tuned at 3 MHz,.. turned to
> third harmonic.
> 
> mamamatical speaking RF mixing is indeed multiplication.
> 
> Like Shakepierce once said:
>  "What's in a name..." CocaCola wihout coke

I think in this context, HP is using the term "sampler" to mean something 
which 'sniffs' a small amount of a signal for testing purposes. Like a few 
turns of wire around a transmission line will 'sniff' a small sample of 
what's going on in the line.
Where I went wrong was rigidly thinking HP meant 'sampling' in the manner 
a sampling oscilloscope works. That's what threw me. I tend to interpret 
things very literally. :(