A front end for a radio frequency tuner, for example for connection to a
cable distribution network, including an input connected to a signal path
comprising an LNA connected via an AGC stage to a signal splitter. The
input path has a bandwidth sufficiently wide to pass all of the channels
in an input signal and has a substantially constant voltage standing wave
ratio over the bandwidth. The splitter supplies identical signals to
several filtering paths, each of which comprises a fixed filter. The
paths are selectable one at a time and the filters divide the input
frequency band into a plurality of contiguous or slightly overlapping
sub-bands. The output of the front end is supplied to, for example, a
double conversion arrangement comprising an upconverter and a
downconverter with first and second IF filters.