EXPERIMENT #2

TITLE:        TUNED AMPLIFIERS AND FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION

WORK GROUP:

                1.  Neel Patel              353-72-3740
                2.  Ihab Abusaba       330-90-3687
                3.  Manuel Damian   322-78-5733
                4.  Chee Sen Loong  353-94-0863

OBJECTIVE:

                1.    To investigate the behavior of negative clamping.
                2.    To study class C bias and amplification.
                3.    To understand the theory of frequency multiplication.
 

EQUIPMENT AND COMPONENTS:

                1.    dual-trace oscilloscope                                                 1-2N2222 transistor
                2.    sinusoidal function generator                                        1-1N914/1N4148 diode
                3.    low-voltage power supply                                            Resistors:  1Kohms, 120Kohms
                4.    prototype board                                                                Capacitors:  3.3nF,  1uF(2)
                5.    frequency counter                                                            Inductors:   10mH
 

THEORY:

    Negative clamping is the process that occurs when the waveforms of Vin and Vo are identical and as the amplitude of Vin is increase, Vin and Vo are no longer identical to their DC offset.  Negative clamping is used to bias a transistor for class C amplification.  Class C bias puts the Q-point beyond cutoff into the active region.
    The main limitation of a class C amplifier is its narrow bandwidth of frequencies which can be amplified.  Class C amplifiers are often used for power amplification of FM signals and they are also used for frequency multiplication.  Since the current pulses are rich in the harmonics of the input waveform, the class C amplifier can be used as a frequency multiplier by tuning the output circuit to the desired harmonic.
 

PROCEDURE:

STEP 1:

                        Vin =4Vp-p
                     l
                     l   ***               ***                 ***             Vin-max=2v
                     l *      *           *      *             *     *            Vin-min=-2v
500us/div   - *----*l----*l- --*l----*l-----t
                     l           *      *            *      *
                     l             ***                ***
                     l
 

                       Vo =2Vp-p
                     l                                                              Vo-max=.531v
                     l   ***               ***                 ***           Vo-min=-1.469v
500us/div -- l *-- * l---- *l--*-l---- *l--* --t
                      *        *         *        *          *
                     l           *      *            *      *
                     l             ***                ***
                     l

Determine at what critical voltage level of Vin the waveforms of Vin and Vo no longer posses the same DC offset.

            Critical level = 0.7mV

STEP 2:

                                                                                  Vin=1Vp-p
                                                                                   --------

          Vb=1.038Vp-p                                200us/div
               l         ________
               l       *               *
               l    *                    *
               l *                         *
               *---l---l---l---*---l---l---l---*--t                  Vo was too distorted to get a good waveform
               l                                 *                         *
               l                                    *                   *                              Vo=125mVp-p
               l                                       * ------*
               l
                                                                                  Vin=2Vp-p
                                                                                  --------

      Vb=2.047Vp-p                                   200us/div                 Vo=531mVp-p
           l                                                                                      l
           l       _____                               _____                              l_____      __________________      _____
           l     *         *                           *          *                            l         l    l                                 l   l
           l  *               *                     *                *                         l          l  l                                   l l
           *---l---l--*-l---l---*---l---l--*-l--t               l---l-U-l---l---l---l---l-U-l---l--t
           l                       *             *                                               l
           l                          * ____ *                                                l
           l                                                                                       l
           l                                                                                       l

                                                                             Vin=4Vp-p
                                                                              --------
         Vb=4.094Vp-p
           l       ______                            ______                           l______      __________________       _____
           l     *           *                        *           *                          l          l    l                                  l   l
           l  *                 *                    *                *                      l           l  l                                    l l
           *---l---l---*l---l---l*--l---l---*--t               l---l--Ul---l---l---l---l--Ul---l--t
           l                        *             *                                            l
           l                          * _____*                                             l
           l                                                                                     l                Vo=656mVp-p
                                                                      200us/div
 

STEP 3:
                                                    Fr=1/2pi(LC)^(1/2)
                                                    Fr=27.705Khz

                        Vin =1.781Vp-p
                     l
                     l              ***
                     l            *      *
                  - *--l--*l---l*--l---*--t      Fin=30.5KHz
                     l *      *            *       *
                     l   ***                 ***
                     l

                       Vo =25.94Vp-p
                     l
                     l   ___                       ____
                     l *      *                  *         *
                  - *---l-*--l---l*---l---*l--t    Fo=30.5KHz
                     l             *____  *
                     l

STEP 4:

Calculate the duty cycle for each of the waveforms of STEP 2 using the equation,

                    %D = duty cycle = (change in t / T) *100%

Vin = 1Vp-p
---------
         %D = 0,     couldn't get a good waveform for Vo.

Vin = 2Vp-p
---------

change in t = 215us               %D = 215/970 = 22.2%
                T= 970us

Vin = 4Vp-p
---------

change in t = 160us              %D = 160/960 = 16.7%
                T = 960us

STEP 5:

Determine the bandwidth of the amplifier.

                 -3dB = 20 log(Vo/Vo-max)                              Vo-max = 25.94V

             10^(-3/20) = Vo/Vo-max                            Vo = 18.36V,    setting to find F+, F_.
 

F+ = 34.27KHz                                BW = (F+) - (F_)
F_ = 29.14KHz                                BW = 5.13KHz
 

STEP 6:

Q-calculation

Q = Fr / BW  = 5.95
 

STEP 7:

            FREQUENCY MULTIPLICATION

frequency -doubler
--------------

                       Vin =1.391Vp-p

                     l       _____
                     l    *           *
                     l  *               *
                  - *--l---l---l*--l---l---l-*-l--t       Fin = 15.25KHz
                     l                        *                  *
                     l                           * _____ *
                     l
 

                   Vo=8.125Vp-p
                     l                            ___
                     *                         *      *
                     l  *                    *          *
                     --*-l----l--*-l----*----l--t     Fo = 31.6KHz
                     l     *              *
                     l        *_____*
                     l
 

STEP 8:
                    X3, X4, X5  frequency multiplication
 

TYPE Vin(V) Fin(KHz) Vo(V) Fo(KHz)
X3 1.375 10.17 8.125 31.5
X4 1.391 7.625 7.812 31.7
X5 1.375 6.1 7.187 31.4

CONCLUSION/ QUESTIONS:

1)    The waveforms of Vin and Vo are identical and as Vin is increased the waveforms are no longer identical with respect  to their DC offset.  Negative clamping is used to bias a transistor for class C amplification by putting the Q-point at a point "beyond" cutoff into the active region.

2)    The advantages of a class C amplifier in audio and RF signal applications are that class C amplifiers provide high efficiency and that they have a narrow bandwidth so that it can filter out undesired frequencies.  The disadvantage of class C amplifiers is the distortion in the waveforms.  The distortion can be minimized by the use of higher Q components within the tank circuit.

3)    The process of frequency tripling in a X3 multiplier stage is as follows:  The tank circuit is recharge on every third cycle of the sine wave by setting the frequency of Vin to exactly 1/3 of the resonant frequency.  A single-stage X7 multiplier stage does not work as well as a X3 multiplier stage  due to excessive distortion.  To get better results, more that one stage of multiplication can be used.
 
 
 

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