Experiment 3a

Colpitt Oscillator

Aim: To design and set up BJT Colpitt oscillator

Components Required:
1. NPN silicon transistor – 1
2. Resistors for biasing
3. Capacitors
4. Regulated DC power supply – 1
5. Decade Inductance Box (DIB) – 1
6. DSO/CRO – 1

Circuit Diagram:

Figure 1: Colpitt Oscillator Circuit

Theory: Colpitt oscillator consists of a tank circuit made of an inductor connected

in parallel to two series connected capacitors. The capacitors form voltage divider
network and the voltage drop across capacitor C2 constitutes the feedback voltage.
The surge in the collector current shock-excites the tank circuit into oscillations which
are sustained by feedback and amplifier action.

Frequency can be adjusted by varying the inductor. The frequency of

oscillations is given by

1
𝑓=
2𝜋 𝐿𝐶

1
Where

𝐶𝐶
𝐶 =
𝐶 +𝐶

For the sustained oscillations, circuit must obey the following two conditions known
as Barkhausen’s criterion.

1. The total phase shift in the loop should be equal to 00 or 3600.

2. The loop gain must be unity

The amplifier circuit introduces 1800 phase shift and the tank circuit adds further
1800 phase shift bringing the total phase shift around the loop equal to 3600
satisfying first condition. Second condition can be satisfied by setting gain of
amplifier AV as

1
𝐴 =
𝛽

Where

𝐶
𝛽 =
𝐶

𝛽 is called feedback factor.

To make up for any losses in the network, the gain of amplifier AV is kept slightly
higher than feedback factor 1/𝛽 . Colpitt oscillator can be used to generate
sinusoidal oscillations up to 1MHz.

Design Steps:

a. Feedback Network
Sl.No. Steps Working
1. Obtain the value of frequency of oscillations f=
Choose the values of C1 and C2

Note: Preferably choose C2 in the range of 10 to 15 C1 =

times C1
2. C2 =
Calculate Ceq
𝐶𝐶 Ceq =
𝐶 =
𝐶 +𝐶

Calculate L such that

1
3. 𝑓= L=
2𝜋 𝐿𝐶

2
 1
𝐿=
4𝜋 𝑓 𝐶
Calculate feedback factor
4. 𝐶 𝛽 =
𝛽 =
𝐶
Calculate minimum gain of amplifier AVmin
5. 1 AVmin =
𝐴 =
𝛽

b. Amplifier:
Sl.No. Steps Working
1. Measure Beta of transistor using multimeter 𝛽=
Choose the voltage gain AV slightly greater than AVmin
2. AV =
Choose maximum output voltage peak to peak swing
3. VO(p-p) =
VO(p-p)
Choose VCC at least 20% more than VO(p-p)
4. VCC =
𝑉 = 1.2 𝑉 ( )
Calculate VC, VE
𝑉
𝑉 = VC =
2
5.
𝑉
𝑉 = VE =
10

Calculate VB
VB =
𝑉 =𝑉 +𝑉
6.
Calculate VCE
VCE =
𝑉 =𝑉 −𝑉
Choose IC in the range 1𝑚𝐴 ≤ 𝐼 ≤ 10𝑚𝐴
IC =
Calculate IB
7. 𝐼
𝐼 = IB =
𝛽
Calculate value of IE
IE =
𝐼 =𝐼 +𝐼
Calculate RC, RE1 and RE2
RC =
𝑅 𝑅
𝐴 = − ≈ −
𝑟 +𝑅 𝑅
8. RE1 =
𝑉 −𝑉
𝑅 +𝑅 +𝑅 =
𝐼
𝑉 RE2 =
𝑅 +𝑅 =
𝐼

3
 𝑅 = |𝐴 |𝑅

Thus,
𝑉
𝑅 =
𝐼

𝑉 −𝑉
𝑅 = −𝑅
𝐼
𝑅
𝑅 =
|𝐴 |
𝑅 =𝑅 −𝑅
Calculate R1 and R2

( ) R2 =
Choose 𝑅 ≤
9.
Calculate 𝑅 =
( ) R1 =

Calculate Zi and Zo
26𝑚𝑉 Zi =
𝑟 =
10. 𝐼
𝑍 = 𝑅 |𝑅 | 𝛽(𝑟 + 𝑅 ) Zo =
𝑍 =𝑅
11. Choose lower cut off frequency fLS fLS = 150Hz
Let XCE = RE2/10 XCE =
12. 1
𝐶 =
2𝜋𝑓 𝑋 CE =
Choose Ci and Co
1 Ci =
𝐶 =
13. 2𝜋𝑓 𝑍
1 Co =
𝐶 =
2𝜋𝑓 𝑍

Procedure:
1. Test the components and build the circuit as per the circuit diagram shown in
Figure 1.
2. Check the working of amplifier using signal generator and DSO/CRO.
3. Connect the feedback network to the amplifier circuit.
4. Observe the output voltage on the DSO/CRO. Use potentiometer in place of
RE1 and adjust the gain if oscillations are not triggered.

Observation:
Frequency of oscillations = _____________

4
Result: Colpitt oscillator circuit was designed for given frequency and tested.
The required frequency of oscillations __________________

The frequency of oscillations observed _________________

5
 Experiment 3b
Crystal Oscillator

Aim: To design and set-up the crystal oscillator and determine the frequency of
oscillation

Components Required:
1. SL100 NPN Transistor – 1
2. Resistors for biasing
3. Capacitors
4. Crystal - 1
5. Regulated Power Supply – 1
6. DSO/CRO - 1
7. Multimeter – 1

Circuit Diagram:

Figure 1: Crystal Oscillator Circuit

Operation: The circuit of crystal oscillator is shown in Figure 1. A voltage divider

biased transistor circuit provides adequate amplification. Crystal exhibits a property
known as piezoelectric effect. When mechanical stress is applied across one set of
crystal’s faces, a potential difference develops across the opposite the other set of
faces. This is called piezoelectric effect. Similarly, a voltage applied across one set
of faces of the crystal causes mechanical distortion of the crystal. Every crystal has
its own natural resonant frequency and is very precise.

1
 Figure 2: Electrical representation of crystal

Crystal can be electrically represented as in Figure 2. Crystal exhibits series

resonant frequency at which its impedance is minimum and parallel resonant
frequency at which its impedance is maximum. The circuit in Figure 1 uses parallel
resonant mode. The tank circuit formed by crystal is connected in the feedback path
of an amplifier to satisfy Barkhausen criteria of oscillations ie., the loop gain should
be 1 and total phase shift through the loop should be either 3600 or 00.

The advantage of crystal oscillator is its precise resonant frequency and hence the
oscillations are very stable. Crystals do not wear out very easily and as a result the
oscillator incorporating crystals can operate for a long time.

Design Steps:
Sl.No. Steps Working
1. Measure Beta of transistor using multimeter 𝛽=
2. Choose voltage gain AV AV = 20
Choose maximum output voltage peak to peak swing
3. VO(p-p) =
VO(p-p)
Choose VCC at least 20% more than VO(p-p)
4. VCC =
𝑉 = 1.2 𝑉 ( )
Calculate VC, VE and VB
VC =
𝑉
𝑉 =
2
5. 𝑉
𝑉 = VE =
10
𝑉 =𝑉 +𝑉
VB =
Calculate VCE
6. VCE =
𝑉 =𝑉 −𝑉
Choose IC IC = 2mA
7.
Calculate IB, IE

2
 𝐼 IB =
𝐼 =
𝛽
𝐼 =𝐼 +𝐼 IE =
Calculate RC, RE1 and RE2
𝑉 −𝑉
𝑅 +𝑅 +𝑅 =
𝐼
𝑉
𝑅 +𝑅 =
𝐼 RC =
𝑅 = |𝐴 |𝑅

8. Thus, RE1 =
𝑉
𝑅 =
𝐼
𝑉 −𝑉 RE2 =
𝑅 = −𝑅
𝐼
𝑅
𝑅 =
|𝐴 |
𝑅 =𝑅 −𝑅
Calculate R1 and R2
( )
Choose 𝑅 ≤ R2 =
9. ( )
Calculate 𝑅 = R1 =

Calculate Zi and Zo
26𝑚𝑉 Zi =
𝑟 =
10. 𝐼
𝑍 = 𝑅 |𝑅 | 𝛽(𝑟 + 𝑅 ) Zo =
𝑍 =𝑅
11. Choose lower cut off frequency fLS fLS = 150Hz
Let XCE = RE2/10 XCE =
12. 1
𝐶 =
2𝜋𝑓 𝑋 CE =
Choose Ci and Co
1 Ci =
𝐶 =
13. 2𝜋𝑓 𝑍
1 Co =
𝐶 =
2𝜋𝑓 𝑍

Procedure:
1. Test the components and build the amplifier circuit as per the circuit diagram
shown in Figure 1
2. Check whether the amplifier circuit is working properly using signal generator
and DSO/CRO.
3. Connect the feedback circuit which involves crystal to the amplifier and
observe the waveforms on DSO/CRO.

3
Observations:
Frequency of Oscillations = ______________________ Hz

Result: The crystal oscillator circuit was designed and successfully tested. The
frequency of oscillations is _______________

Sample Waveform: