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Tank Circuits & Oscillators

This document discusses different types of oscillator circuits including Hartley and Colpitts oscillators. It provides detailed descriptions and diagrams of how series-fed and shunt-fed Hartley oscillators operate using a tapped coil to provide feedback. It also describes the Colpitts oscillator which uses two capacitors instead of a tapped coil in the tank circuit, making it more stable in frequency.

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mohan ram
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108 views5 pages

Tank Circuits & Oscillators

This document discusses different types of oscillator circuits including Hartley and Colpitts oscillators. It provides detailed descriptions and diagrams of how series-fed and shunt-fed Hartley oscillators operate using a tapped coil to provide feedback. It also describes the Colpitts oscillator which uses two capacitors instead of a tapped coil in the tank circuit, making it more stable in frequency.

Uploaded by

mohan ram
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TANK CIRCUITS & OSCILLATORS

If you realize that XL and XC can be equal ONLY at ONE FREQUENCY (the resonant frequency), then you
will have learned the most important single fact about resonant circuits.

This fact is the principle that enables tuned circuits in the radio receiver to select one particular
frequency and reject all others. This is the reason why so much emphasis is placed on X L and XC in the
discussions that follow.

Examine figure 1-1. Notice that a basic tuned circuit consists of a coil and a capacitor, connected either
in series, view (A), or in parallel, view (B). The resistance (R) in the circuit is usually limited to the
inherent resistance of the components (particularly the resistance of the coil). For our purposes we are
going to disregard this small resistance in future diagrams and explanations.

You have already learned how a coil and a capacitor in an a.c. circuit perform. This action is the basis of
tuned circuits or tank circuits. Tank circuits are used to build oscillators and receiver circuits.
HARTLEY OSCILLATORS.

Although its frequency stability is not the best possible of all the oscillators, the Hartley
oscillator can generate a wide range of frequencies and is very easy to tune. The Hartley will
operate class C with self-bias for ordinary operation. It will operate class A when the output
waveform must be of a constant voltage level or of a linear waveshape. The two versions of this
oscillator are the series-fed and the shunt-fed. The main difference between the Armstrong and
the Hartley oscillators lies in the design of the feedback (tickler) coil. A separate coil is not used.
Instead, in the Hartley oscillator, the coil in the tank circuit is a split inductor. Current flow
through one section induces a voltage in the other section to develop a feedback signal.

Series-Fed Hartley Oscillator


One version of a SERIES-FED HARTLEY OSCILLATOR is shown in figure 2-13. The tank circuit
consists of the tapped coil (L1 and L2) and capacitor C2. The feedback circuit is from the tank
circuit to the base of Q1 through the coupling capacitor C1. Coupling capacitor C1 prevents the
low dc resistance of L2 from placing a short across the emitter-to-base junction and resistor RE.
Capacitor C3 bypasses the sine-wave signal around the battery, and resistor RE is used for
temperature stabilization to prevent thermal runaway. Degeneration is prevented by CE in
parallel with RE. The amount of bias is determined by the values of RB, the emitter-to-base
resistance, the small amount of dc resistance of coil L1, and the resistance of RE.
When a voltage is applied to the circuit, current from the battery flows through coil L1 and to the
emitter through RE. Current then flows from the emitter to the collector and back to the battery. The
surge of current through coil L1 induces a voltage in coil L2 to start oscillations within the tank circuit.
When current first starts to flow through coil L1, the bottom of L1 is negative with respect to the top of
L2. The voltage induced into coil L2 makes the top of L2 positive. As the top of L2 becomes positive, the
positive potential is coupled to the base of Q1 by capacitor C1. A positive potential on the base results in
an increase of the forward bias of Q1 and causes collector current to increase. The increased collector
current also increases the emitter current flowing through coil L1. Increased current through L1 results
in more energy being supplied to the tank circuit, which, in turn, increases the positive potential at the
top of the tank (L2) and increases the forward bias of Q1. This action continues until the rate of current
change through coil L1 can no longer increase.

The current through coil L1 and the transistor cannot continue increasing indefinitely, or the coil and
transistor will burn up. The circuit must be designed, by proper selection of the transistor and associated
parts, so that some point is reached when the current can no longer continue to increase. At this point
C2 has charged to the potential across L1 and L2. This is shown as the heavy dot on the base waveform.
As the current through L1 decreases, the voltage induced in L2 decreases.

The positive potential across the tank begins to decrease and C2 starts discharging through L1 and L2.
This action maintains current flow through the tapped coil and causes a decrease in the forward bias of
Q1. In turn, this decrease in the forward bias of Q1 causes the collector and emitter current to decrease.
At the instant the potential across the tank circuit decreases to 0, the energy of the tank circuit is
contained in the magnetic field of the coil. The oscillator has completed a half cycle of operation.

Next, the magnetic field around L2 collapses as the current from C2 stops. The action of the collapsing
magnetic field causes the top of L2 to become negative at this instant. The negative charge causes
capacitor C2 to begin to charge in the opposite direction. This negative potential is coupled to the base
of Q1, opposing its forward bias.

Most transistor oscillators are operated class A; therefore, the positive and negative signals applied to
the base of Q1 will not cause it to go into saturation or cutoff. When the tank circuit reaches its
maximum negative value, the collector and the emitter currents will still be present but at a minimum
value. The magnetic field will have collapsed and the oscillator will have completed 3/4 cycle. At this
point C2 begins to discharge, decreasing the negative potential at the top of L2 (potential will swing in
the positive direction). As the negative potential applied to the base of Q1 decreases, the opposition to
the forward bias also decreases. This, in effect, causes the forward bias to begin increasing, resulting in
increased emitter current flowing through L1. The increase in current through L1 causes additional
energy to be fed to the tank circuit to replace lost energy. If the energy lost in the tank is replaced with
an equal or larger amount of energy, oscillations will be sustained. The oscillator has now completed 1
cycle and will continue to repeat it over and over again.

Shunt-Fed Hartley Oscillator


A version of a SHUNT-FED HARTLEY OSCILLATOR is shown in figure 2-14. The parts in this circuit perform
the same basic functions as do their counterparts in the series-fed Hartley oscillator. The difference
between the series-fed and the shunt-fed circuit is that dc does not flow through the tank circuit. The
shunt-fed circuit operation is essentially the same as the series-fed Hartley oscillator. When voltage is
applied to the circuit, Q1 starts conducting. As the collector current of Q1 increases, the change
(increase) is coupled through capacitor C3 to the tank circuit, causing it to oscillate. C3 also acts as an
isolation capacitor to prevent dc from flowing through the feedback coil. The oscillations at the collector
will be coupled through C3 (feedback) to supply energy lost within the tank.

COLPITTS OSCILLATOR

The Hartley oscillators have a


tendency to be unstable in
frequency because of
junction capacitance. In
comparison, the
COLPITTS OSCILLATOR has fairly
good frequency stability, is
easy to tune, and can be used
for a wide range of
frequencies. The large
value of split capacitance is in parallel with the junctions and minimizes the effect on frequency stability.
The Colpitts oscillator is very similar to the shunt-fed Hartley oscillator, except that two capacitors are
used in the tank circuit instead of a tapped coil (figure 2-15). The Hartley oscillator has a tap between
two coils, while the Colpitts has a tap between two capacitors. You can change the frequency of the
Colpitts either by varying the inductance of the coil or by varying the capacitance of the two capacitors
in the tank circuit. Notice that no coupling capacitor is used between the tank circuit and the base of Q1.
Capacitors C1 and C2 of the tank circuit are in parallel with the input and the output interelement
capacitance (capacitance between emitter, base, and collector) of the transistor. Thus the input and the
output capacitive effect can be minimized on the tank circuit and better frequency stability can be
obtained than with the Hartley oscillator.

Figure 2-15.—Colpitts oscillator.

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