Continue to Site

Welcome to EDAboard.com

Welcome to our site! EDAboard.com is an international Electronics Discussion Forum focused on EDA software, circuits, schematics, books, theory, papers, asic, pld, 8051, DSP, Network, RF, Analog Design, PCB, Service Manuals... and a whole lot more! To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

LM311 comparator input from Colpitts oscillator questions

NigthMoth

Junior Member level 1
Joined
Aug 28, 2023
Messages
17
Helped
0
Reputation
0
Reaction score
4
Trophy points
3
Activity points
305
Hello all

I was studying how to use comparators, so decided to feed LM311P comparator with 10kHz sinusoidal waveform generated by Colpitts oscillator to confirm the comparator behaviour. But (as you've probably already guessed) LM311P didn't behave as I expected (and Colpitts oscillator as well).

Here is what I've done, and questions at the end of this post:

Colpitts oscillator design for10kHz ~5Vpp oscillations

Actually I don't know how to estimate Colpitts oscillations Vpp, so decided to set power supply as +5V

Transistor biasing:
- R1, R2, Rc, Re for voltage divider configuration bias selected so @Vcc = 5V, Ic~=1mA, Vce~=0.5*Vcc;
- Ce selected so X_Ce @10kHz < 0.1*Re => Ce > 0.34uF, 0.47uF is OK;
- Cin selected so X_Cin @10kHz < 0.1*(R1||R2) => Cin > 0.69uF, 10uF is OK;
- Cout selected so X_Cout @10kHz < 0.1*Rload and Rload will be at least 10xRc => Cout > 0.009uF, 47uF is OK;

Tank circuit
C = C1*C2/(C1+C2) ~= 0.025uF;
f = 1/[2*pi*sqrt(L1*C)] ~=10.1kHz;

I estimated Av for this confirguration as described here
r'e ~= 25mV/Ie = 25mV/1mA = 25 Ohm
Av ~= Rc/r'e = 1800Ohm/25Ohm = 72
Criterion for oscillations to start from as described here:
beta = C1/C2 = 0.082 and 1/beta = 12
72 >= 12 so Av >= 1/beta so it is ok for oscillations

and

According to Datasheet
- Vcc(min) = 3.5V - OK, my Vcc is 5V
- Vi(min) = Vcc- +0.5V = 0+0.5V= 0.5V - OK, expected Vin(min) is 1.43V, minimum of sin wave from Colpitts oscillator Setup 1
- Vi(max) = Vcc+ -1.5V = 5-1.5V= 3.5V - OK, expected Vin(max) is 2.76V, maximum of sin wave from Colpitts oscillator Setup 1
- Icc+(max) = 7.5mA - OK, R3 = 2.7kOhm to ensure supply current <7.5mA
(I have +5V and +18V power supply, I'm affraid to use +18V by mistake, so select 2.7k resistor)

Here is what I got:

Setup 1: Colpitts oscillator - OK, but frequency is not as I expected
Setup 1 circuit.png

Setup 1: Circuit diagram​
изображение_2024-01-04_233652245.png

Setup 1: Realisation​
Setup 1 Colpitts Test 1.jpg

Setup 1: Test​

Setup 2: Colpitts oscillator & LM311P (Emitter output) - OK, but output voltage less than expected
Setup 3 circuit.png

Setup 2: Circuit diagram​
изображение_2024-01-04_234121151.png

Setup 2: Realisation​
Setup 3 Colpitts and LM311 emitter Test 1.jpg

Setup 2: Test​

Setup 3: Colpitts oscillator & LM311P (Collector output) - Fail
Setup 4 circuit.png

Setup 3: Circuit diagram​
изображение_2024-01-04_234529749.png

Setup 3: Realisation​
Setup 4 Colpitts and LM311 collector Test 1.jpg

Setup 3: Test​

My questions:

1) Colpitts oscillator frequency question (Setup 1)

I was trying to setup 10kHz frequency for Colpitts oscillator
I checked values for C1,C2 and L1 in tank circuit with RLC meter and they almost as specified (within +/-5%)
But I got 13.69kHz instead of ~10kHz.
And i cant figure out why?

My first guess was that my Lchoke inductivity is too high, and, as I undersand, It appears in parallel with C1 in AC equivalent circuit,
so tank circuit becomes more complicated?
And, for example, if I substitute (L1||Lchoke) = 5mH into tank circuit equation i get 14kHz, almost as 13.69kHz measured with oscilloscope.

When I simulate this oscillator with Micro-Cap 12, I got ~11.7kHz
It is as close to 10kHz (expected) as to 13.69kHz (received), so I'm confused..

Also, if Lchoke < 10mH, there is no oscillations. I picked up 10mH value manually, not by calculation.


2) Question regarding "Emitter output" from LM311P (Setup 2)
Almost as I expected, but why amplitude of square wave is only +2.24V but not ~Vcc(+5V)?


3) Question egarding "Collector output" from LM311P (Setup 3)
Why there is no square wave from comparator's collector output regardless of Pot1 referrence voltage in my Setup 3?
It works rather like some kind of flip-flop: always LOW when Vref(IN-) <0.22V and always HIGH when Vref(IN-) >0.22V,
even if IN+ is a sinusoid oscillating from 1.86V to 3.86V.
 
Hi,

LM311 is a comparator - as you already mentioned.
But you used it like an OPAMP with external gain setup of +1.

--> Don´t use a comparator this way.
An OPAMP is no comparator and a comparator is no OPAMP. Both are designed for completely different operation modes.
Sadly they share the same schematic symbol. And also sadly many tinkerers and hobbyists use them wrongly. Thus there are many wrong schematics in the inernet.

Please read the datasheet and other related documents provided by the manufacturer.

Klaus
 
As already mentioned, buffer IC1 input has no DC bias, resulting in unstable operation. You can e.g. omit Cin to get defined bias. Comparator LM311 has unsuitable Vcc series resistor R4, not suggested in any manufacturer application.

I don't see that the circuit tries to use LM311 as opamp.
 
1) Do you have a R4 in series with LM311 + supply pin ? That should be removed.

2) To get square wave the bias point pf LM311 has to be set to halfway between sine peak
to sine min.


Regards, Dana.
 

LaTeX Commands Quick-Menu:

Part and Inventory Search

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top