Name: Yoong Jia Wee

ID: 011698
Title: Wien Bridge Oscillator
Introduction
A Wien bridge oscillator is a type of electronic oscillator that generates sine waves. It can generate
a large range of frequencies. The bridge comprises four resistors and two capacitors. The oscillator
can also be viewed as a positive gain amplifier combined with a bandpass filter that provides positive
feedback.

Objectives

Recognize the operation of a Wien Bridge Oscillator.

Determine the balance frequency of a Wien network.

Determine the attenuation and phase shift of a Wien network at balance

frequency.

Determine the oscillation frequency of a Wien Bridge Oscillator.

Measure the amplitude and phase relationship from waveforms for a Wien
Bridge Oscillator.

Diagnose faults in a Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit.

Results and discussions

1.1 Wien Bridge Network
The exercise deals with initial investigation of a simple Wien Bridge circuit and
measures of frequency of oscillations and attenuation parameters.

Using

f=

1
2 RC

the anticipated balance frequency for the Wien network in

Circuit #4 (Figure 1.4)employing C10, R8 and C9, R9 can be calculated as

follows:
1
f=
2 ( 15 103 ) ( 10 109 )
f =1.06 kHz

The results for experiment 1.1 are tabulated in Table 1.1

Table 1.1:
Time Period

Voltage at
Op Amp
Wien Bridge
Socket 4.18
Output
Attenuation
0.900ms
1.14kHz
380mVp-p
1.12Vp-p
0.3393
From Table 1.1, we can know that the experimental frequency matches with the
theoretical value. From theory, we know that the attenuation =0.33. The
attenuation of the Wien network can be calculated by using the following equation

Attenuation ( )=

Frequency

Voltage at 4.18
Op Amp Output

0.38
1.12

=0.3393
It can be observed that the difference between the theoretical & practical result of
both the balance frequency value & the attenuation is very small, this might occur
as practically the condition is not ideal.
For a Wien bridge network to oscillate with 0 phase difference & a closed loop gain
of 1, The two RC Networks must have equal resistors and capacitors so that closed
loop gain = gain of the amplifer/3. For 0 phase difference oscillation, the closed loop
gain should be = 1, therefore, the amplifier gain should be around 3.
1.2 Wien Bridge Oscillator
From the lab sheet instructions, the voltage VR1 was set to the maximum value
which resulted in distortion because the voltage was higher than the operating
voltage of operational amplifier. To solve this problem, the voltage was reduced to a
level so that the distortion was minimum.
Obtaining a distortion free waveform by adjusting the voltage settings was difficult.
So we use a p.t.c. resistor which resistance increases with temperature.
R5 senses the output voltage. If the output voltage is too high, the extra current
flows into R5 increases R5 resistance. Thus the feedback ratio of the op-amp drops,
reduces the gain and compensates for the larger output.

The time for one cycle off the oscilloscope display is recorded in table 1.2
Table 1.2:
Time Period
0.96 ms

Frequency
1.106 kHz

Besides, the anticipated frequency was calculated and recorded in Table 1.3
Table 1.3
Anticipated
Frequency
96.46 Hz

Measured
Frequency
96.52 Hz

Voltage at
Socket 4.18
63.2 Vp-p

Theoretically, the attenuation () of the circuit is

anticipated frequency of the network is

f=

Op Amp
Output
184 Vp-p

1
3

Wien Bridge
Attenuation
0.3435

i.e. 0.3333 and the

1
1
=
=96.46 Hz
.
2 CR 2 (110 n)(15 k )

From table 1.3, we can know that the measured frequency and the experimental
Wien Bridge Attenuation is quite close to the theoretical value.

1.3 Fault Diagnosis Preliminary Investigation

This investigation involves the plotting and comparative analysis of the outputs
produced at various point of the Wien Bridge Oscillator circuit.

The waveform for socket 4.7, 4.6, 4.10, 4.16, 4.17 and 4.18 are plotted on
page 10 of the lab sheet.
The peak to peak voltage at every socket is recorded in the table below:

Socket
4.7
4.6
4.10
4.16
4.17
4.18

Vpp (V)
4.32
5.12
5.92
13.0
7.20
7.20

From the plots, we can know that for every socket except for 4.17, the output was in
phase with the input. Besides, the output was not distorted.
At socket 4.10, the phase difference of the 4.10 and 4.7 was 0.
For socket 4.17, we can observe the waveform that the input and the output was
not in phase and the input lead the output. The degree at which the input was
leading is by:

70 s
x 360 =27.10
930 s
The amplitude of the waveform at socket 4.17 is 7.20 Vpp.

Conclusion
The experiment of Wien bridge oscillator provided a more in depth understanding of
the wien bridge oscillator and Wien bridge network. It can be concluded that for a
Wien bridge network to give a stable oscillation the circuit must include a noninverting amplifier with gain of 3. For a Wien bridge oscillator beside maintain a
closed loop gain of 1 and phase shift of 0 , a p.t.c resistor also is required. From
this experiment we can conclude that a Wien network consists of a series RC
network and a parallel RC network.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wien_bridge_oscillator