Karl Martin A.

Aldueso

BSEE III

Activity 2: Full-Wave Rectifier

From the last experiment, the half-wave rectifier allows only one-half cycle of the AC input to flow. The full-wave rectifier uses the full cycle of the AC input and converts it into pulsating DC. In this experiment, the full-wave rectifier uses two diodes and a centertapped transformer. The input voltages measured at TP415 and TP416 are of equal value (33.80 Vpp) but are 180 degrees out-of-phase. Next, we measured the voltage drop on the load (TP417). The voltage drop is 11.5 VDC, with an 18.8 Vp and a ripple frequency of 120.1 Hz. This is because the rectifier rectified two different inputs. From the measured Vpp on the load, we can get the average voltage (VDC) which is 11.95 VDC and is approximately equal to 11.5 VDC which was measured using a digital multi-tester. When the capacitor was added, it filtered and increased the DC output to 17.37 VDC with a ripple voltage of 1.18 VAC. And when the capacitive-series resistor filter was added, the ripple voltage decreased to .68 Vpp but the output also decreased due to the series resistor.

Karl Martin A. Aldueso

BSEE III

Activity 3: Bridge Rectifier

Bridge rectifiers are also full-wave rectifiers but they require 4 diodes. But the characteristics of the output are improved. In this experiment, the input voltage has a 33.4 Vpp @ 60 Hz. When the voltages of each side of the 10 kohm load resistor were measured, they were equal but are 180 degrees out-of-phase. The output at the resistor is the difference between the two measured voltages and is equal to 35.8 Vp with a ripple frequency of 120 Hz. From this, the average voltage is 22.13 VDC. Using a multi-tester to measure the voltage at the load, it is equal to 22.3 VDC which is approximately equal to the computed average voltage. When a capacitor was added, the output voltage increased to 32.9 VDC. When previous capacitor was change to a larger capacitor, the output slightly increased. This is because the larger capacitor is a better filter. From this experiment, the measured values are somewhat doubled compared to the previous experiment. Thus, out of the three rectifiers demonstrated, the bridge rectifier provides the highest output voltage.

Karl Martin A. Aldueso

BSEE III

Activity 4: NPN Common Emitter Configuration

In this experiment, we observed how a common emitter amplifier operates. With an input voltage of .6 Vpp, the measured output voltage is 6.72 Vpp. The two voltages are 180 degrees out-of-phase. The voltage gain is 11.2. When a 10 kohm load was added, the output voltage amplitude decreased. Decreasing the resistance of the load will decrease the output amplitude. With a constant value of current entering the load V=IcR, there is a mismatch of the impedance.

Activity 5: Common Base Configuration

In this experiment, we observed the characteristics of a common base amplifier. We noticed that the input voltage decreased when changing it from common emitter to common base. This is because the common base amplifier has low input impedance. This input impedance loads the trainers generator causing a decrease in input signal. With an input signal of .2 Vpp and a measured output of 3.76 Vpp, the voltage gain is 18.8 which is higher than that of the common emitter. When the load resistor was added and varied its value, the input voltage was much less affected than the output voltage. This is because the transistor isolates the input from the load resistor. The same as the common emitter, the output voltage decreases when a low impedance load is connected.

Karl Martin A. Aldueso

BSEE III

Activity 6: Common Collector Configuration

In this experiment, we observed how a common collector amplifier works. In the common collector amplifier, the input voltage (1 Vpp) is greater than the output voltage (0.97 Vpp) therefore, having a voltage gain of less than 1 (0.96) but both are in-phase. When the load was connected to the output, the output signal decreased and the input signal was not affected because the transistor isolates the input signal from the load resistor. Increasing the supply voltage hardly affects both the input and output waveforms. Activity 7: Direct and Resistive Coupling

In many applications, it is necessary to couple two or more amplifier stages together. In this experiment, an NPN common emitter amplifier is coupled to a PNP common collector amplifier. Setting the input signal to 0.5 Vpp, the measured voltage at TP102 is 2.52 Vpp (loaded), 2.89 Vpp (unloaded). The change in amplitude is due to the mismatch of impedances. The 1st stage has a high output resistance while the 2 nd stage has a very high input resistance. When the second stage was change to a common emitter circuit, the output of the 1st stage increased because the load decreased. In step 15, a variable resistor was placed between the two stages. This type of coupling is referred to as resistive coupling. This allows us to control the resistance between the stages. When it was set to minimum, the voltage at TP105 is 5.67 VDC. When the variable resistor was set to maximum, a negative voltage was measured.

Karl Martin A. Aldueso

BSEE III

Activity 8: Resistive-Capacitive and Transformer Coupling In the 1st part of this experiment, an NPN common emitter amplifier is RC coupled to a PNP common emitter amplifier. In the 1st stage, the input signal is amplified and this amplified signal is the input of the 2nd stage. It is amplified once again in the 2nd stage where a finale amplified output is. The 180 degree phase shift on the 1st stage is nullified by the 2nd stage by another 180 degree phase shift. Thus, we obtain an output which is an amplified signal of the input and is in phase with the input signal. Resistor 1 in the RC coupling acts as a load resistor for the first stage and develops the output signal of that stage. When a capacitor was added DC signal is blocked allowing only the AC signal to pass to the next stage. Resistor 2 develops this passed, or coupled, signal as the input signal the second stage. This arrangement allows the coupling of the signal while it isolates the biasing of each stage. In the 2nd part of the experiment, the circuit is changed to a transformer coupling. The primary of T1 is now the load for the first stage and the secondary of T1 acts as the developing impedance for the second stage. The inductors that make up the primary and secondary of the transformer have very little dc resistance, so the efficiency of the amplifiers is very high. Transformer coupling is very often used for the final output (between the final amplifier stage and the output device) because of the impedance-matching qualities of the transformer. The Frequency response of transformer-coupled amplifiers is limited by the inductive reactance of the transformer just as it was limited in impedance coupling.