Varactor-tuned oscillator

Hi Folks, I'm trying to stretch the tuning range of a varacter-tuned oscillator. I'd like it to cover the standard 88 - 108 MHz band, but I'm only getting from

88 to 96. The varactor is NTE613, and the spec sheet says that the C2/C30 ratio is about 2.9. I think the frequency ratio is the square root of that, so that would be about 1.7. That's a pretty wide tuning ratio. I'm only getting about a 1.1 ratio, but I only need about 1.3. That doesn't seem like asking too much does it? I'm operating the varacter from 0 to 26 volts regulated. It tunes nicely, but I don't know how to extend the range. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Allen

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Reply to
fourblackcats
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"fourblackcats"

** That you are only getting the lower end of the range suggests there is too much parallel capacitance in the tuned circuit.

Is the varactor the only parallel capacitor being used?

** Try to eliminate strays and increase the tuning voltage.

IME - volts above 26 do a lot to diminish C.

.......... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Sounds like it would help if you could reduce the stray capacitance of the inductor and connections. Can you see any possibilities for this?

Reply to
John Popelish

The input capacitance of the device maintaining the oscillation is too large. Try tapping it down the coil. But you are probably wasting your time.

Reply to
Reg Edwards

Varactor diode capacitance decreases with increasing reverse voltage, so increasing the reverse voltage to more than 26V won't make much difference to the capacitance.

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unless you go above 30V and get into the region where you can destroy the diode.

Eliminating stray capacitance does happen to be a good idea, even if Phil has chosen to espouse it - he's not always wrong.

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
Reply to
bill.sloman

Others have spoken about parallel capacitance. Don't ignore series capacitance and the speed of the amplifying device.

Series capacitances that are effectively is series with the variable capacitor will shift the whole band up and compress the bottom of the range.

Slow amplifing devices add a phase shift that looks like someone added a capacitor to the system. They tend to shift the band down and compress the top of the range.

If you are using a single transistor, a semi-isolated design helps to keep you from pulling the tuned circuit with the load. Vcc ! [R] ! +------ Load * !/c -[L]-+----! ! ! !\\e [C] [L] ! ! ! [Z]* GND ------+ ! [L] ! GND

Biasing not shown.

  • These parts are semi-optional.
--
--
kensmith@rahul.net   forging knowledge
Reply to
Ken Smith

= Da Slow Man Fuckwit

** Err - that is what I stated above.
** Complete non sequitur.

** Now that those with a clue AND experience have posted it - for Da Slow Man Fuckwit to see and plagiarise.

What a MORON.

......... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Have a look at the web site I posted, and you snipped

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and notice that the capacitance changes most rapidly wth voltage when the voltage across the vactor is low - increasing the voltage across the OP's diode from 26V to 30V won't produce anything like a 30:26 change in capacitance, and would be a complete waste of time, as anybody who understood the various varactor diode characteristics would appreciate without having to read an application note.

Only to you. You don't seem to be able to follow anything too complicated.

I've looked at varactor-diode-tuned oscillators from time to time since the 1970's - one that I designed for the Cambridge Instruments electron beam tester ended up in the Cambridge Instruments S.300 electron microscope.

I was distinctly proud of that . Not because the engineering in the S.300 was all that marvellous, but because Jerry - the engineer who grabbed my design - was very good, and I'd been rather hoping that he'd polish the crcuit a bit.

I had to settle for the ego boost ... You're the one who is presenting as clueless and inexperienced here

If you say so Phil - I'm sure this opinion is just as reliable as the other opinions you manage to conjure up.

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
Reply to
bill.sloman

On 18 Mar 2006 16:58:53 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@ieee.org Gave us:

Zetex makes REALLY good transistors and FETs. I am sure that Phil has shot himself in the head, much less the foot. I also note that he doesn't retort with technical argument. More like lame, pathetic jack-jawed baby bullshit.

Reply to
Roy L. Fuchs

"Roy L. Fuchs"

** What a slimy little maggot.

........ Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 13:45:56 +1100, "Phil Allison" Gave us:

Yes, you are just that.

Reply to
Roy L. Fuchs

"Roy L. Fuckwit"

** Slither, slither, slither ......

....... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 13:56:33 +1100, "Phil Allison" Gave us:

You are as mature as a freshly laid stool pile, Phil. Is your entire family that way? Was Grandpa a murderer or a rapist?

Reply to
Roy L. Fuchs

On 18 Mar 2006 19:13:57 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@ieee.org Gave us:

Don't be so sure. He comes from criminal roots.

Reply to
Roy L. Fuchs

= a criminal LIAR

( snip piles of UTERLY irrelevant SHITE )

** It completely contradicts your ASININE claim - Slow Man.

This one:

" .... increasing the voltage across the OP's diode from 26V to 30V won't produce anything like a 30:26 change in capacitance, and would be a complete waste of time, "

The published data for the diodes like the BBY40 shows that the varactor diode will drop by a significant amount the high end of the voltage range.

In the OP's application, a reduction of *1 pF * will shift the 88 - 100 MHz oscillator frequency several MHz higher.

Going from 26 to 30 volts does just that.

Try building a voltage tuned FM tuner some day - f****it.

....... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

"Roy L. Fuckwit "

** Poor Roy has no idea who his dad or grandad were.

Just some anonymous customers of a $5 w**re.

...... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:39:13 +1100, "Phil Allison" Gave us:

I was asking you about yours, you Aussie fucktard!

I didn't expect you to have any aptitude for reading comprehension however.

Reply to
Roy L. Fuchs

"Roy L. Fuckwit "

** Poor Roy L has no idea who his dad or grandad even were.

Just some anonymous customers of a pox ridden, $5 w**re ........

...... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

--- You must be related then. ;)

Joke:

The king was out one day, surveying his kingdom, when he happened upon a peasant who looked exactly like him.

"How extraordinary!", remarked the king, "Did your mother ever work at court?"

"No, your majesty," replied the peasant, "my father did."

-- John Fields Professional Circuit Designer

Reply to
John Fields

Phil may be Australian, but so am I. Admittedly, his social skills suggest that some of his ancestors might have been anti-social, but not all Australians can trace their ancestry back to a transported criminal

- none of my great-grandparents were born in Australia, and none of them were transported. The one grandparent who wasn't born in Australia wasn't transported either (though he did emigrate to get away from a failed marriage).

My wife's Australian ancestry goes back a little further (her great-grandfather signed Ned Kelly's death warrant) and none of them were transported either.

This is a small sample, but enough to demonstrate that Phil Allison doesn't have to come from criminal roots - persuasive though the hypothesis might be. And he doesn't have to be criminal - or even stupid - to have difficulty undertanding the difference between log/log graphs and graphs with linear axes.

--
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
Reply to
bill.sloman

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