Free Expert Guides on Power Systems, Circuit Design & Electrical Troubleshooting

What is a Colpitts Oscillator?A Colpitts Oscillator is a type of LC oscillator. Colpitts oscillators were invented by American engineer Edwin H. Colpitts in 1918. Like other LC oscillators, Colpitts oscillators use a combination of inductors (L) and capacitors (C) to produce an oscillation at a certain frequency. The distinguishing feature of the Colpitts oscillator is that the feedback for the active device is taken from a voltage divider made of two capacitors in series across the inductor.Tha

What is a Hartley Oscillator?A Hartley Oscillator (or RF oscillator) is a type of harmonic oscillator. The oscillation frequency for a Hartley Oscillator is determined by an LC oscillator (i.e. a circuit consisting of capacitors and inductors). Hartley oscillators are typically tuned to produce waves in the radiofrequency band (which is why they are also known as RF oscillators).Hartley Oscillators were invented in 1915 by American engineer Ralph Hartley.The distinguishing feature of a Hartley o

What is an Oscillator?An oscillator is a circuit which produces a continuous, repeated, alternating waveform without any input. Oscillators basically convert unidirectional current flow from a DC source into an alternating waveform which is of the desired frequency, as decided by its circuit components.The basic principle behind the working of oscillators can be understood by analyzing the behavior of an LC tank circuit shown in Figure 1 below, which employs an inductor L and a completely pre-ch

What is a Signal Generator?Signal generators are electronic devices that generate electronic signals and waveform. These electronic signals are either repeating or non-repeating as per the requirements and field of applications. There are different types of signal generators with different level of capability and functionality. All the signal generators have different designs, different dimensions, and parameters. So, the variety of generators serves different purposes and covers a range of appl

Before we go into the topic of tuned collector oscillator, we must first understand what is an oscillator is and what it does. An oscillator is an electronic circuit that generates an oscillating or periodic signal, like a sine wave or a square wave. The main purpose of an oscillator is to convert a DC signal to an AC signal. Oscillators have numerous usages like in TV, clocks, radio, computers etc. Almost all electronic devices use some oscillators to generate an oscillating signal.One of the s

RC phase-shift oscillators use resistor-capacitor (RC) network (Figure 1) to provide the phase-shift required by the feedback signal. They have excellent frequency stability and can yield a pure sine wave for a wide range of loads.Ideally a simple RC network is expected to have an output which leads the input by 90o.However, in reality, the phase-difference will be less than this as the capacitor used in the circuit cannot be ideal. Mathematically the phase angle of the RC network is expressed a

What is a Clapp Oscillator?A Clapp oscillator (also known as a Gouriet oscillator) is an LC electronic oscillator that uses a particular combination of an inductor and three capacitors to set the oscillator’s frequency (see circuit diagram below). LC oscillators use a transistor (or vacuum tube or other gain element) and a positive feedback network.A Clapp oscillator is a variation of a Colpitts oscillator where an additional capacitor (C3) is added into the tank circuit to be in series with the

What is a Klystron Tube?A Klystron (also known as a Klystron Tube or Klystron Amplifier) is a vacuum tube that is used to oscillate and amplify microwave frequency signals. It was invented by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian.A klystron uses the kinetic energy of an electron beam. Generally, Low-power klystrons are used as oscillators and high-power klystrons are used as output tubes in UHF.There are two configurations for a low-powered klystron. One is a low-power microwa

What is QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation)?QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) is defined as the modulation technique which is the combination of phase and amplitude modulation of a carrier wave into a single channel. In other words, QAM transmits information by changing both the amplitude and phase of a carrier wave, thereby doubling the effective bandwidth. QAM is also known as “quadrature carrier multiplexing”.In a QAM signal, the direct modulation of a carrier wave in quadrature is inv

What is a Relaxation Oscillator?A relaxation oscillator is defined as a non-linear electronic oscillator circuit that can generate a non-sinusoidal repetitive output signal. A relaxation oscillator was invented by Henri Abraham and Eugene Bloch using a vacuum tube during World War 1.Oscillators are classified into two different categories; linear oscillators (for sinusoidal waveforms) and relaxation oscillators (for non-sinusoidal waveforms).It must provide a repetitive and periodic signal for n