Troubleshooting Electronic Circuits: A Guide to Learning Analog Electronics / Edition 1

by Ronald Quan

Overview

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Debug, Tweak and fine-tune your DIY electronics projects

This hands-on guide shows, step by step, how to build, debug, and troubleshoot a wide range of analog electronic circuits. Written by electronics guru Ronald Quan, Troubleshooting Electronic Circuits: A Guide to Learning Analog Circuits clearly explains proper debugging techniques as well as testing and modifying methods. In multiple chapters, poorly-conceived circuits are analyzed and improved. Inside, you will discover how to design or re-design high-quality circuits that are repeatable and manufacturable.

Coverage includes:

• An introduction to electronics troubleshooting
• Breadboards
• Power sources, batteries, battery holders, safety issues, and volt meters
• Basic electronic components
• Diodes, rectifiers, and Zener diodes
• Light emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
• Troubleshooting discrete circuits (simple transistor amplifiers)
• Analog integrated circuits, including amplifiers and voltage regulators
• Audio circuits
• Troubleshooting analog integrated circuits
• Ham radio circuits related to SDR
• Trimmer circuits, including the 555 chip and CMOS circuits

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781260143560
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	01/23/2020
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	518,928
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Ronald Quan is an RF circuits design engineer who holds more than 95 US patents. He is a member of the IEEE, AES, and SMPT, and has worked at Ampex, Sony, Monster Cable, Portal Player, Hewlett Packard, and Macrovision. Ronald is the author of Electronics from the Ground Up and Build Your Own Transistor Radios.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

1 Introduction 1

Goals of this Book 2

Quick Notes: Replacing Electrolytic Capacitors and Soldering 2

Soldering Problems (Cold Solder Connections) 3

Summary 5

2 Basic Breadboards 7

Solderless Breadboards 7

Quality 8

Power Buses on Solderless Breadboards … Look for Breaks in the Power Bus Lines 10

And Now Some Words of Caution 13

Other Breadboards 14

3 Power Sources: Batteries and Battery Holders, Safety Issues, and Voltmeters 17

Batteries 17

Again, a Word of Caution 19

Expected Battery Capacity 21

Safety Considerations 21

Survey of Digital Voltmeters 21

4 Some Basic Electronic Components 27

Capacitors 27

Radial and Axial Electrolytic Capacitors 33

Measure Twice, Install Once: Erroneously Marked Capacitors 35

Resistors 37

Using a DVM to Measure Resistance Values 40

Measuring Low Resistance Values 44

5 Diodes, Rectifiers, and Zener Diodes 49

Diodes and Rectifiers 49

Forward Voltage Across Anode to Cathode and Reverse Voltage Effects 54

Testing Diodes and Rectifiers with Digital and Analog Volt Meters 56

Schottky Diodes 60

A Brief Look at Zener Diodes 63

Some General Rules About Diodes 69

6 Light-Emitting Diodes 71

The LED's Light Output 71

LED "Minimum Turn On" Voltages 75

Other Types of Green LEDs 81

Problems with Paralleling Two LEDs with Different Turn-On Voltages 83

Protecting LEDs from Damage Due to Reverse Voltage Across the Anode and Cathode 86

Some Keys Points About Light Emitting Diodes 88

7 Bipolar Junction Transistors 89

Bipolar Junction Transistors 89

What Happens When a Transistor Is Damaged 94

Schematic Symbol of NPN and PNP Transistors 95

Applying a DC Voltage to the Base of the Transistor to Provide a Constant Current Source 96

Improved Current Source Circuits 101

What Happens When Things Go Wrong 107

Insufficient "Headroom Voltage" for the Transistor 112

Sometimes Even a Correct Circuit Goes Bad 114

Summary 115

8 Troubleshooting Discrete Circuits (Simple Transistor Amplifiers) 117

Important Practical Transistor Specifications 117

Simple Transistor Amplifier Circuits 118

First DC Analysis: Capacitors = Batteries with Self Adjusting Voltages 120

Second DC Analysis: Take Out the Capacitors to Find the DC Currents and DC Voltages 121

Finding the AC Signal Gain 124

Limited Input Amplitude Range 130

Output Swing Determined by IC and RL | R2 133

Troubleshooting the One-Transistor Amplifier 135

Using Negative Feedback to Build "Mass Production" Amplifiers 135

DC Analysis of Self-Biasing Amplifier 136

AC Analysis of a Self-Biased Amplifier 139

Output Resistance Ro' 144

Another Common Emitter Amplifier 148

Troubleshooting the Amplifier in Figure 8-31 152

Maximum Output Voltage Swing 155

Amplifier's Emitter AC Grounded via CE 156

Amplifier's Emitter Partially AC Grounded via Series RE2 and CE2 156

Finding an Optimum Bias Point for Maximum Output Swing with Just an Emitter Resistor 158

Summary 159

9 Analog Integrated Circuits Including Amplifiers and Voltage Regulators 161

Operational Amplifiers 161

Maximum Safe Power Supply Voltage 171

Minimum Power Supply Voltage 172

Caution on Providing Supply Voltages 173

Maximum Output Current 174

Output Voltage Range 179

Input Signal Range 179

Non-Inverting Gain Amplifiers 182

Inverting Gain Amplifiers 192

A Short Look at Linear Voltage Regulators 201

Drop-Out Voltage Summary 203

Voltage Selections, Packages, Pin Outs and Schematics 204

Knowing the Pin Out Sequence Is Important 205

Low-Drop-Out Voltage Regulators 206

10 Audio Circuits 213

Preamps and Power Amps 213

A Basic Difference Amplifier 214

Dynaco PAT-5 Low-Level Preamp Section and Power Supply 221

Preamp's DC Bias Point Estimates 227

AC Analysis 229

A High-Fidelity Audio Power Amplifier 231

DC Biasing Conditions in Figure 10-9 234

AC Signal Conditions 236

11 Troubleshooting Analog Integrated Circuits 241

Circuits That Need Fixing or Redesigning 242

Photodiode Circuits 254

Trans-resistance Amplifiers 257

Summary 266

Reference Books 266

12 Some Ham Radio Circuits Related to SDR 267

Software Defined Radio Circuits 267

Some Troubleshooting Tips Concerning Figure 12-5 and Figure 12-7 277

A Common Sample-and-Hold RF Mixer Circuit 279

A Preferred Implementation with Sample-and-Hold Circuits 284

A Cool Four-Phase Commutating Mixer 288

DC Bias Conditions 293

Testing Circuit with an RF or Function Generator 293

Improving the "Original Design" 296

Another View of Op Amp Circuits (Where the Inverting Input Drives a Load) 302

Suggested System Approach 304

Crystal Oscillators 304

Types of Crystals 307

Low-Frequency Cylindrical Crystals, "Standard" Crystals, and Ceramic Resonators 308

Standard HC-49 and High-Frequency Cylindrical Crystals 308

Ceramic Resonators 309

Be Aware of Overtone Crystals 316

Gain Bandwidth Product Revisited 318

Summary 318

13 Timer, CMOS, and Motor Drive Circuits 319

Types of 555 Timer Chips 319

Basic Modes of the 555 Timer Chip and Pin Outs 320

The 555 Pulse Generator (a.k.a., One-Shot or Monostable Mode) 321

Troubleshooting the 555 One-Shot Monostable Timer 324

When You Want to AC Couple a Signal to Trigger a Pulse Output Signal 325

"Strange" Output Signals Observed via an Oscilloscope 328

Troubleshooting the 555 Oscillator (a.k.a. Astable Mode) 329

One More Example on Driving Speakers with the 555 332

Why Again an Output Coupling Capacitor Is Preferable 332

Using a 555 to Drive Motors via Pulse-Width Modulation 338

Summary of Troubleshooting Techniques 346

14 Troubleshooting Other Circuits, Including Kits and Projects 347

Component Kits and Test Equipment 347

LED and Sensor Kits 349

A Quick Detour with the LM386 Audio Power Amplifier IC 354

Photonics: A Light Transceiver System 356

Thermal Sensing Circuit via Thermistor (Temperature-Dependent Resistor) 361

A Circuit Using an Electrolytic Capacitor Incorrectly 370

Identifying and Fixing "Bad" Circuit Designs 375

An Example of the Missing Ground Connection 378

Ferrite Beads to Tame Parasitic Oscillations 382

Summary 386

15 More Tips and Final Thoughts 387

Deciphering Schematics with Too Many Connection Flags 388

Troubleshooting with Minimal Test Equipment 393

Analog Meter Driving Circuits for AC Signals 393

Troubleshooting an Older Push Pull Audio Amplifier in a 1950s Transistor Radio 396

Reducing Noise on the Power Supply Bus with Multiple Circuits 403

Bad Connections from Some IC Sockets 405

Summary and Final Thoughts 406

A Choosing Test Equipment 411

Lab Power Supplies (Adjustable) 411

Signal Generators 414

Oscilloscopes 415

Examples of Display Resolution and Number of Memory Points 417

Oscilloscope Probes 420

An Inexpensive Lab 422

B Online Learning Resources 425

C Components and Parts Suppliers 427

General Electronic Components 427

Transistors, FETs, Diodes, LEDs, Photodiodes, and ICs 427

Low-Noise Transistors and JFETs, Including Matched Pairs 427

Passive Components, Resistors, Capacitors, Fixed Valued Inductors, Transformers, Tools, Soldering Irons, Breadboards, and Solder 427

Kit Parts for Transistors, Diodes, Capacitors, Resistors, LEDs, and More 428

Ham Radio Parts 428

Crystals, Inductors, Capacitors, Transistors, RF Transistors, Transformers, and ICs 428

Oscillator Coils, IF Transformers, and Audio Transformers 428

Antenna Coils 428

Variable Capacitors 428

Science Kits, Cool Things, and Everything Else 429

Index 431