Week #7: Transistor Fundamentals, Measurements, Diode Review

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rjagodowski
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Week #7: Transistor Fundamentals, Measurements, Diode Review

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NOTE: Next week in lab you will perform your individual lab practical exercise in lab along with your regular weekly lab.

We will begin with a discussion of bipolar (NPN, PNP) transistors.

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/tra ... ran_1.html (Don't worry about Common base/emitter/collector configurations yet, we'll address these at a later date.)

We will concentrate on the conditions of cut-off, saturation & the active region. http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/tra ... ran_4.html

Some simple simulations of:

NPN: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/e-npn.html
PNP: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/e-pnp.html
Transistor Switch: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/e-transswitch.html


We'll discuss some of the issues that may arise in some of the lab exercises, such as: generator loading (50 ohm internal resistance); 10x o'scope probes: what they do, how they do it and why?; scope probe compensation; Agilent Oscilloscope Probe multiplication setting.

Here are some miscellaneous support links for Measurements:

WATCH THIS VIDEO! YouTube Tutorial on how to use an oscilloscope. 23 min. The scope used in this video is the same as our Agilent Digital 'Scopes.

How to calibrate a 10x scope probe.
HowToCalibrate10xProbe.pdf
(472.03 KiB) Downloaded 159 times


Here is an Applet from Falstad.com which shows the frequency content of various signals. Of particular relevance here is the square wave and it's rich harmonic content. If the Scope probes are not calibrated properly, than the image you view on the display will not be a true representation.

WATCH THIS VIDEO! Why Your Function Generator's Output Voltage Can Be Wrong from YouTube (5m14s).

Here's a Forum Response (a different forum than cset) about Signal Generator Output Impedance Question which provides some explanation of the presence of the signal generator output impedance.

This pdf of Input & Output Impedance is pretty involved, it specifically include transistor amplifier concepts in it's presentation. The first two pages are fairly easy to follow, but most of the math after that begins to extend beyond the normal discussions in our course, but feel free to read through it.
2013_Input_output_impedance_9.pdf
(822.56 KiB) Downloaded 159 times


For diode reviews, you might find these links helpful: (NOTE: Most of these make use of Flash, which is usually disabled in most browsers and operating systems. Therefore you might have to navigate through some settings on your device to view this content.)

Testing a diode: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=AMT2104

Basic operation of a diode: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE5704

Half-wave rectifiers: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ?ID=SSE402 and http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE4103

Full wave rectifiers: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ?ID=SSE802 and http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE3903

Bridge Rectifiers: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE4003

Rectifier Filtering: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE4303

Zener Diodes: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=ENG6903

Zener diodes: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ID=SSE5804

Zener Diode Practice Problems: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ?ID=SSE602

LEDs: http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/View ... ?ID=SSE702

Some technology, information and applications for Consumer LED Lights from Philips.
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