b

asic
e
lectron
ics
b
y VAN VALKENBURGH
NOOGER & NEV
ILLE
, I
NC.

V OL. 2

I
N
TRODUCT
ION T
O A
MPL
IFIERS
T
HE T
R
IODE T
UBE
T
E
TRODES & P
ENTODES
A
UDIO V
OLTAGE &
P
OWER AMPL
IFIERS

C O M M O N- C O R E

ri
l,
RI D E R
b
as ic
e
lectron
ics
by VAN VALKENBURGH
,
NOOGER & NEV
ILLE
, I
NC.

VOL
.2

JOHN F
. R
IDER P
UBL
ISHER
, I
NC.
, N
E W YORK
 F
i
rst E
dit
ion

C
opyr
igh
t 1
955 b
y

VAN VALKENBURGH
, NOOGER AND NEV
ILLE
, I
NC.

A
ll Right
s R es
erved u nder I
nterna
tiona
l a nd Pan
Amer
ican Conven tions
. This book or p
art
s thereof
may not be reproduced i n any fo
rm o r i n any
l
anguage wi
thou t p
ermiss
ion o
f the c
opyr
ighto wner.

L
ibrary o
f C
ongre
ss C
ata
log C
ard No
. 5
5-6984

P
rin
ted i
n t
he Un
ited S
tate
sof Amer
ica
 PREF ACE

The text
s o f the e n
tire B a
sic E lectric
ity a nd B asic Electron ics
c
ourses
, ascurrently taught at Navy s pecial
ty schoo ls
, have n ow b een
r
e
leased b y the Navy f or ci
vilian u se. Th is educa tiona
l p rogram
h
as been an unqua l
ified success
. Since Apr il, 1953, when i tw a
s f i
rs
t
i
ns
talled
, over 25,000 Navy t r
ainee s have b enefited b y t
his i n
struc-
t
i
on a nd t
he results have been o ut
stand ing.

The u
nique s
imp
lif
ica
tion o
f a
n o
rdinar
ily c
omp
lex s
ubjec
t, t
he
e
xceptional cl
arity of i
lust
rations and t e
xt
, a nd the plan o
f pre-
s
ent
ing o ne bas
ic concep
t at at ime, wi
thou t i
nvolving compl
icated
mathematics
, al
l combine in making th
is course abetter a
nd qu
icker
way t
o teach a
nd learn b
asic e
lectr
icity and e
lectron
ic s
.

I
nr e
leasing t
h
is ma
terial tothe g
eneral public
, the Navy hopes t
o
p
rov
ide t he mean s f
or creating a na
tion -wide pool of p
re-
trained
t
e
chnicians, upon whom t he Armed F orces could ca
ll in time of
n
ational emergency
, w
ithout t
he n
eed f
or p
rec
iou
s w
eek
sand mon
ths
o
f schoo
ling.

Perhaps of grea
ter impor
tance isthe Navy'
s h ope t
hat through
t
he release o
f t
his cour
se, ad
irec
t con
tribut
ion w i
ll be made toward
i
ncreasing the t
echnical k
nowledge o
f men a nd w omen throughout
t
he c
oun
try
, a
s as
t
ep i
n mak
ing a
nd k
eep
ing Amer
ica s
t
rong
.

V
an V
alkenburgh
, Nooger a
nd N
evi
lle
, I
nc.

N
ew Y
ork
,N. Y
.
F
ebruar
y, 1
955

i
i
 TABLE OF CO NTE NTS

VO
L. 2— BA
S
IC EL
ECTRON
ICS

I
ntroduc
tion t
o Amp
lif
ier
s 2
-
1

The T
riode 2
-
11

The Tr
iode Amp
lif
ier 9
-94

The Te
trode a
nd t
he P
entode 2
-
42

The S
ing
le-S
tage Amp
lif
ier 2
-
55

The Two
-Stage RC Coup
led Amp
lif
ier 2
-58

The T
ran
sfo
rmer
-Coup
led Amp
lif
ier 2
-67

The Aud
io P
ower Amp
lif
ier 2
-
71

The Ou
tpu
t Tran
sformer 2
-
74

The P
ush
-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier 2
-
78

M
icrophone
s, E
arphone
s a
nd L
oud
speaker
s 2
-87

V
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIF
IERS

Examp
les o
f Amp
lif
ica
tion

t
h
ings y
ou c
an amp
lify
:

F
a
ct
2
-1
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPL
IFIERS

Examp
les o
f Amp
lif
ica
tion (
con
tinued
)

S
o
und

2
-2
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIF
IERS

Exa mp
les o
f Amp
lif
ica
tion (
con
tinued
)

dad

would y
ou l
ike t
o h
ear a wh
isper t
hrough a concrete wa
ll o r h
ear a f
ish
p
u mp wa
ter t
hrough i
t
s g
ills? Amp l
ificat
ion makes all these th
ings pos-
s
ible
. There are h
owever, more important uses f
or amp l
ifiers.

O
f the three basic types of electronic circuits —recti
fiers, amp l
i f
iers and
o
scillators —a mplifiers are by far the mos t widely u
sed. The p urpose of
a
n amp lif
ier is to take a very sma l
l v o
ltage c hange —one tha
t is so small
t
hat itcanno t b
e u sed —and amp lify it many times so tha
t itc an run a p
air
o
f earphones , d r
ive a l oudspeaker , be s een o n a '
scope, o perate a
motor, etc.

2
-3
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIFIERS

Wha
t a Vacuum Tube Can Do

S
how You Your Favori
te
Te
lev
ision Progra m

1
ce
tac
toall
t
i
caetI
t
io94

Opera
te A Radar S
yste m Wh
ich S
eeks Ou
t Ene my P
lanes

•
,
-
-
•••
••-•
•
••• •

• -

2
-4
 I
NTRODUCT
ION TO AMPLIFIERS

Wha
t a Vacuu m T
ube Can Do (
con
tinued
)

When you f
irs
t began your study o
f vacuu m t
ubes y
ou l
earned t
hat t
here
a
re on
ly two main j
obs f
or v
acuum tubes to d
o.

The f
irst job i
s t
o change a
n AC vol
tage in-
t
o ap ulsa
ting DC vo
ltage. Th
is i
s c a
lled
"
recti
ficat
ion."

R
E
CTIF
ICA
TION

The second job i

s t
o c
hange a smal
l AC v o
lt-
age i
nto a l
arge AC vo
ltage
. Th
is is c
alled
"a mp
lif
icat
ion ."

A
MPL
IF
ICA
TION

Because of your work w i

tl ir
ectif
ier a nd power s
upply c
ircui
ts, y ou now know
a
ll you need to know a bou: rect
ification and t
he d
iode t
ubes that are used t
o do
t
his job
. Now y ou a re ready to learn about t
he s
econd main job a vacuu m t
ube
can do —a mp
lification. I n th
is section you wil
l l
earn abou
t the vacuu m t
ubes
t
hat do the j
ob of amp lifying small AC v o
ltages i
nto l
arge AC voltages.

2
-5
 I
NTRODUCT
ION TO AMPL
IFIERS

T
ypes o
f V
acuum T
ubes

Ar ecent s
urvey o
f v
acuum tubes manufac
tured in t
he United S
tates showed
t
hat there a
re o
ver 1,200 d
if
ferent t
ypes o
f vacuum tubes ava
ilable! T hese
t
ubes c ome in awide varie
ty of s
hapes and s
izes —enclosed i
n glass and
metal shel
ls.

2
-6
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIFIERS

Types o
f Vacuum Tubes (
con
tinued
)

Mos
t of t
hese 1,200 t
ubes c an b
e b roken down i
nto f
our main t ypes
. Once
y
ou understand t
hese f
our ma in types, you wi
ll know the m a
ll
. Whenever
y
ou run across a n
ew tube
, y ou will a
lways be able t
o understand wha
t it
d
oes and h ow i
t works si mply by c o mpar
ing i
t to the four ma in t
ypes
y
ou know.

.
.....
..
••••••
••
••••••
••
•••••
••
••, -
**
**
** -"''
'''

Their na mes d
escribe the m by teling h ow many p arts ( cathode
, g r
id ,
p
late) there a
re in t
he tube. Ad iode (d
i =t wo) has t
wo p arts —a cathode
and a p
late. Atriode (
t r
i =t hree) has t
hree p arts —a cathode , ap
late a nd
one g
rid. A tetrode (t
etra =four )h as f
our p arts —a cathode, ap late a nd
two g
rids. Ap entode (penta = f
ive) has five parts —a cathode, aplate a nd
t
hree grids.

2
-7
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIFIERS

How Vacuu m Tubes Were Deve

loped

2
,
1
e
z
ie
tof
tm
eg
eoiV
acuum 7
c
e e „

GR
IDS PLATE GR
IDS

CATHODE

F
ILA MENT

Tubes h
ave d
eveloped i
n al
ogica
l s
equence
. ..

1
. f
ro m F
le m
ing
's v
alve which c
onsists o
f t wo e
le men
ts, t
he
f
ilament a
nd the p
late,

2
. t
o t
he modern d
iode i
n which the fi
lamen t i
s replaced by a
c
o mbinat
ion o f afi
lamen t and a c
ath-
o
de (for r easons which w i
ll be dis-
c
ussed l a
ter ) bu
t wh ich is s
til
l con-
s
idered to be at wo-ele men
t tube,

3
. t
o t
he t
riode athree-ele men
t t
ube wh
ich c
onta
ins
o
ne grid
,

4
. t
o t
he t
etrode af
our-e
le men
t t
ube w
ith t
wo g
rids
,

5
. t
o t
he p
entode af
ive-e
le men
t t
ube w
ith t
hree g
rids
.

The reason you are b

eing taugh
t v acuu m t
ubes i
s not so t
hat you w
ill
b
e able t
o repair o
ne which h
as gone bad
; you wi
ll o
nly r
eplace s
uch a tube
w
ith a new one. You are being taught abou
t these vacuu m t
ubes i
n order
t
o understand t
he c
ircui
ts wh ich use the m and, thereby
, to make you a
more va
luable t
roub
leshooter of e
lectronic equ
ip ment.
You wil
l r e me mber fro m y
our work w ith power supplies that t
her m ionic
emission —the em i
tting o
f electrons b y ah ot ca
thode —a llowed y ou to
change AC i nto DC. No tice that t
riodes, te
trodes a nd pentodes also c on-
t
ain a c a
thode , which emits electrons, and a plate wh ich collects elec-
t
rons. As y ou study these tubes you wil
l see how the grids control elec-
t
ron flow to c hange small AC v o
ltages into l
arge AC v ol
tages .

2
-8
 I
NTRODUCT
ION TO AMPLIFIERS

How Vacuu m Tubes Were Deve

loped (
con
tinued
)

The cons truct

ion o f e ach o
f these four types v
aries grea
tly —all d
iodes,
f
or examp le
, are not b ui
lt t
he s ame, d
o not l
ook a
like a
nd do d
ifferent j
obs.
I
n addition, co mbinations of adiode, t
riode, or p
entode, may be put i
n one
t
ube e nvelope. A ll these co mb
inations add u
p t
o the 1
,200 vacuu m tubes
manufac tured today.

THE FOUR M A
I N TYPES

.e•e »e
':e
"e".0 ° .
e* /X

e
• .

Every e lectron ic circui -. h

as i ts par t
icular needs , and there is av acuu m
t
ube f or e very job. S o me h ave to h andle small amoun ts of power , others
l
arge amoun ts. S o met
i mes t hey mus t work with low frequency c urren ts,
so meti mes h igh frequenc ies a nd s o meti mes ul
tra-h igh frequenc ies. S o me-
t
imes t hey mus t be made sma ll enough s o that t
hey c an fi
t in ah earing aid
or in the fuse c ontainer o f ah igh e xplosive shell. They must b e h eated by
1v olt, b y 2v olts, or s o me ti mes b y 6v olts, etc., etc. S o meti mes be-
cause o f limited s pace ava ilable , adiode a nd a triode mus t share the s ame
shell
. S o meti mes two diodes a nd a t r
iode o r adiode, at r
iode a nd a pen-
t
ode mus t share the same s hell!

2
-9
 I
NTRODUCTION TO AMPLIF
IERS

Types o
f Amp
lif
iers

Ampli
fiers are designed to amp l
ify only t
hose frequencies t
heir t
ype o
f
e
quipmen t r
equires and c
an be divided i
nto t
hree genera
l groups a
ccord
ing
t
o t
he frequency range o
f t
he signals t
hey amplify
.

1
. Audio Anipli
fiers: T hese amp l
ify a band of f
requencies from 1 5 c
ycles
p
er s econd (cps) t
o 15,000 cps. T his is t
he range of f
requenc ies which
t
he ear c an hear —therefore t
he name " audio." T hese ampl i
fiers pro-
duce a great dea
l of the ampl
ificat
ion in radio receivers
, i n in
tercom
equipmen t
, in sonar a nd i
n many other types o
f equipmen t.

2
. V
ideo Ampl i
fiers: These are similar to aud
io amp li
fiers in t
hat t
hey
c
over a w
ide r ange or b
and o
f frequenc ies a
nd are also similar i
n de-
s
ign a
nd opera t
ion. The frequency b and, however, is very much ex-
p
anded, c
over ing f
requencies from 3 0 cps t
o 6,000,000 c ps a
nd h
igher.
V
ideo amplifiers are u
sed pr
i marily to amplify s
ignals for '
scope pres-
e
nta
tions i
n r adar and f
ire c
ontrol equipmen t a
nd in te
levision.

3
. Radio Frequency Ampl ifiers: Unlike t
he other t
ypes , RF ampl if
iers
amplify a narrow b and of f
requencies, but t
his narrow b and may b e any-
where within the wide range of f
requencies from 3 0,000 c ps t
o several
b
illions o
f c ycles per second. T hey are used i
n radar , fire c
ontrol,
sonar, radio r ece
ivers a nd t
rans mit
ters. When y ou tune a p
iece of
equipment, s uch as ah ome r ece
iver, you are chang ing t he n
arrow
band of f
requenc ies which the se
t will ampli
fy.

AUD
IO AMPLIF
IERS V
IDEO AMPL
IFIERS R
.F. AMPLIF
IERS
IN I
N I
N

• RADAR • SONAR
• RAD
IO RECEIVERS • TELE V
ISION
•F
IRE CONTROL GEAR
•I
NTERCO M EQU
IP MENT • RADAR
• RAD
IO RECEIVERS
• SONAR • SONAR
•TRANS MITTERS
•F
IRE CONTROL GEAR

Even t
hough they may look d
if
ferent f
rom one ano
ther, ampli
fiers all work
i
n much the same w ay. In t
he f
ol
lowing work you w
ill l
earn t
he operation
o
f aud
io amplifiers. T hey c
ome firs
t because t
hey are t
he s
imp les
t of the
t
hree and t
hey will he
lp you t
o u
nderstand how t
he o
thers work.

2
-10
 THE TR
IODE

Vacuu m Tubes a
nd Amp
lif
ica
tion

One of t
he most important appl
ications of vacuu m t
ubes i
s t
heir use t
o
change a small vol
tage i nput i
nto a l
arge vol
tage ou
tput
. This process o
f
i
ncreasing vo
ltages is ca
lled amp l
ificat
ion.

For examp le
, in an ord
inary r ad
io set t
he tubes t
ake a s
ignal o
f af ew mil-
l
ion
ths o f avol
t fro m t
he antenna (
"aerial") and c
hange itinto a p
ower fu
l
s
ignal that i
s capable o
f dr
iv ing a l
oudspeaker. This r
equ ires a grea
t deal
o
f amp l
ificat
ion.

You will f
ind tha
t v acuum tubes are u
sed to produce amplif
ica t
ion in r
e-
ceivers
, i n t
rans mitters, in s
onar, i
n radar and in l
oran; and itis af
ore-
gone conclusion tha t when new types o
f electronic equ
ip ment co me i
nto
u
se , so me o
f the t
ubes t here, t
oo, wi
ll be u
sed for amplif
ica t
ion.

One o
f t
he t
ubes wh
ich c
an p
roduce ampl
ifica
tion i
s t
he t
riode
.

2
-11
 THE TR
IODE

A Typ
ica
l Tr
iode Tube

P
late

Ca
thode

Gr
id

H
eater

Anode o
r P
late

2-
12
 THE TR
IODE

S
eeing H
ow t
he T
riode Works

For p
urposes of e
xp lanat
ion, l
et
's c o mpare the t
riode t
o the water sys
te m
s
hown b e
low . In the water syste m
, y ou are i
nterested in c
ontroll
ing the
f
low of water. One way y ou c
an do this i
s by varying the p
ressure in the
s
yste m o
r, in o
ther w ords, c
hanging the height o
f the water t
ank.

R
aise the t
ank
t
o increase
t
he fl
ow Lower the t
ank
t
o decrease
t
he f
low

A much more convenient way t

o vary the flow of wa
ter is b
y using a f
aucet
o
r valve i
n the s
yste m. Then, by si mply turn
ing the f
aucet, you c
an con-
t
rol t
he f
low of water. Notice t
hat t
he wa ter pressure doesn't h
ave t
o
c
hange in o
rder to af
fect t
ie f
low.

Open the fauce

t C
lose the f
aucet
t
o increase t
o decrease
t
he fl
ow t
he f
low

This i
s si mi
lar to t
he way a triode tube amp l
ifies the flow of curren t
. I n
t
he tr
iode a n a
dditional e
le ment, the grid, is p
laced i n the t
ube , its pur-
pose being t
o con
tro l t
he flow of current in t
he tube just as the faucet con-
t
rols the f
low of water. You w ill see tha
t a sma ll vo
ltage v ariation on th
is
e
le ment produces a co mparat
ive ly large current variation in the tube.

2
-13
 THE TR
IODE

The C
ontro
l Gr
id

This addi
tiona l s
tructure i
n the t
riode is c
alled a"
grid" or, more speci
fic-
a
lly, (to distingu
ish it fro m o
ther gr
ids found i
n t
etrodes, p en
todes, e
tc.)
t
he "contro l gr
id". I
t is av ery th
in w ire wound l
ike a s
piral around t
he
ca
thode s o that t
ube current can p
ass right t
hrough i
ts s
pac ings.

The p
late o
f atriode i
s nor ma
lly connec
ted t
o ahigh pos
itive vo
ltage B+
The g
rid o
f the t
riode i
s usual
ly kept a
t anegat
ive v
oltage with respec
t t
o
t
he cathode. Because e lec
trons a re negatively charged, they tend t
o b e
r
epelled by t he negative gr
id. The g rid, being closer t
o the cathode than
i
s t
he plate, h as a greater e
ffect in contro
lling the tube current than does
t
he posi
tive pla te. Ifthe grid beco mes less n ega
tive, more e lectrons w ill
g
et through t o the plate; i
f the grid beco mes more n egative, f
ewer e lec-
t
rons will ge
t t hrough to t
he plate
.

2
-14
 THE TR
IODE

The C
ontro
l Gr
id (
con
tinued
)

This i
s what h
appens when y
ou v
ary the DC v
oltage (
cal
led "b
ias") o
n the
contro
l gr
id. The pla
te is v
ery p
osi
tive and t
ends t
o at
trac
t elec
trons. I f
t
he g
rid i
s n
ega
tive
, i
ttends t
o r
epel e
lec
trons
.
S
pace c
harge Grid P
late
Cu
t-of
f
a •• • •

When t he g rid is made s u

ffic iently
•
••
n
ega t
ive , its t endency t o hold b ack
t
he elec trons w ill jus
t e qua l the
•
•••••
p
late's p ul
l o n the electrons a nd n o eeee e

current w ill flow . The p oin t a t •• •

•

which the t wo effects are b alanced

i
s c al
led " cut-off." When t he g rid
i
s more n ega t
ive t han this
, t he t ube
i
s opera ting " beyond c ut-off" a nd n o
c
urren
t f
lows
.

L
ess t
han c
ut-o
ff

When the n
egative charge on t
he g
rid
i
s reduced, afew electrons manage
t
o get f
ro m t
he space charge t
o t
he
p
late
.

Much l
ess t
han c
ut-o
ff

When the g r
id v oltage is r educed
f
urther o
r made e qual t
o z ero, more
c
urrent w i
ll flow f ro m the s pace
c
harge to the pla
te .

S
atura
tion

I
fthe g
rid i
s made p
osi
tive w
ith r
e-
s
pect to the c a
thode , s
till more c ur-
r
ent w il
l flow . A p oint w ill be
r
eached when t he grid is so posit
ive
t
hat the electrons f low f ro m the
c
athode a s f ast as the c athode c an
emit the m. Th is is saturation and
asti
ll further i ncrease in grid volt-
a
ge w i
ll not c ause an increased c ur-
r
ent to flow.
2
-15
 THE TR
IODE

How t
he Tr
iode I
s S
imi
lar t
o t
he D
iode

S
ince t
he on
ly difference between the two tubes i
s t
he presence o
f ag
rid
,
y
ou might expec
t to find s
everal s
im ilar
ities be
tween t
he m.

The triode
's c athode a nd filamen t are no d
ifferent t
han the d
iode's and,
t
herefore, every thing that was said abou
t adiode's electron em ission i
s
a
lso true of t
he triode's. I n both t
ubes the em
iss ion (
and therefore sa
tu-
ra
tion) depends u pon the f
ilamen t vo
ltage. In both, b
urned-ou t f
ilaments
a
re the most c o m mon cause of fa
ilure and, i
n both, cathode emission wil
l
d
ecrease a s atube i s used.

D
IODE
...
*
ea c
i944
1
•

T
RIODE

As i
n the diode s a
turat ion in atriode occurs because there is alimit t
o
t
he amoun t o
f current wh ich t
he cathode can emit. In the t
riode, satura-
t
ion (
l
im i
ting current) can be r eached at al ower value of p
late vo
ltage if
aposi
tive vol
tage is app
l ied t
o the grid
; in t
he diode, o
f course, itdepends
o
nly o
n t
he p
late v
oltage
.

On the other h and, i

ft he grid is made s uff
iciently negat
ive , no curren t wi
ll
f
low. The v a
lue of grid vo
ltage wh ich reduces the current to zero is c a
lled
t
he " cu
t-o ff" v ol
tage . Increas ing t he negative grid voltage b eyond this
poin
t will h ave no ef
fec t s
ince t he tube is a
lready cut of
f. Cu t-off also de-
pends upon t he tr
iode 's p
la te vo
l tage; with a more posit
ive p late voltage, a
more n egative g rid vol
tage w i
ll b e necessary to produce c ut-off.
I
n ad iode c urrent f
lows o nly when the plate i
s positive, and no c
urrent
f
lows when t he p
late i
s n egative. I n atriode
, h owever , the p
late c
an be
posit
ive a nd st
ill no current flows ifthe grid is su
fficient
ly negat
ive. The
cut-off po
int of atriode d epends upon the particular tube (how i
tis con-
s
truc ted) and upon the value of pla
te voltage.

2
-16
 THE TRIODE

How Amp
lif
iers Work

You h
ave f
ound o
ut ali
ttle a
bou
t how importan
t ampli
fier c
ircu
its a
re i
n
equ
ipment
. Now y ou a
re ready t
o f
ind o
ut how t
hey work
.

I
t
's all v
ery s i mple —a v
acuu m tube does the entire job of ampli
fying ifyou
p
rovide itw i
th t he p
roper operating vol
tages a nd c onnec
tions. I fyou supply
t
he proper voltages to t
he various tube ele ments, a small change in vo
ltage
a
pplied t
o the g rid c
auses a l
arge c hange in voltage on t
he plate. The p ro-
d
uction o
f al arge v o
ltage c
hange f rom a sma ll voltage change is ca
lled
"
a mpli
ficat
ion ."

You l
earned that agood way f
or you t
o p
icture t
hr operat
ion o
f ag
rid i
n a
vacuu m t
ube was t
o th
ink of t
he g
rid as avalve L
i a wa
ter p
ipe
. The
Brit
ish a re so fond of th
is explanation tha
t, to th
is d ay
, they c a
ll av acuu m
t
ube a " valve." When t he gr
id of the t
ube is very negative, the "valve" is
c
losed a nd there is li
ttle or no f
low of e
lectrons f ro m t
he ca
thode t o the
p
late. When t he g r
id v o
ltage is changed so t
hat itb eco mes only s
lightly
n
ega tive, the "valve" is nearly wide open and there is alarge flow of elec-
t
rons f ro m t
he c a
thode t o t
he plate
.

Very n
ega t
ive gr
id . . .
v
ery li
ttle pla
te curren
t.

2
-17
 THE TR
IODE

How Amp
lif
iers Work (
con
tinued
)

Now a sma ll f
low o
f electrons fro m t
he cathode t
o the p
late means thatonly
a small nu mber o
f electrons f
low fro m t
he plate t
o the B+ l
ead o
f the pow-
er supply
, a nd a large flow of e
lectrons fro m c
athode to p
late means a
l
arge curren t f
low fro m t
he p
late to t
he B+ lead of t
he power supply.

A c hange in curren t appearing a t the plate of atube is of no direct use, but

,
i
f t his plate curren t change c an beco me a plate voltage c hange, the orig-
i
na l voltage change a ppearing a t the grid w il
l h ave b een amp lified
. The
way t o acco mplish th
is i s t
o p ut ar esistor between t he plate and B+. You
know t hat whenever t he electron f low through a r es
is tance c hanges, av ol
t-
a
ge c hange is produced a cross t ha
t res istance. Th is v o
ltage c hange is
many t imes l arger than the v oltage change o n t
he grid. S ince the plate or
outpu t vo
ltage c hanges b y t
he s ame amoun t as t
he v o
ltage a cross the re-
s
is tor, the amp lified grid voltage c hange a ppears at the output.

• VERY NEGAT
IVE GR
ID

• VERY L
ITTLE PLATE CURRENT

• VERY LOW VOLTAGE DROP

ACROSS PLATE LOAD RES
ISTOR

• LESS NEGAT
IVE GR
ID

• MORE PLATE CURRENT

• LARGER VOLTAGE DROP

ACROSS PLATE LOAD RES
ISTOR

•SL
IGHTLY NEGAT
IVE GR
ID

• LARGE PLATE CURRENT

•VERY LARGE VOLTAGE DROP

ACROSS PLATE LOAD RESISTOR

Using t
his c
ircuit w
ith c
erta
in types o
f vacuu m t
ubes, the c
hange in p
late
vo
ltage can be made more t
han 200 t
imes the change i
n grid v
oltage —a
vo
ltage gain o
r amplif
icat
ion o
f over 200
.
2
-18
 THE TR
IODE
How Amp
lif
iers Work (
con
tinued
)
OUTPUT

Le
t's take a look at atriode
c
ircui
t a nd see how amp lif
i-
c
ation is acco mplished. The
c
athode-to-pla te current f
lows
t
hrough the load r esistor
which i
s in series w ith t he P
late LOAD
p
late and causes a v oltage d rop
v
oltage 1
0K
across t
he plate. There fore, X X

I
as l
ong as curren t is f l
ow ing, Grid
Vo
lta ge 1
M E
I

t
he vol
tage o n the pla te is less B+
t
han B+ by an amoun t e qual to
t
he drop across t he l oad . 1
•
—
V

Now a s
ligh
t c
hange i
n g
rid
v
oltage causes a large c hange
i
n pla
te current and this c auses
acorresponding c hange i n t
he
v
oltage drop across the l oad re-
s
istor. Ifthe voltage d rop
a
cross the load resistor i n-
c
reases, the plate voltage w il
l
d
ecrease b y t
he sa me amount.
This change in pla
te voltage i
s
cal
led the"output vol
tage." Be-
cause a change in grid vo
ltage
W W
I
produces a much l arger change
i
n plate voltage, the t
riode
amp l
ifies
.
VOW

Here i
s a
n e
xa mp
le o
f wha
t
happens i n an actual tube :
With the grid vo ltage = - 10
vol
ts, l oad resis tor = 1 0K
oh ms, B+ = 2 50V , the plate
curren t t
hat flows i s 5 ma .
This c urrent causes a v oltage
drop a cross the l oad of E= I R
=
. 0 05 x 10
, 000 = 5 0 vo
lts .
There fore, the p late voltage is
200 volts (250 - 50).

Now l
et
's c
hange t
he gr
id volt-
a
ge f
ro m -
10 vo
lts t
o -5 v
olts T B
+
(
l
ess n
ega
tive
). The c
urren
t I 2
50V

i
t
n
he
cre
d
rao
sp
esa
crt
o
oss
abo
t
hu
etl
o1
a2
d m
i
sa.1
,
20 .
.
..
• =I B 1
,
V V

v
olts —an i
ncrease o
f 70V
, and
t
he vo
ltage on t
he p
late i
s n
ow on
ly 1
30 v
olts —a d
ecrease o
f 7
0V. No
te
t
hat t
he sum of these two vo
ltages stil
l adds up t
o t
he B+ v
oltage o
f 250V
.
Thus
, ac hange of only 5 v
olts on t
he grid has c
hanged t
he pla
te vo
ltage 70
vo
lts —an ampli
fication of 14 t
imes.
2
-19
 THE TR
IODE

Tube Charac
ter
ist
ics —Amp
lif
ica
tion Factor

S
ince the grid voltage and plate v
oltage can b
e used to con
tro l t
he f
low of
c
urrent to the plate, i
ti s important t
o see which d
oes the b e
tter j
ob. I f
y
ou look at the results o
f tests, you wi
ll see t
hat a small change i
n grid
v
oltage can p roduce a l
arge c hange in p
late c
urrent while a much larger
c
hange in plate voltage is necessary to p
roduce the same plate current
c
hange.

The r
atio o
f t
he e
ffect
iveness o
f t
he g r
id and p
late i
n con
troll
ing pla
te c
ur-
r
ent i
s cal
led Mu, and t
he Greek l
etter i
u is u
sed t
o represent i
t
.

Fro m t
hese resu
lts we can say t
hat t
he g
rid o
f the t
ube i
s much more e
f-
f
ect
ive than t
he p
late i
n c
ontro
l l
ing p
late c
urrent
.

P - Change i
n p
late v
oltage
t
o p
roduce t
he s
ame c
hange i
n p
late c
urren
t.
Change i
n g
rid v
oltage

Actually t he Mu o f tube i s much more t han a ra

tio . Itte lls y ou how much
av acuu m t ube is a ble t o amplify a signal t
hat is appl
ied t o its g
rid. F or
examp le, s uppose y ou f ind that when t he gr
id v oltage i
s c hanged fro m - 2
t
o - 4 (a c hange o f 2V) the p late c urrent changed t he s ame amoun t as it
d
id when t he p la
te v oltage was c hanged fro m 140V to 1 00V ( a change of
40V). The r atio of t
hese t wo voltage changes is 2 0 t
o 1, wh ich means t hat
i
fo ne v ol
t o f AC i s app
l ied to the g r
id of t
he tube, 2 0 vo
l ts o f AC will ap-
pear in the p late circuit. The t ube, therefore, h as amp lified a n AC sig-
nal 20 times . For t his r eason the Mu o f atube is also k nown a s t
he am-
p
lification f actor.

=—
4
0 - 2
0
2

2
-20
 THE TR
IODE

Tube Charac
ter
ist
ics —Pla
te Res
istance

The p
la te resistance of at ube is the i
nternal opposit
ion offered, between
t
he cathode and plate
, to the f
low o f t
he a
lternat
ing c o mponent of p
late c
ur-
r
ent. When t he t
ube is cperating with a
n AC voltage on the grid, t
he num-
b
er of electrons flowing t
o the pla
te changes, and this af
fects the i
nternal
o
r pla
te r esistance o
f the tube
.

This p
la te res istance i s :he rat
io of ac hange in plate voltage t
o achange
i
n pla
te c urren t with the g r
id voltage constant. F or exa mple
, the 6C5's
p
late res istance c an be deter mined fro m t
he r esults o
f at est where t
he
p
late voltage w i
ll b e varied and plate current v a
lues r ecorded for a c
on-
s
tant grid v oltage . S uppose t he test c
urve indica tes t
hat ac hange i
n
p
late voltage f ro m 100V t o 150V p roduced a change i n p
late current o
f 5 ma
.
S
ince the p late r esistance i s —

Change i
n p
late v
oltage
r - —for a c
ons
tan
t g
rid v
oltage
P Change i
n p
late c
urrent
t
hen

5
0
T . - 10 '0
00 o
hms
.
P .
005

The p
late resistance i
s no
t the same f
or a
ll v
acuu m t
ubes
. F or t
riodes i
t
wi
ll r
ange fro m 2,000 t
o 100
, 000 o
hms and f
or pen
todes i
t may b
e as high
a
s 1 megolun.

2
-21
 THE TR
IODE

Tube Charac
ter
ist
ics —Transconduc
tance

S
o far y ou have learned a bout two c haracterist
ics o f vacuum tubes — the iu
o
r amp lification factor and the internal plate resistance —r p . Another
c
haracter ist
ic —transconduc tance — is obtained fro m t
he r e
lat
ionsh ip offt
a
nd rp . Transconduc tance i s a measure o f how e ffective the grid is i
n
c
ontro
ll ing plate current and itis e xpressed a s the ra
tio of/i
.-to rp .

A
t T
r
a
n
s
c
o
n
d
uc
t
a
n
c
e
(
g m )= i
n mhos
p i

I
n simpl
ified f
or m, gm represents t
he ef
fec t o
f achanging g
rid v
oltage o
n
p
late c
urrent with t
he p
late vo
ltage held constant
.

The gm of atube i
s expressed in micro mhos which i
s one m i
llion
th of a
mho, pronounced "mo" —ohm s pel
led b
ackwards. I tis u
sed a s t
he un
it o
f
t
ransconductance s
ince conduc
tance is t
he oppos
ite o
f resistance.

Using the »
. a
nd r f
ro m t
he p
rev
ious s
hee
ts, t
he gm o
f t
he 6
C5 c
an b
e
deter m
ined.
2
0
gm _
f
—
r 1
0 000 - .
002 mhos
P
gm = 2
000 micro mhos

For most vacuum t

ubes, t
he transconductance i
s usual
ly several t
housand
micro mhos
. Tubes with a h
igh », a
nd low rp w
ill have a h
igh gm .

• , ,

DETE RMIN
ING THE 17f
reli ate
i ge
leeeeta gee OF A TR
IODE

-
.
; •
•. - _
•-v
st
.
-
,7
ye
w 4
0

2
-22
 THE TR
IODE

Rev
iew o
f T
riode C
harac
ter
ist
ics

Curve 1: You c an see that cut-off for P

late Vo
ltage = 2
00V
t
his particular tube is about - 14 volts 2
4
w
ith 200 v o
lts on the plate. As t he
2
0
g
rid voltage is made l ess n egative,
t
he curren t i
ncreases a long t he Eg -lp
c
urve. Ap ortion of t
he c urve i s
s
traight or linear. On t h
is linear
p
ortion the plate current v ariations
a
re u nifor mly proportiona l t
o the grid
v
oltage v ariations. I n this l
inear
r
egion a c hange o f 2v olts on t
he grid
p
roduces a c hange of a bout 4 ma. in
t
he plate c urrent. The g raph shown
h
ere i s called the E - IP curve
. E = 1
4 1
2 1
0 8 6 4 2 0 2 4
g
rid v o
l tage and I p= p
late current. —
E = Gr
id Vo
ltage

y
5

Grid Vo
ltage = -
8V
Curve 2 : Wi th the g rid voltage set at 4
11 [ W I il
-8 volts, i ti s s een tha t c
hanges o f
p
late v oltage a ffect the plate c urrent. a 3
But a1 0-vo lt c hange o n t
he plate y
cj
causes o n
ly a v ery sma ll change i n
t
he p late c urren t. By c o mparing the 2
results i n c urve 1 a nd c urve 2, y ou can
see that the g rid e xerts a g reater
control o n t he p late c urrent than 1
does the p la te.

0
7
0 10 1
50 1
9
0 2
30 2
70
P
late v
oltage
Curve 3 : Wh ile t he tube i s cu
t off
'
(
fro m g rid v o
l tages o f -14 a nd be-
yond ) no c urren t f l
ows a nd there is
n
o v o
ltage d rop a cross t he plate
l
oad r esistor . The p late v o
ltage is
e
qua l t o B+ wh ile the t ube is cut-off
.
When t he g rid v oltage b eco mes less
n
ega tive , p late c urren t flows a nd
av oltage d rop i s deve loped a cross
t
he l oad r esis tor, c ausing the plate
v
o ltage t o d rop. A long t he linear
p
ort ion o f the c urve , a2 -volt change
1
00
o
n t he g rid p roduces a c hange of 1
4 1
2 1
0 8 6 4 2 0
a
bou t 3 0 v olts o n the plate. Th is is
ag ain ( a mplificat ion of 1 5
, Gr
id v
oltage

2
-23
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

G
rid B
ias Vo
ltage

You should k
now h ow the plate c urrent of at riode b ehaves under di
fferent
o
perating conditions
. I fyou look at c urve 1 o n the previous page, you wi
ll
s
ee that when the grid is made p ositive w i
th r espect to the c
athode, the
p
late current rises to h
igh values . When t he grid is made suffic
iently
n
egative with respect to t
he c athode, p late curren t drops to z
ero. T hese
a
re the extre me condit
ions i n the opera t
ion o f at r
iode.

We a
re c oncerned with tr
iodes u sed a
s amp l
ifiers, and for t
his purpose
t
hey are nor ma
lly operated with the g
rid negative t
o prevent dis
tor t
ion o
f
t
he s
igna l
. Th is confines t
he o pera
tion to t
he lef
t portion o
f the Eg-Ip
c
urve (curve 1)
. T he vol
tage wh ich k
eeps the grid negative i
s cal
led the
"
grid bias vo
ltage
." Gr id biasing is s
i mp
ly the process of making the g
rid
n
egat
ive w ith r
espect to the ca
thode.

When a t
ube i
s u
sed as a
n amp
lif
ier
, t
wo v
oltages i
n s
eries a
re a
ppl
ied b
e-
t
ween g
rid and c
athode
:

1
. The nega
tive DC grid b
ias voltage wh
ich f
ixes t
he p
oin
t of o
pera t
ion on
t
he Eg-Ip curve. This bias vol
tage may be o
bta
ined f
ro m a b
attery o
r
any o
ther source o
f DC v o
ltage. Various t
ypes o
f b
ias s
upplies wil
l b
e
d
iscussed l
ater
.
2
. The AC s
ignal vo
ltage
, wh
ich f
or t
he p
resen
t w
ill b
e i
n t
he a
udio f
re-
q
uency r
ange
.

I
n t
he shee
ts which f
ollow, y
ou w
ill s
ee h
ow the AC s
ignal adds t
o a
nd sub-
t
racts f
ro m t
he bias vol
tage t
o produce c
orresponding changes i
n p
late
c
urren
t.

Type 6
C5

E
g -I p c
urve m o m I
p ma
.
1
8
..
f 1L 1
°
1 :::
:..
:-.
1111 W/ 1
6
IM M INN IAll 14
1
1
11
11
11
1
1111
1
111 M 12
MEM M I111
11
11 10
M11111
11
1
11/1111
18
1
1
11
111
1111
11 M1 1
16
IMENV A
IIM Il
l4
IN E
llEd11
11
1111 2
1
1,% 1
11
11
1 M 11
1
-1
6 -1
4 -1
2 -1
Q- -
6 -4 -
2 0
0
Eg v
olts

2
-24
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

G
rid B
ias V
oltage (
con
tinued
)

I
fa n AC s ignal i s applied to the g rid, the curren t flow ing in the plate c ir-
c
u i
t w i
ll vary i n the s a me manner a s the signa l vol
tage . T he posi tive h a
lf
c
ycle o f t
he a pplied s ignal v o
ltage i s in s
er ies o pposing w ith the bias v olt-
a
ge a nd therefore s ubtracts f rom i t
. T he n egative h all c
yc le of t
he s igna l
v
oltage i s i
n s eries a iding with t he bias vo
l tage s o tha t a
ddition of t he t wo
v
oltages t akes place . A s ar esult, the AC s igna l voltage c auses t he g rid
t
o.cathode v oltage t o be alterna tely less nega tive and more n egat
ive . T his
v
ary ing negative v o
ltage b etween g rid and c athode allows more a nd l ess
c
urren t to fl
ow s o that the plate c urrent var iations w ill b
e ad upl
ica te o f
t
he a ppl
ied signa l v oltage.

T
H
IS
0
Ili T
H
IS
-
2

-
8

-
10 -

=T
H
IS
CO MB
INAT
ION OF DC B
IAS

AND 4
C S
igna
l Pa
tage

-
6 1
-
4 ,
-
10 )

2
-25
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

Gr
id B
ias V
oltage (
con
tinued
)

Let u
s c onsider t
he f olow ing e
xa mple wh
ich wil
l illustrate the poin
ts just
made. S uppose a 6C5 t r
iode is c
onnected i
n ac ircuit with -4V bias vo
lt-
a
ge a pp
lied to the grid and +200V appl
ied to t
he plate. W ith n
o signal ap-
p
lied, the plate curren t wi
ll b
e asteady 1 ma . T his can b e seen by re-
f
erring to the Eg-Ip c urve.

When an AC s
ignal o
f 2 V i
s app
lied to t
he gr
id, the pos
i tive ha
lf cycle will
s
ubtract 2V f
rom the bias c
ausing the g
rid to c
athode voltage to c
hange
f
ro m -4V t
o -2V. The n ega
tive hal
f cycle w
ill add t
o the bias and cause
t
he grid t
o c
athode vo
ltage to c
hange from -4V to -6V. You c an see that
t
he grid t
o c
athode vo
ltage i
s varying f
rom - 2V to -
6V a round the -4V bias.

The p
late c
urrent d
epends on t
he amoun t o
f negat
ive vo
ltage be
tween g r
id
a
nd cathode
. Th is n
egat
ive voltage i
s now varying i
n t
he same manner a s
t
he appl
ied signa
l. Therefore
, t he p
late c
urrent wil
l vary i
n accordance
w
ith t
he a
ppl
ied s
igna
l.

When t
he grid vo
ltage v aries so t
hat t
he plate current var
ies in accord-
a
nce with t
he applied AC s igna
l, the amplif
ier is cal
led "Class A
," a nd i
s
o
perat
ing o n t
he linear portion o
f the Eg-Ip c urve. Y ou wi
ll l
earn more
a
bout t
he classes of operation a l
i
ttle l
ater.

L
INEAR OPERATION ON
THE Eg-Ip CURVE
a
t
l
o
V
d
i
r
Ge
g

Max
imum
I
p =1
6
r
u
C
e
t
a
l
Pt
n
e

1
2
-
r
-
r Zero s
igna
l
-
4-
1
-0 I
p =1
1

8
Min
imum
1
- 6
I
p =6
; 4
; I 2
1 o
-
16-14-12-10-8-6-4 -2 0
Eg vo
lts
r-

4V
I
nput B
ias
L _
S
igna
l

2
-26
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

Why Proper B
ias I
s N
ecessary

To obtain an amp
lif
ied output vo
ltage at t
he plate we must use t
he p
late
current var
iation
. I n t
he exa mple on t
he previous shee
t, a 5 ma. AC
c
o mponen t was p
roduced in t
he plate c
ircuit by app
lying a 2V AC s
ignal t
o
t
he grid.

S
uppose we l ook at the p
la te c
ircuit o
f the triode. Ifan 8,000 ohm p
late
l
oad resistor (R L )i
s used, the steady o r zero-signal p
late c
urrent o
f 1
1
ma. wil
l p roduce a DC v oltage drop across t he l
oad o
f Ez Ix R = .011 x
8
000 = 8 8V. T he DC plate voltage i
s 200V a nd t
he t
otal DC v
oltage (
B+)
i
s the s
um o f the load vo
ltage a nd p
late voltage or 288V.

On the next s
heet you wil
l see now the l
oad v
oltage a
nd t
he p
late v
oltage
change when t
he s
ignal i
s app
lied t
o t
he grid
.

9_97
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

Why P
roper B
ias I
s N
ecessary (
con
tinued
)

When t
he signal is applied to the grid, the plate curren t increases t o 1
6
ma. (
5 ma. increase ) a nd decreases t o 6 ma . (5 ma . decrease )
. When
1
6 ma. flows through t he load, t
he v oltage drop a cross the load w i
ll be
E= Ix R = . 016 x 8000 = 1 28V, an increase of 4 0V (128 -88 40V). T his
w
ill make the p
late v o
ltage d ecrease joy s ince t he tota
l v oltage must
a
lways add up to the B+ v o
ltage of 288V. There fore, the p
la te voltage will
d
ecrease from 2 00V t o 160V. ( Note: 160V + 128V = 2 88V)

When t
he pla
te c urren
t decreases t
o 6 ma
. the vo
ltage drop across the
l
oad wi
ll be E.= Ix R =. 0
06.x 8
000 = 48V
, a4 0V decrease from it
s s teady
va
lue o
f 88V. S ince t
he to
tal vo
ltage mus
t st
ill b
e up t
o 2 88V, t
he plate
v
oltage w
illincrease from it
s s
teady 200V t
o 240V. (Note: 240V + 48V =
2
88V
).

You can see fro m the il

lustra
t ion be
low t ha
t the 5 ma. AC componen t of
p
late current p roduces a 40 volt var
ia t
ion across the p
late l
oad res
is tor
and an equal and opposite var
ia tion i
n plate v
oltage. Since a 2V AC signal
on t
he grid in
itially produced t he p
late current varia
tion
, the 40V signal a
t
t
he plate is a
n amp lified version of the g
rid s
igna l
.

A2 V s
ignal o
n t
he grid has p
roduced a 4
0V s
ignal a
t t
he plate which means
t
hat we h
ave ampli
fied the s
igna
l 20 t
imes. N o
te t
hat t
his amplified s
ignal
a
t t
he pla
te is 1
80 degrees ou
t o
f phase w
ith t
he s
ignal o
n the gr
id .

You wi
ll see on t
he nex
t s heet t
hat t
he c
orrect b
ias is necessary i
fthe
p
late current v
ariat
ion a nd li
kewise t
he p
late v
oltage variat
ion is t
o b
e a
n
exac
t duplica
te of t
he grid signa
l.

Pla
te vol
tage varia
tion
—ou
tput s
ignal
+
240

4
0V
S
teady
+
20 p
late
v
oltage
4
0V

+
16

L
oad v
oltage v
aria
tion
+
12

4
0V

I
.
S
teady
+
88 l
oad
v
oltage
4
Dv

+
48

P
LATE At4D LOAD
VAR
IA T
IONS
0
2
-28
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

Why P
roper B
ias I
s N
ecessary (
con
tinued
)

Notice t hat although t he s igna l itse lf was p ositive d uring o ne h a

lf cycle,
t
he g r
id t o c athode v o
l tage was n ever p ositive —i t just beca me more n ega-
t
ive or l ess n ega tive. The b ias p o int for this amp l if
ier was s elected so
t
ha t i
tf ell in t he c enter o f the stra ight-line or l i
near p ortion o f t
he Eg-Ip
curve. Opera tion o n the linear p or t
ion i s essen t
ia l ifthe o utput wave f or m
i
s to have t he s a me s hape a s the i npu t wave for m . Opera ting at incorrec t
b
ias v oltages w il
l p roduce d istor tion o f one for m o r a nother . I ftoo much
b
ias is u sed , ( mak ing t he grid v oltage more n ega tive ) t
he s ignal will drive
t
he tube i nto c u t-o f
f d urilg t he nega tive half cycle a nd produce a d istorted
p
late c urren t v ariation . I ft oo little bias is u sed, t he s igna l will d
rive
t
he grid p os itive d uring the p osi
tive h alf cycle. Th is will c ause the gr
id t o
t
ake s o me e lec trons f ro m t he c athode t hat wou ld n or mally h ave gone to the
p
late. Aga in t he r esul t i
s ad istor ted p late curren t variation . These c on-
d
itions a re i l
lustra ted b elow .

D
istort
ion wi
ll resu
lt with t
he c orrect b
ias v
oltage i
fthe i
nput s
ignal i
s too
l
arge. The large s
ignal wi
ll d r
ive the gr
id i
nto bo
th the p
osi
tive and t
he
c
ut-o
ff reg
ions —producing distortion
.

You can now see that proper b

ias is necessary ifthe plate current varia-
t
ion i
s to look exactly l
ike t
he grid signal v
ariation
. I ft he amplif
ier tube
i
s b
iased i n t
he center of t
he li
near p ort
ion of t
he Eg-Ip c urve and t
he tube
i
s no
t o verdriven (excessive s
ignal), very li
ttle d
istortion wil
l resul
t . In-
c
orrec t b
ias will resul
t in adistor
ted o utpu
t signal
.
I
p ma
.
1
8
1
6 Distortion due
1
4 t
o grid beco ming
Dis
tortion due pos
itive
1
2 t
o n
on-linearity
1
0 o
f Eg-Ip curve

8
3 1
81
4 1
6 I
-
2 1
4

1
-6 -1
4-12-10-8 -
6 -
4 -
2 9 1
2
Eg v
olts 1
01
I
D
istor
tion due 8
t
o t
ube cu
t-off 6
Cut- 4
o
ff' B
ias
2 I
0 I
-1
6 -1
4-12-
10-8 - -
4 - 0+2
Eg v
olts
•.
.
B
ias
2
-29
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

C
lasses o
f Amp
lif
iers

The class of an amplif

ier is de
ter mined b y i
ts poin
t of operation o
n the
Eg-lp curve . There a re t
hree ma jor classes of amplif
iers —Class A , B
and C. C lass A amp li
fiers are biased to operate in t
he center o
f the
l
inear p ort
ion of t
he Eg-Ip curve . The amp l
ifier described in t
he previous
sheets is aC lass A ampli
fier. C lass B amplifiers are biased t
o operate
near cut-off and C
lass C amp lifiers operate at apoint where the b
ias volt-
a
ge i
s e
qua
l t
o t
wice t
he c
ut-o
ff v
oltage o
f t
he t
ube
.

The f
igure b
elow s
hows t
he b
ias v
oltages f
or t
he t
hree d
ifferen
t c
lasses o
f
amp
lif
iers. F or t
his p
articular tube
, the b
ias would b
e -2V f
or Class A
o
perat
ion. Since Class B operates at c
ut-o
ff, i
ts b
ias vo
ltage must b
e
-
4V. F or C
lass C operat
ion , t
he bias must be -
8V because a C
lass C am-
p
lif
ier o
pera
tes a
t ab
ias e
qua
l t
o t
wice t
he c
ut-o
ff v
alue
.

F
lat caused by
grid drawing
c
urrent
-
12

L
inear
p
ortion
o
f curve

Curren
t flowing
al t
he time

Current f
lows
No pla
te hal
f t
he time
current f
lowing
) C
ur
rent f
lows
l
ess than
h
alf the t
ime

Grid i
s
p
osit
ive

2
-30
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

C
lasses o
f Amp
lif
iers (
con
tinued
)

The figure shown on the p

revious s
hee
t is aco mpar
ison o
f the o
pera
ting
characterist
ics of Class A, B, a
nd C ampl
ifiers. This i
s what y
ou shou
ld
s
ee fro m the i
llustrat
ion —

C
l
ass A
The signal i
s sma l
l. I t i
s n
ever l
arge enough to dr
ive the gr
id either
posit
ive or beyond cut
-o f
f. Plate c
urrent flows d
uring the co mp
lete
c
yc le of s
ignal i
nput. The plate c
urrent variat
ion is a
n exact dupli-
cate of t
he gr
id signal
.

C
l
ass B

The s
igna
l i
s l
arger t
han f
or C
lass A
. The g
rid may b
e d
riven p
osi-
t
ive. The s ignal drives the grid beyond cut-o
ff for approxi mately half
t
he input cycle
. On ly the pos
itive half cycle o
f inpu
t a ppears in t
he
p
late circuit
. The t o
ta l p
late current change is much g reater t
han t he
change produced by C lass A operation. P late current flows for ap-
p
rox i ma
tely half t
he c o mp
lete cycle. P late current is zero when no
s
ignal is put i
nto t
he g rid.

C
l
ass C

The a pplied signa l is the larges t of the three c lasses . The g rid is
d
r iven b eyond c ut-o ff and into the pos i
tive g rid r egion. The p late cur-
r
en t varia tion is the larges t o
f t he three c lasses . The p eak of t
he
curren t wave h as a d ip b ecause t he contro l grid is draw ing current,
t
hereby r educ
ing t he amoun t of c urrent a vailable to the plate
. P la
te
c
urren t flows for l ess than h a
lf ac ycle of inpu t voltage. Withou t a
s
igna l on t he gr
id, n c plate curren t flows. A l arge signal voltage is
n
ecessary t o dr
ive t he grid positive d uring e ach c ycle. Th is class is
u
sed o n
ly i n RF ( rad io frequency ) power amp lif
iers .

The C
lass A amp
lif
ier i
s u
sed p
ri mar
ily a
s av
oltage amp
lif
ier
. C
lass B
a
nd Class C amp
lif
iers a
re u
sed a
s p
ower amp
lif
iers a
nd a
re d
esigned t
o
d
eliver h
igh c
urrents
.

There a
re c o mb
inations o
f C lass A a nd Class B amp li
fiers a
nd these are
ca
lled Class ABi and AB2 . C lass ABi amp li
fiers are b
iased to apoin
t
s
light
ly more n ega
tive than C lass A amp lif
iers . Class AB 2 ampli
fiers are
b
iased t
o ap oint s
lightly l
ess n egative t
han t hat o
f Class B. These classes
o
f opera
t ion a
re actually co mpro mises between C lass A and C
lass B.

2
-31
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

B
attery B
ias

Ba
ttery bias was chosen for the f
irst il
lustrat
ion of bias because iti
s the
e
asiest t
o understand . In ac
tua l p
ractice , y
ou wil
l find itused only i
n the
l
aboratory or f
or e xperimental work. T he bat
tery type is re
liable a
nd ef-
f
ic
ient, but t
he size a nd w
eight of bat
ter ies make itdiff
icult to u
se i
n
mos
t e
quip men
t.

Whenever b a
tteries a re used a s asource o f b
ias v o
ltage , i ti s desirab le
t
o use a c omb inat
ion o f c
ells i n s
eries that add u p to the r equ ired v ol
tage .
With th
is a rrange men t, i
ti s n o
t necessary t o use r egu lating d evices, s uch
a
s p otentiometers , wh ich d raw c urren t from t he b a
ttery a nd gradua l
ly
consu me its power . Mos t bias o r "C" b a
tteries a re made i n mu lt
ip les o f
4
-1/2 v olts -4-1/2 , 9 , 1
8 v olts and higher. T hese b a
tter ies a re tapped
f
or inter med iate voltages
. T he negative ter m
ina l of the b attery i s con-
nected to the grid through the r es
istor H g, the p ositive t er minal is c on-
nected to the cathode . Th is makes t he grid nega tive w ith respect t o t he
c
athode
.

2
-32
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

Power S
upp
ly B
ias

Recti
fier p
ower suppl
ies rep
lace " B" b
atter
ies i
n the p
late c
ircu
it and a
lso
are used t
o r
eplace t
he "
C" b a
tter
ies. I n l
arge e
quipmen t
, such a
s so me
t
rans mit
ters , as eparate bias power s upply i s used. I t may b e agenerator,
ahal
f-wave r ectifier or af u
ll-wave r ectifier. T he positive side o
f the
p
ower s upply is c onnected to the c
athode a nd the negative s ide i
s c
onnected
t
o t
he grid, j us
t a s is done with a "C" b a
ttery . I n the i
llus tra
tion be
low ,
t
he posi
tive t er m
ina l o
f the bleeder res istor is c onnected t o g
round and the
n
egative ter minal is connected to the grid t hrough Rg . S ince the c
athode is
g
rounded , the grid is negative with respect t o the cathode .

P
o
wer S
u
pPl
y B
i
as
To s
igna
l 4 RL

R g
B+
1
17V
AC
l
ine
• /0
0000
'

v
o
lley

B
leeder Res
istor

2
-33
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

B+ Power S
upp
ly B
ias

An ega t
ive a nd a pos i
tive vol
tage w i
th r espec t t
o ground c an be obtained
f
ro m the s a me power s upply. Th is is d one by connecting t wo resistors in
series a cross t
he p ower supply and ground ing the junction of these r e-
s
istors . A s ingle t apped b
leeder r esistor c an be used in place of the two
res
is tors in series . The r esistance to g round fro m t
he n egative ter minal
i
s much sma l
ler t han the resistance fro m the posit
ive t er minal t
o g round.
Therefore , the voltage across t he posit
ive p ort
ion o f t
he bleeder w ill be
grea
ter t
han that across t he nega t
ive p ortion. I n other words , this c
ircuit
prov
ides a l
arge p osit
ive v ol
tage w ith r espect to ground wh ich is used as
t
he B+ p
late supply v o
ltage, a nd a sma ll n egat
ive v oltage with respect to
g
round which is used a s g
r id bias v ol
tage . The c athode i s connected to
g
round, t
he plate is connec ted to the p os i
tive ter mina l o
f the bleeder
t
hrough RL, and the g rid is connec ted t o the negat
ive t er minal of t
he
b
leeder t
hrough R. Therefore , the g rid i s made n egative and the p
late
i
s made posi
tive, ivith respect t o t
he c athode .

i
te
lt r
e ev
e E
ea4 AND

P
ear
ev
ePt
ate V
at&t
e
s
F
RO M THE SA ME PO WER SUPPLY

2
-34
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

C
athode B
ias

O
f al b
ias s
yste ms, c a
th x
ie bias i
s t
he most w
idely u
sed. C a
thode b
ias
i
s o
bta
ined by connecting a r
esistor i
n s
eries w
ith t
he t
ube f
ro m B- o
r
g
round t
o t
he ca
thode .

I
n o
rder t
o u
nderstand h
ow t
h
is s
yste m works
, i
twil
l b
e n
ecessary f
or y
ou
t
o r
ecal
l t
hree p
oints

1
. I
f curren
t flows t
hrough a r
esis
tor a
n IR d
rop w
ill b
e produced.
2
. The end o
f the r
esis
tor t
oward which t
he c
urren
t is f
lowing i
s the mos
t
pos
itive (
+)
.
3
. The purpose o
f b
ias i
s t
o k
eep t
he g
rid n
ega
tive w
ith r
espec
t t
o t
he
cathode
.

Look a
t the il
lus tration be
low. No tice t
ha t aresistor (I
l k )has been placed
i
n the c
athode c ircuit of t
he vacuu m t
ube, between c a
thode a nd ground . A ll
t
he current that flows through the t
ube mus t f
low up fro m B- through t he
c
athode resistor . Th is produces an IR drop across the cathode r es
is tor,
making t
he c athode p osi
tive with r
espect to ground. S ince the gr
id i s con-
n
ected to ground t hrough Rg a nd g
round is negative with r
espect t o the
c
athode, the g r
id i s a
lso negative w
ith respect to t
he c a
thode.

,
p.TH ODE B
IAS

T
o s
igna
l

R g

Gr
id and g
round Ca
thode pos
itive
nega
tive wi
th w
ith r
espect
r
espect t
o c
athode
. t
o g
round.

2
-35
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

C
athode R
esis
tor

D
eter mining the s
ize of the c
athode res
istor M O i s mere
ly an arithmetic
p
roble m. S uppose that atube requ
ires a bias o
f -6 vol
ts f
or proper oper-
a
tion a
nd a plate current of 4 ma. f
lows with t
his b
ias. T he 6-vo
l t b
ias i
s
p
roduced b y 4 ma. flowing t
hrough the ca
thode resistor. Using O hm's l
aw —

E 6
R k =T _
- 1
-
t
r& 1
500 o
hms

T
o d
eter m
ine t
he s
ize o
f t
he c
athode r
esis
tor f
or a t
r
iode
, d
ivide t
he r
e-
q
uired b
ias v
oltage b
y t
he p
late c
urren
t.

DETER MINING THE SIZE OF

THE CATHODE RES ISTOR
FOR A TRIODE
v ''1
•1
4 ,Y
•

2
-36
 THE TR
IODE AMPLIFIER

Ca
thode Res
istor (
con
tinued
)

I
n atriode, the o n
ly current tha
t flows fro m t
he cathode of the t
ube is the
p
late current
. Th is i
s not the case in t
he te
trode o r p
entode . T etrodes
a
nd pentodes h ave a s
creen g rid which has a p
ositive vol
tage a pp
lied to it
a
nd at
trac ts e
lec trons f
ro m the cathode. Since all t
he c urrent t
hat fl
ows
t
hrough the tetrode and p en
tode mus t co me fro m the c a
thode, the total
c
athode curren t is
:
PLATE CURRENT + SCREEN CURRENT = CATHODE CURRENT
I
f apen
tode, for example
, h as a p
late current (
In )o
f 6 ma. and a s
creen
c
urrent (
Isg )o
f 2 ma., t
he cathode current would be 8 ma
. I fthe r
equired
b
ias i
s 4vo l
ts, u
sing Ohm 's l
aw the value o
f Rk can be ca
lculated -

4
Rk = _ = 5
00 o
hms
I .
008
You wil
l l
earn more a
bout t
he c
ons
truc
tion
, u
se a
nd o
pera
tion o
f t
etrodes
and p
entodes i
n ala
ter t
opic
.

-
0
?
4oNt
of,
i4
t
ud.
,
c
,

DETE R
:VI NING THE S
IZE OF
THE CATHODE RESL STOR
FOR A PENTODE OR TETRODE

I
p = 6 ma
.

To s
ignal

I
sg +I p -
8 ma.

I
sg +I
p = 8 ma
.
Power
4 -
Supp
ly

- 5
00 o
h ms

2
-37
 THE TR
IODE AMPL
IFIER

C
athode Bypass Capac
itor

Aca
thode b
ias res
istor usua
lly has a c
apac
itor c
onnec
ted i
n para
lle
l with
i
t
. This c
apaci
tor is ca
lled a b
ypass capac
itor a
nd i
ts p
urpose i
s t
o k
eep
t
he v
oltage a
cross t
he c
athode r
esistor a
t ac
onstan
t v
alue
.

S
uppose we l
ook a t t
he operation o
f atriode using c athode bias wi
th no by-
p
ass capac
itor. I f asignal i
s applied t
o grid
, t he plate current wil
l vary
i
n a
ccordance w ith t
he signa
l. S ince i
ti s t
he plate c urrent f
low through
t
he ca
thode resistor tha
t produces the b
ias, a nd th
is c urrent flow var
ies,
t
he b
ias w
ill a
lso v
ary
.

Th
is varying b
ias reduces t
he s
ignal v
oltage b
etween gr
id and c
athode
. On
t
he n
ext sheet you w
ill s
ee how t
his s
ignal r
educt
ion occurs
.

TR
IODE AMPLIFIER WITH A
•
g
• CATHODE BYPASS CAPACITOR

To s
Igna
l

Rk

B- P
ower

S
upp
ly

1RIODE AMPLIF
IER WITHOUT A
CATHODE BYPASS CAPACITOR

2-
38
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

C
athode Bypass C
apac
itor (
con
tinued
)

I
n t
he il
lustrat
ion below, a n AC s
igna l wi
th a p eak amp l
itude o
f 6 V is a
p-
p
l
ied to the g
rid of t
he tr
iode . The triode h as a c
athode bias voltage of
-
8V with no s
ignal appl
ied . I ft
he bias voltage re mained cons
tan t, the s
ig-
n
al would add t
o the b
ias d ur
ing i
ts negative h a
lf cyc
le , (8 +6) = 14V neg-
a
t
ive, a nd i
t wou
ld subtract from the bias during the posit
ive half cycle
(
8 -
6) = 2
V n
ega
tive
.

With the grid to ca

thode v ol
tage vary ing between - 14V a nd - 2V, t he plate
c
urren t w
ill be mini mu m a t -
14V a nd max i mum a t -2V . I n th
is c ase, as-
sume t hat t
he plate c urrent variat
ion p roduces a v oltage v ariation o f 2volts
a
cross t he c a
thode r esistor. Observe t hat the cathode v o
ltage i ncreases
(
becomes more n ega tive) when the plate curren t i
ncreases a nd therefore
t
he c athode bias voltage increases when t he signal is reduc ing it( making
i
tl ess negative). T he voltage variation across the c athode r esis tor is
1
80 d egrees o ut o
f p hase w i
th the input signal so that the t wo vol
tages ( sig-
n
al a nd cathode voltage v ariat
ion) s ubtract f
rom o ne ano ther to p roduce a n
e
ffective v o
ltage var iation of (
6 -2) = 4v o
lts between g r
id a nd ca thode.

EG VOLTS THE EFFECT OF CATHODE

VOLTAGE VARIATION
App
lied
-
2 s
ignal Max
.
P
= 6V a
t -
2V
4 Z
ero
S
igna
l
6 C
athode v
oltage
v
aria
tion = 2V

-
10 Min
. ha
j
: R
esultan
t g rid t
o
c
athode variat
ion a
t -14f
1
-
12
= 6
-2= 4 V
-
14 _ _
1

WN
VYv

+
6
, 0

-
6
S
ignal B- "! -
8
I
nput -
10 -
C
athode V
oltage V
aria
tion

C
athode

2
-39
 THE TRIODE A MPL
IFIER

C
athode Bypass Capac
itor (
con
tinued
)

I
n other words, the ca
thode voltage v
aria
tions cancelled 2 vol
ts of s
ignal.
Th
is effect i
s ca
lled degeneration. To el
im inate t
he effect o
f degeneration,
acathode bypass capacitor i
s placed i
n p
arallel w
ith the cathode res
istor.
I
fthe proper capacitance i
s chosen, it
s capaci
tive reactanc y found by
u
sing t
he f
or mu
la y
ou l
earned i
n Basic E
lec
tric
ity — Xc - 2
7
rfC ) w
ill b
e

about o ne tenth the size of the resistor. Since a c apacitor wil

l only p
ass
ac ontinuous ly c hanging ( AC) curren t
, the steady ( DC) co mponent o
f cur-
r
en t flows t hrough the r esistor and the varying co mponen t o
f current f
lows
t
hrough t he bypass c apac i
tor. The r esistor is v
irtua l
ly shorted out b
y the
l
ow r eactance o f t he capacitor when a c urrent variation occurs. T he only
c
urren t through t he resistor is as teady one. Therefore , the vo
ltage across
t
he r esistor w il
l r e main constant when a signal is applied to t
he grid and
n
o s igna l cancellation will take place.

Here is a
n e
xa mple o
f t
he method u
sed t
o de
ter m
ine t
he s
ize o
f t
he b
ypass
capac
itor. Suppose you h
ad t
he c
ircui
t shown b
elow
.

1 RL

B+

1
S
ince Xc - 2
71C
' t
he c
apac
ity o
f t
he b
ypass c
ondenser c
an b
e f
ound b
y

u
sing t
he f
or mu
la C = 2_, where fi
1
rx s t
he l
owest f
requency s
ignal t
o b
e
c
ampl
ified
. S
uppose fi
s 6
0 c
ps a nd Xc i
s 4000as shown a
bove, then C

w
ill b
e-
1
6
.6 m
fd.
6
.28 x 6
0 x4
00

S
ince capacitors a
re no
t made w
ith a v
alue o
f 6
.6 mfd
., a 1
0 mfd
. c
a-
p
acitor would be u
sed
.

2
-40
 THE TRIODE AMPL
IFIER

R
eview o
f T
riode Amp
lif
ier O
pera
tion

1
2
GRID B IAS — T he amount of grid-bias
v
oltage d e
ter mines whether a n ampli-
f
ier i
s o perating Class A, C lass B or L
inear
C
lass C . I n Class A the bias is l
ess p
ortion
o
f c
urve
t
han cut-off; in Class B b
ias i s a
t or
n
ear c u
t-o ff
; in Class C bias is much
l
ess than c u
t-off.

N
o pla
te
c
urrent f
l
owing

B+ PO WER SUPPLY B IAS — A single

p
ower s upply c
an be used to s
upply a
p
ositive vo
ltage f
or B + and a n
egat
ive
v
oltage for g
rid b
ias.

CATHODE B IAS — A cathode bias re-

s
istor in paral
lel w
ith a cathode by-
p
ass c apacitor i
n t
he ca
thode c ircui
t
p
rov ide t
he most wide
ly u sed syste m
o
f biasing.

I
NPUT O
UTPUT
TRIODE AMPL IFIER OPERAT ION —
The varia
tion in vo
ltage o
utput (p
late
v
oltage) o
f at riode
, used as a
n amp li-
f
ier, may b e t
en or more t
imes l arger
t
han the varia
tion in t
he g
rid vo
ltage
(
AC signal).

2
-41
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

Why t
he T
etrode Was D
eveloped

A c apacitor, a s you k now , is noth

ing more t han t wo pieces of me tal
separa ted b y ad ielectric ( i
nsulator)
. I
n av acuum t ube each pair o f
e
le men ts a cts as if it w ere a sma ll capac
itor . I n at riode there are
t
hree s uch c apac
i tors —one c ons
isting of t
he g r id and plate, one o
f the
g
r id and c a
thode a nd the third of t
he pla
te and c athode. These are cal
led
t
he "
intere lectrode c apacitances"and each one has a c apacitance of o
nly a
f
ew m icrom icrofarads .

Gr
id-to-Cathode
Capac
itance

P
late-to-Cathode
Capacitance

Grid-to-Plate
Capacitance

The grid-to-p
late capacitance i
s the one which causes most of t
he t
rouble
.
A
t high frequencies i
tp roduces undesirable efects which may prevent t
he
t
ube from amp li
fying properly. Th is wi
ll be exp
la ined l
ater
.

The t
etrode was d
eveloped t
o reduce t
he i
n
tere
lec
trode c
apac
itance b
e-
t
ween the c
ontrol g
rid and t
he p
late.

2
-42
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

The S
creen Gr
id

I
n the tetrode a s econd grid is placed b etween t
he control gr
id a nd the
p
late. Now t here a re two small capacitors in s
eries between the plate and
t
he g r
id a nd
, o f c ourse
, the to
tal grid-to-plate capacitance i
s reduced .
This second grid, c al
led t
he "screen g rid," has t
he ef
fec t o
f shie
ld ing the
p
late fro m t
he first grid a
nd al
lows t he tetrode t
o be used at h
igher f re-
q
uencies than the triode could be used.

Nor mal
ly, the screen gr
id has a h
igh p os
itive v
oltage a
nd attracts e
lec-
t
rons fro m t
he space charge j
ust as the p
late d
id in t
he t
riode. However ,
b
ecause t he s
creen grid is as
pirally-wound thin wire
, mos t of t
he e
lec-
t
rons pass right t
hrough itand e
nd u p a
t the p
late. The screen d raws o
nly
ali
ttle current
.

T
ETRODE

P
"

Two Capac
itors I
n
S
eries —Tota
l Capacity
Less Than E
ither One
t
The p
late is u
sually kept a
t ahigher vo
ltage t
han the screen and t
he plate
c
ircuit does n
ot d
iffer much f
ro m tha
t which i
s used with tr
iodes. I n t
he
t
etrode, however, the pla
te v
oltage has l
ess e
ffect on the t
ube current
t
han itdid i
n the t
riode.

2
-43
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

S
econdary Em
iss
ion i
n t
he T
etrode

I
n a
ny tube —diode
, t r
iode o r te
trode —when o ne elec
tron s
trikes t
he plate,
i
tknocks several elec
trons o ut. K nown as "secondary emission
," this
h
appens because the electrons are hi
tting t
he pla
te at h
igh speed wh
ich b e-
c
omes e ver g
reater as t he p
late vo
ltage is r
aised.

I
n the t
riode , secondary em ission is not i mportant s
ince the plate i
s t
he
most positive ele men
t i n t
he tube a nd, therefore, attracts al
l the e
lectrons
t
hat have b een knocked o u
t of it
. I n the tetrode, h owever, some o f t
hese
s
econdary e lec
trons ( t
hose wh ich h ave been freed from t he p
late as are-
s
ult of secondary em ission ) are at
trac ted to the screen. Any f low o
f sec-
o
ndary e lectrons from t he plate to the screen a dds t
o the screen current
a
nd s ub
trac ts from the plate c urrent.

e
ar
-away S
eet
io
it --O
F AT
E
TRODE
The n
umber o f secondary electrons which d o no
t r eturn to t
he p
late de-
p
ends u pon t
he dif
ference between the plate and the s creen vo
ltages. l i
t
he p
late voltage is much h
igher than the s creen's, all the s
econdary elec-
t
rons will r
eturn to t
he pla
te a nd t
here w ill b
e n o decrease in p
late current
.
I
fthe plate vo
ltage is much lower than the screen 's, fewer secondary elec-
t
rons will b
e em it
ted, but al
l of t
hese wil l b
e attracted to t
he screen.

2
-44
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

S
tat
ic Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f t
he T
etrode

The t
etrode i
s r
are
ly u
sed t
oday
, a
nd y
ou a
re b
eing t
old a
bou
t t
his t
ube
o
nly because i
ti s a"stepping s
tone" between the t
riode a
nd the pentode.
I
fsta
tic characterist
ics of atetrode were taken w
ith vary
ing plate vol
tage
b
ut c
onstant control and s
creen g r
id vo
ltages, you would get a c
urve re-
s
e mb
ling the one i
n the d
iagra m.

X X

F
ixed /
Varying
s
creen
p
late
grid
v
oltages
v
oltage

Notice t
hat at h
igh p
late vo
ltages above 300V , t
he pla
te c urren
t does not
change when the p
late v
oltage is i
ncreased. Th is is because t
he screen
shields t
he p
late f
ro m t
he s pace c
harge at the ca
thode wh ich c
auses the
s
creen t o e
xert agreater control o
ver plate curren
t than the p
late i
tself
.

At abou
t 1 00 v
olts, an increase i
n pla
te v o
ltage causes a d
ecrease in p
late
current because more e lectrons a
re knocked o u
t of t
he p
late by s
econdary
emission. A s long as the pla
te vo
ltage is below t
he screen v
oltage, a
l most
al the secondary electrons go t
o the screen.

S
creen Vo
ltage

2
0 -
.
.-

1
5 Gr
id Vol
tage = -
5V

1
0
f l
i
l
i
M
e
t
as
p
m
a
i

5
l
P

0 1
00 2
00 3
00 4
00 5
00 6
00

P
late Vo
ltage

2
-45
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

Nor ma
l Opera
tion o
f t
he T
etrode

Cathode bias i
n the t
etrode is ob
tained in t
he s
a me way a
s in t
he t
riode,
except t
hat in t
he t
etrode the current f
lowing t
hrough t
he ca
thode resistor
i
s the sum of the s
creen and plate currents
.

The c
ontrol g
rid v
oltage varies accord
ing to t
he input s
ignal a
nd produces
v
ariat
ions in t
he p
late current. Therefore the p
late current t
he screen
g
rid curren
t vary with t
he contro
l grid v
oltage
. S creen g
rid vol
tage vari-
a
tion is prevented by connec
ting a s
creen b ypass c
apac
itor to g
round
.
This keeps the screen at af
ixed DC leve
l a nd t
he t
ube curren
t wil
l b
e
varied only by varying t
he con
trol g
rid vol
tage .
C

r
E
-1
-
•
Ou
tpu
t

AC
iZ I
I
I
--
I
nput

INEr
1 =V
v.
-
7M W-
•
1M
I
I
I MP
V
M
IP I
INV
\M I
V 1
;
3+
With AC o n t
he control grid of t
he tube, the plate vol
tage wil
l vary because
o
f the d
rop i n t
he load resistor just as in t
he triode. When t he t
etrode i
s
used f
or g e
tting large amp l
ificat
ions , the pla
te v o
ltage var
ies over a wide
range and, ifitd rops be
low t he screen g r
id v o
ltage, secondary em iss
ion
e
ffects cause distortion i
n the output.

To p
reven
t t
his
, t
he p
late v
oltage wou
ld h
ave t
o b
e v
ery l
arge t
o k
eep t
he
p
late a
t ahigher p
otent
ial than t
he s
creen r
egard
less o
f t
he amoun
t o
f
v
oltage v
ariat
ion a
t the p
late.

This —the require ment o

f an abnor ma
lly high
B+ —is the main disadvantage of u
sing a t
et-
rode. You w ill s
ee how the pentode over-
co mes t
his disadvantage
.

DISTORTED OUTPUT OF
TETRODE WITH "LO W"
PLATE VOLTAGE SUPPLY

2
-46
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

E
lim
ina
ting t
he E
ffects o
f S
econdary Em
iss
ion

You h
ave seen that t
he main d
isadvantage o
f t
he te
trode i
s t
he n
eed f
or a
h
igh p
late vo
ltage to preven
t d
istort
ion in i
t
s output d
ue t
o t
he e
f
fect o
f
s
econdary em ission
.

The pen
tode is designed to o
vercome t h
is undesirable f
ea ture of t
he t
etrode
b
y el
im inating t
he f l
ow of s
econdary electrons between the pla
te and t
he
s
creen g r
id. Th is is accomplished by t
he inclus
ion of at h
ird grid
, the
s
uppressor g r
id, b etween t
he plate a
nd the screen gr
id.

e
arawa
ii S
eet
i
oa --O
F AP
ENTODE
The suppressor grid is u
sually kep
t at cathode p o
tentia
ls o t
hat itis a
lways
v
ery n ega
tive with respect r
.o t
he pla
te. T herefore, any e
lectron that i
s in
t
he region between the suppressor and the plate (such a
s as econdary elec-
t
ron) is a
ttracted back to t
he pla
te and preven ted from get
ting through the
s
uppressor t o t
he screen. A s aresult o
f this arrange ment
, s econdary
emission does no
t affect t
he operation o
f the p en
tode.

2
-47
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

How t
he P
entode Works

You r
e me mber tha
t i n atr
iode a decrease of t
he negat
ive grid vo
ltage pro-
d
uced an increase in the c
urrent and a d
ecrease in the p
late v
oltage. T he
p
late vo
ltage change was more t han t
he change in gr
id vol
tage. We c alled
t
he ra
tio of p
late voltage change t
o grid v
oltage change "ampli
fication
."

You r
e me mber too t
hat t
he plate voltage in at
riode also affects t
he current
f
low. T he decrease in p
late voltage has a t
endency to decrease the current
.
The g
rid i
s trying to i
ncrease t he c
urrent. Itis clear, then , t
hat t
he de-
c
rease in p
late vol
tage is opposing the ef
fect o
f the grid vo
l tage d
ecrease.

I
fthe gr
id has 2 0 t
imes a s much contro
l of t
he curren
t a s t
he plate has, the
l
imit o
f amplificat
ion wou ld b
e 20
. When s uch an ampli
fication is reached,
t
he p
late vol
tage c hanges would b
e 2 0 t
imes as l
arge as the grid vo
ltage
c
hanges and, theoretical
ly , t
here would be n
o change in t
he current. T hus
t
he amplif
ication is l
imited by t
he fact t
hat t
he p
late has some e f
fect or the
c
urrent
.

I
n ap entode, neither t
he s uppressor nor the p
late vol
tage a ffect t
he amoun t
o
f current drawn f rom the space charge surround ing the cathode since t
he
s
creen g rid sh
ields both of these e
le ments from the cathode . A s in t
he
t
etrode, the pentode's screen v o
ltage i
s fi
xed at s ome p osi
tive value and,
t
herefore, only the variat
ions o f c
ontrol g
r id v
oltage c ause changes in
p
late current.

1. When g r
id 2
. P late v
oltage 4
. P late v
oltage
v
oltage i
n- decreases and decreases, bu
t
c
reases , c
urrent t
ends to d
ecrease does not t
end to
i
ncreases c
urrent d
ecrease curren t

3
. When g rid
v
oltage i
n-
c
reases , c
urrent
i
ncreases
T
R
IODE P
ENTODE
4
#fte d f
r
iT a
sI V A #C4 4
.0g gi
d
e& avez a 6
ica
tiog
I
n t
he pentode t
he plate vo
ltage can v
ary cons
iderably w
ith al mos
t no e
ffect
o
n t
he current and
, t here
fore, with n
o cancel
lation o
f t
he gr
id's c on
tro
l of
t
he p
late curren
t. A s aresult
, the amp
lifica
tion o
f apentode is many
t
imes greater t
han that o
f atriode.
2
-48
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

A Typ
ica
l P
entode T
ube

Anode o
r P
late
Con
trol G
rid

S
creen Gr
id

_ S
uppressor Gr
id

S
uppressor
Ca
thode Grid

H
eater

Wiring c
onnect
ions
t
o t
he base
S
creen G
rid

Con
tro
l Gr
id

Ca
thode

H
eater

2
-49
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

T
he B
eam P
ower T
ube

Y
ou have learned f rom your study of the pentode that the s
uppressor grid
r
educes the e
f fects o
f secondary em ission. I nstead diming the suppressor
g
rid t
o control secondary em ission from t he plate, the same e
ffect can b
e
o
bta
ined b y a
rrang ing the t
ube ele ments i
n s uch a way a s t
o p
roduce a neg-
a
t
ive charge n ear the p
late. T he action o
f this s pace charge i
s t
o repel a
ny
s
econdary em itted elec
trons b ack to t
he plate just as the s
uppressor does
i
n t
he pentode.

The figure below s hows the internals tructure o f atyp

ica l beam p ower t
ube
such as the 6L6 , 50L6, 6 V6 and others . You s ee t
hat th
is tube has a ca
th-
ode, control gr
id , screen grid and two n ew p arts —the bea m-for ming p
lates
which a re connec ted to the c a
thode . E ach b eam-for ming p la
te e x
tends
about one-fourth the distance around t he grids o f t
he t
ube a nd prevents any
e
lectrons f rom r eaching the plate excep t t
hrough t he openings between the
beam-for m ing plates. Th is tends to concen trate the e
lec tron s
tream i n
to
a small area a nd thereby for m an e
lec tron b eam .

The o
pen ings in t
he grids a re a
rranged in such a way that the e
lectrons
p
ass between t he gr
id wires i n l
ayers or sheets
. A fter passing t
he screen
g
rid, these electrons co mbine to f
or m a c
oncen tration of e
lectrons, or
s
pace c harge, near the p
la te. Itis th
is space c harge that does t
he same
j
ob as the suppressor in the pentode
.

The b
eam p
ower t
ube has an a
dvan
tage over t
he p
entode in t
hat agrea
ter
p
ower ou
tpu
t c
an be o
btained f
or a g
iven amoun
t o
f cathode emiss
ion.

Beam-Forming P
late

C
athode

G
rid

S
creen

Bea m
F
orm ing
P
lates

2
-50
 THE TETRODE AND THE PE NTODE

The Beam Power Tube (

con
tinued
)

Anode o
r P
late
Anode o
r P
late
Con
trol Gr
id

S
creen Gr
id

Bea m-For m
ing
P
late

Bea m-For m
ing
Ca
thode Plates

Hea
ter

Wiring c
onnect
ions
t
o t
he base S
creen Gr
id

Con
tro
l Gr
id

2
-51
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

S
um mary o
f P
entode Opera
tion

S
creen Vo
ltage
4 `
11
1
1V

Vo
ltage = -
3V -

0 5
0 1
00 1
50 2
00 2
50 3
00
P
late Vol
tage

Curve No
. 1: Over a w ide range of p
late voltages, the pentode pla
te current
does n
ot vary. Bu t th
is is no
t saturation; i
n the next curve you will s
ee tha
t
i
ti s p
oss
ib le t
o draw more c urrent than th
is . T he reason the current
d
oesn't v
ary o ver t
his range of v
alues i s t
hat the s
creen s hields t
he plate
f
ro m t
he cathode's space charge
.

A
t low p
late vo
ltages, h owever
, the plate c
urrent does vary. A
lthough t
he
t
ota
l t
ube current re mains t
he sa me
, many more e lectrons are a
ttrac
ted
t
o t
he screen
, wh ich is now more posit
ive than t
he pla
te is
.
1
2

1
0

Curve No. 2
: Here,y ou see tha
t
t
he control g
rid i
n ap entode
con
trols current i
n the sa me 8
way as i
tdid in at
riode. Nor-
mal gr
id bias f
or th
is par t
icu-
l
ar pentode i
s abou
t - 3 vol
ts. 6

The fac
t that t
he c urrent r
ises
r
u
C
e
t
a
l
Pt
n
e

c
onsiderab ly above 3 ma . i
n 4
t
his tes
t shows t hat 3 ma. is no
t
t
he limit o
f cathode em ission.
Therefore, the fla
ttened portion
2
y
ou saw in the first curve could
n
ot have been satura t
ion.

0
8 6 4 -
3 -
2 0

Gr
id Vo
ltage
2
-52
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

S
um mary o
f Pen
tode Opera
tion (
con
tinued
)

Curves No
. 3a
nd 4
: Wi
th t
he s
ame v
alue o
f l
oad r
esistor i
n e
ach
, y
ou c
an
o
bta
in l
arger amp
lif
ica
tions w
ith t
he p
entode t
han w
ith t
he t
riode
.

4
00

3
00
c
a

2
00
a
)

1
00

0
-
20 -
15 -
10 -
5 0
Gr
id Vo
lts

W.th a l
arger l
oad resistor in t
he p
entode circuit
, larger ampli
ficat
ion is
o
btained
. Th is happens because the g
rid voltage, and o
nly t
he grid vo
ltage,
c
an produce a change o
f current. This curren t w
ill f
low t
hrough the l
oad
r
esistor —the l
arger t
he r es
istor, t
he larger the vo
ltage c
hange.

4
00

Co mpare the
Changes in
3
00
P
late Vol
ts

4 ,2
00
▪
c
d

1
00
Change i
n
Grid Vol
ts
0
-
20 -
15 -
10 -
5 0
Gr
id Vo
lts

2
-53
 THE TETRODE AND THE PENTODE

R
eview o
f T
etrodes a
nd Pen
todes

THE TETRODE — A t ube h av

ing a
s
creen gr
id to reduce p
late-to-control
g
rid c
apacitance
. I tis rarely used to-
d
ay, b
ut was a s
tep in t
he deve lop ment
o
f t
he pen
tode.

THE PENTODE — A t ube which uses

asuppressor gr
id between the screen
g
rid and p
late t
o reduce the e
ffect o
f
s
econdary emission. I thas greater
ampl
ifica
tion t
han the tr
iode.

THE BEA M PO WER TUBE — Tube

u
sing bea m-for ming p
lates instead of
t
he suppressor to reduce the effec
ts
o
f secondary em ission
. I ts power o u
t-
p
ut is greater, for a g
iven amoun t of
c
athode em ission, t
han tha
t of ap entode
.

PENTODE C IRCUIT — A c ircui

t pro-
v
iding p
roper operating v
oltages f
or
c
ontrol g
rid, screen gr
id and sup-
p
ressor grid
.

2
-54
 THE S
INGLE-STAGE AMPL
IFIER

A Typ
ica
l Amp
lif
ier S
tage

You a re already f a mi
liar with the p urposes o f most of the co mponents t
hat
will be used in this amp li
fier circu it. The 1 - meg. r
es is
tor in the grid c
ir-
cui
t is there to p reven t a
ny negat ive c harge fro m accumula ting on the g
rid.
The 12K r esis
tor a nd the 25- mfd, c apacitor in the cathode circuit are the
b
ias c o mponen ts
. The 2 70K r es istor i n the plate circui
t is the l
oad r e-
s
istor. The . 01- mfd. capacitor a nd the 1- meg. resistor will be t
he RC
coupl
ing t o the next stage of amp lif
ica t
ion.

.
0
1TOD
I
N
PUT 5 O
UTPUT
6
C5

8 2
7
0K

2
5MFD
IM
EG 1
2K
TYPICAL
AMPL IF
IER
STAGE

IMP
8
+

The c ircuit shown b elow h as two additional c o mponen ts

. You w ill n
otice
t
hat the plate load r esistor is connected t o B+ through a 2 5K resistor. Th is
resistor a nd the 8 - mid. capacitor make u p as pecial f
ilter c
ircu it c
alled
ad ecoupling filter. Ifs o me for m o
f u ndesired c oupling exists between the
v
ar ious circu i
ts o f a multistage amp l
ifier , we s ay that we have feedback .
This feedback c auses the amp li
fier to g enera te a low frequency a udio sig-
nal which s ounds like a motorboa t when h eard f ro m the l
oudspeaker . I tis
t
he job of the d ecoupling fil
ter to el
i mina te the f eedback a nd t
he resultant
motorboa ting.

Typ
ica
l Amp
lif
ier S
tage w
ith D
ECOUPL
ING F
I
LTER

.
0
1MFD
I
N
PUT O
UTPUT
E
C5

2
70K

2
5MFD I
NFO
IM
EG 1
2K

E
l
+

2-
55
 THE S
INGLE-STAGE AMPL
IFIER

The D
ecoup
ling F
ilter

Coup l
ing may e xist between circui
ts o perating at t
he s ame f requency a nd
having c o mmon i mpedance. I
fa n amplifier contains s everal s tages of am-
p
lification, all those stages wil
l be s upplied w i
th p late v oltage f ro m a
s
ing le s ource of DC p ower. The plate curren ts of al the amp li
fier t ubes
mus t flow through t h
is power supply. Therefore , t
he i nterna l resistance
o
f t he power s upp ly (
produced by t
he c hoke wire, interna l tube r esistance,
e
tc.), will act a
s ac o m mon impedance for all the amp li
fier c ircuits.

When a s
ignal is applied t
o the amplif
ier,the p late currents o
f al
l the tubes
wil
l vary in accordance w ith the signal. In a ddi
tion t o the DC f lowing
t
hrough the co m mon p ower s upply
, we n ow h ave the AC c o mponents of
al the p
late c urrents fl
owing t hrough the c o mmon i mpedance. S o me o
f
t
hese currents w il
l b e in phase with each other a nd so me wi
ll be 180 de-
grees ou
t of phase. I t is t
he c urrents which a re in p
hase that cause the
most t
rouble.

The in-phase c urrents a dd t

o one another and produce vo
ltage varia
tions
across the co m mon impedance which "feeds back" the v
ariations f
rom o ne
s
tage to a nother. The o verall e
ffec
t of th
is is as ound i
n the l
oudspeaker
which rese mbles the purring o
f an ou
tboard mo tor. That is why t
his trou-
b
le in an amp l
ifier is cal
led "motorboating."

On the next sheet you w

ill s
ee h
ow t
he d
ecoup
ling f
i
lter e
l
imina
tes f
eed-
back and motorboating
.

F
E
EDBA
CK I
N AT
HRE
E S
T
AGE A
MPL
IFIER
P
late P
late , P
late
c
urrent c
urrent c
urrent
S
ignal
v
oltage

RL

T
I
MP I
MP

Feedback
f
ro m l
ast ,
1
1

s
tage
.
‘
"S
1Power :
I
:upp
. ly.
'
•

C
om mon Impedancel i

2
-56
 THE S
INGLE-STAGE AMPL
IFIER

The Decoup
ling F
ilter (
con
tinued
)

I
f the AC c omponen ts o f plate current could b e kep t fro m fl
owing through
t
he co m mon impedance o f t
he p ower s upply
, t hen t he feedback t hat o
rigin-
a
tes there wou ld be e l
im inated . The d ecoup ling f i
lter's j ob is to provide
apath of low reactance a round t he power s upp ly a nd a path of high r
esist-
a
nce to AC c urren t fl
ow t hrough t he p
ower s upp ly
. Because o f this v
ery
l
i
ttle AC c urren t wi
ll flow t hrough the power s upply a nd its co mmon i m-
p
edance , thereby elimina ting feedback.

The value o
f the d
ecoup ling capaci
tor mus t b
e high enough so t
hat its re-
a
ctance is much less than the to
tal resis
tance of t
he decoupling resistor
a
nd the com mon i mpedance of the power supply
. I n an ampl
ifier of the
t
ype shown, the va
lue of the decoupling res
istor is g
enerally about one fif
th
t
he v
a lue o
f the p
late load resistor RL. The v a
lue of the d
ecoupling c apaci-
t
or varies f
ro m about 0.25 t
o 8 mfd.

The act
ion o f t
he decoup
ling f
i
lter i
s t
o i
solate e
ach s
tage f
ro m t
he power
supp
ly c o m mon i
mpedance. The way t
he f
ilter d
oes t
his i
s shown b
elow.

D
e
-e
zt
aii
i
#1 7
ate
rd
, I
SOLATE AMPLIF
IER

S
TAGES AND ELIMINATE FEEDBACK

.
.
.

'
I
C
•
■•

Decoupling Decoupl
ing
Fi
lter IP
ower. S
upp
ly Fi
lter
:
•

C
ommon I
mpedance

F
low of AC
c
o mponen
t of
p
late c
urrent

2
-57
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

How t
oIncrease Ga
in

I
f you n
eed a voltage ga
in of 2
00 or less i
n an ampl
ifier, one t
ube wou ld be
e
nough. However , v
ery often a g
ain of 1
0,000 or 1
00,000 or even higher is
r
equired, and t
here i s no way to make a sing
le vacuum t ube give you tha
t
much amplifica
tion. In order to increase t
he amplif
ication, several tubes
a
re needed.

These t ubes a re c onnected s o that the voltage change f ro m the p

late of one
amplifier tube i s fed i
nto the grid o f as econd tube; the v o
ltage change fro m
t
he pla te of t he s econd tube is f ed into the g
rid of at hird tube and soforth.
I
f the amp lification o f each t ube i s 50
, the signal input to the second tube
w
ill be 50 t imes g reater than the s ignal fed in
to the first. The o utput o
f the
s
econd t ube w il
l b e 50 times g reater t han its i
npu t or 2,500 times greater
t
han the o r
ig ina l signal. The t h
ird t ube will amplify the output o
f the s
econd
t
ube 5 0 times s o that its output is 50 x2 ,500 times l arger t han t
he input to
t
he first tube . Thus ,the amp li
fier u sing three t
ubes ,e ach with a gain o
f 50,
h
as a n overal l g ain of 125,0001

5
0 x5
0 x5
0 =1
25,000

I
f the vol
tage c hange a pplied to t
he i
nput o
f t
his amplif
ier i
s one t
en-
t
housandth of av ol
t, the voltage c
hange o
n t
he p
late o
f t
he th
ird t
ube wil
l
b
e twelve and a h
alf v
olts.

/
4 A

f
v
\
,
Amp
lif
ier Amp
lif
ier Amp
lif
ier

NO
. 1 •
NIN
, NO
. 2 NO
. 3
X 5
0 X 5
0 X 5
0

I
NPUT OUTPUT

1 1 I 1
1
0,000 I 200 4 1
2 1
/2
1
VOLTS 1VOLTS I i
VOLTSI I VOLTS
I I I i

S
ince near
ly all ampli
fiers requ
ire more amp lifica
tion (
gain
) than c
an be
a
chieved with o
nly one t
ube, multi-stage ampli
fiers of t
h
is type a
re very
c
om mon in al
l types o
f elec
tronic equipment.

2
-58
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Coup
ling o
f Amp
lif
ier S
tages

When s evera l tubes a re used i n a n amp lifier, e ach tube t ogether with i t
s
c
ircuit is c a
lled a " stage .'o
f amp li
fica tion. There a re severa l me thods of
c
onnect ing t he o utput of one s tage t o the input of t he next stage. You r e-
me mber t hat the o u
tpu t o
f an amp lif
ier t ube is taken f ro m t he p
late and the
i
nput is placed o n the grid
. S ince t he DC o pera t
ing v o
ltages o f ap la
te a nd
o
f ag rid a re so v ery dif
feren t
, as i mple wire l ead ing fro m o ne p
late to the
n
ext grid c annot b e used. The c onnec tion (or "coup l
ing" a s i tis more co m-
monly c a
lled ) between t wo stages mus t, in so me way , preven t t
he DC p late
v
oltage fro m g etting to the next g r
id . A t the sa me t ime , t
he c oupling mus t
p
er mit t he p late v o
ltage v aria t
ions —AC — to b eco me t he i nput o
f t he
n
ext stage.

There are t
wo very co m mon a
nd very s
i mp
le ways o
f do
ing t
his
. One way
i
s by u
sing a t
ransfor mer, t
he o
ther by u
sing a c
apaci
tor a
nd a res
istor
.

Transfor mer coup

ling is a
cco mplished by connecting the primary w inding
between t
he pla
te of t
he f
irst t
ube a nd B+, a
nd the secondary w inding be-
t
ween the grid o
f t
he second t
ube a nd ground
. By s o do
ing, the B+ v o
ltage
i
s isola
ted in t
he p
late c
ircuit wh
ile only the AC is transferred to the grid
.

B+ .
TRANSFORMER COUPLING

The u se of t he c apacitor i n coupling circuits i

s very w idespread , t
he mos t
c
o m mon c ircu it being t he RC ( or r esistance-capaci tor) circuit, In your
s
tudy o f v acuum t ubes, y ou l
earned t hat current variations i n t
he l
oad r e-
s
istor c ause t he v ol
tage a t the p late to vary above a nd b elow a steady
value. The c oup ling c apacitor w ill charge to tha
t steady v oltage and
, a s
t
he p late v ol
tage r ises a bove and f als below that va
lue , t
he c apaci
tor w ill
c
harge a nd d ischarge s lightly
, c ausing an AC c urrent to fl
ow i n t
he gr
id r e-
s
is tor. The v oltage a cross t he g rid resistor therefore i s AC a nd i
s the
i
npu t t
o the n ext stage.
a,
. Coup
ling Capac
itor

P
late
Load
Resistor
B+

RC COUPLING

2
-59
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f t
he Two-S
tage Amp
lif
ier

The t wo-stage amp lif

ier can b e co mpared to t wo step-up t ransfor mers
with the s econdary of one connected to t
he pri mary of t
he other. F or ex-
amp le, i
f t wo t
ransfor mers which h ave a s
tep-up r atio o
f 1t o 3are con-
nected in t his manner, an AC v oltage appl
ied t o t
he p ri mary o
f the f
irst
t
rans for mer wou ld b
e amplif
ied 9 times b y t
he co mbinat
ion . This exa mple
i
s illustrated below.

OBTAINING VOLTAGE AMPLIFICAT

ION
WITH A TRANSFORMER AND VACUU M AMPL
IFIER

1t
o 9
1t
o 3 1t
o 3

9
V

You may c onclude f ro m th

is that it would be ag ood i dea to forget al a bout
using v acuu m t ubes a s amp lifiers and u se t
ransfor mers i nstead. Th is is
not p
ossib le b ecause transfor mers w ith very high s tep u
p r atios would have
t
o b e u sed if they were t o d e
liver a high amp lifica t
ion. Trans for mers o f
t
h is type a re i mpract ical and e ven ifthey were u sed wou ld not amp li
fy all
t
he a udio f requencies t he sa me amoun t. The h igher a udio f requenc ies
(
around 1 0,000 c ycles) a nd the lower aud io f
requenc ies (around 1 00 cycles)
would n ot be amp lif
ied a s much a s t
he m iddle frequenc ies. Th is wou ld re-
sult in as igna l output that is not a t
rue r epresen tation of the original sig-
nal applied to the trans for mers.

Ampli
fiers using vacuum tubes can del
iver much higher amoun ts o
f amp l
i-
f
ica
tion, are li
ghter in weight, l
ess cost
ly and t
ake up l
ess s pace. On t he
n
ext sheet you w i
ll see how a mu l
tis
tage vacuum tube ampli
fier c o mpares
t
o t
he transfor mer co mb
ination exp
lained h
ere.

2
-60
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Character
ist
ics o
f t
he Two-Stage Amp
lif
ier (
con
tinued
)

When the o
utput o
f one ampli
fier i
s f
ed t
o t
he i
npu
t o
f another,the t
wo am-
p
lif
iers are said t
o be c
onnected i
n c
ascade
. An ampl
ifier arrange men
t o
f
t
his t
ype is s
hown b e
low.

I VOLTAGE
AMPLIFICATION
I
N A TWO-STAGE
AMPLIFIER

S
uppose each amp lif
ier stage can d e
liver a n amplif
ication of 20. If a0.1
v
olt AC signal i
s a ppl
ied to the grid of the fi
rst stage, the output o
ft h
is
s
tage wi
ll be 2
0 x0 .1 = 2V
. Since the output o
f the f
irst s
tage is connected
t
o the i
nput of t
he n ext s
tage there w ill be 2 vol
ts AC o n t he gr
id oft he
s
econd stage. The s econd stage amp li
fies the signal 20 times a nd p ro-
d
uces an ou
tput v
oltage of 20 x 2 =40V.

The o verall ampli f

ication of t
he two s tages is the product o
f t
he ind
iv idual
amp l
ifications, t
hat is, the gain of the first stage x the g
ain o
f the second
s
tage . In this case t he overall amp lification is 20 x 2 0 =400. You c an
check t h
is b y multiplying the inpu
t v oltage of 0.1 vol
ts by t
he overall am-
p
lification. The r esult wil
l be the ou
tpu t voltage (400 x 0
.1 = 4
0V).

I
f a nother stage is a dded to the ou
tpu t of the two-s tage amplif
ier, 40 volts
would b e appl
ied t o its gr
id. I n mos t cases , t
his signal would be t
oo large
f
or t he tube to hand le
. The r esult is t
ha t the grid would be driven i
nto the
positive region a nd t he cut-off region, a nd distortion produced. A p oten-
t
io me ter in t
he g rid c ircuit of one of t he amp lif
ier tubes could be used t
o
reduce t he output signa l so t ha
t the f ol
lowing s tages wou ld not be over-
driven . This po
ten t
io meter i s co m monly r eferred t o a
s the v
olu me control.

VOLU ME CONTROL IN A
TWO-STAGE AMPLIFIER

2
-61
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

F
requency Response

Frequency response i
s at er m a pp
lied t
o describe the effect i
n which so me
f
requencies are amplif
ied more t han o
thers. In actual practice, al ampli-
f
iers have a r
ange over wh ich they are d
esigned t o operate; above and be-
l
ow t h
is range the signal o utput drops o
ff r ap
id ly
. I fa n audio ampl
ifier
canno
t amplify a
ll t
he frequencies o f t
he hu man voice by a n equa
l amoun t,
t
here is aloss o
f vo
ice q uality.

Range o
f Good
FREQUENCY Rad
io Sets
RANGES —
Range of "
Tinny"
Rad
io Sets — P

1
P
icco
lo

Tru mpe
t

MUS
ICAL Bass Tuba
I
NSTRU MENTS
V
iol
in

Cel
lo

S
oprano

A
lto

HU MAN Tenor
VO
ICE
Bar
itone

Bass

I I lI 1 I
I i
1 II

I
t i
s possible for this frequency d istortion to be so great t
hat t
he voice
message cannot be understood. For t his reason you should l
earn t
o meas-
u
re the frequency r esponse of your amp lifier and s
ee how good i
ta ctually
i
s. A modern c o m mercial amplifier designed for music amplif
icat
ion w i
l l
h
ave an e qua
l g a
in f ro m 30 -1 5,000 cycles . A range a s w
ide as t h
is is
h
ardly necessary for good amp li
fication of voice s
ignals.

2
-62
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

F
requency Response (
con
tinued)

Even t
hough t
he RC-coupled amp li
fier is well s
uited f
or the j
ob of ampli-
f
ying a w
ide r
ange o
f frequencies, there are s
til
lc auses f
or a drop in g
ain
a
t high a
nd l
ow f
requencies. L et
's t ake a q
uick look a
t t
hese causes:

A
t low frequenc
ies the c oupling capacitor and t he g
rid res
istor make u p a
v
oltage div
ider across the signal voltage inpu t
. A s aresult
, o n
ly par
t of
t
he signal ge
ts t
o the gr
id o f the amplifier tube. J ust how much of t
he
s
ignal gets t
o t
he grid depends u pon the reac tance of t
he coupl
ing capaci-
t
or as compared to the resistance of the grid r es
istor.

COUPLING I
CAPACITOR

GRID
RESISTOR

1
Due t
o t
he f
act t
hat c
apac
itive r
eac
tance M c -a
wi C
• g
rows l
arger a
s f
re-
quency decreases , the amoun t of s
ignal voltage lost across the capacitor
i
ncreases a t l
ow f requencies. Y ou can see that t
he signal voltage across
t
he grid resistor b ecomes less a nd l
ess a s t
he frequency d ecreases. To
r
educe this loss of signal, the reactance of the coupl
ing c apacitor should
b
e sma ll with respec t t
o the g
rid resistor at the lowest frequency to be
amplif
ied. T his means t hat e
ither the gr
id r esistor or the coupling capac-
i
tor should be as large as possible. (
If Ci ncreases, Xc d ecreases .)
However, i f the c oupling c apacitor i s made t oo l arge, there w il
l be i n-
creased l eakage t hrough i t fro m B i
-. T his leakage w ill place a positive
vol
tage o n the grid a nd t
hereby d isturb t he amp lifier o peration. L uckily,
we n ever n eed c oup l
ing c apacitors t hat a re s o large t hat leakage b e-
comes a p roble m. I n f
act, because o f size a nd weight c onsiderations, i t
i
s c om mon t o u
se a smal ler coup l
ing c apac i
tor t han is needed . T hus, low
f
requency r esponse i s sacrificed s l
igh tly s o a s not to bring about more
s
erious p roble ms. A t high frequencies t he coup ling c apac i
tor i s no
l
onger a c ause of t rouble
, since i ts reactance i s low c o mpared t o the grid
l
eak r esistor.
WITH 1
0 VOLTS I
NPUT
1
-
- - -- - -
-.
.. About
2v olts
.--
------ -
-
"--
--
-
--
About d About
. 8
„w „
.
.
,, s
v
olt - 0 v
1 olts

LOW FREQUENCY MEDIUM FREQUENCY

2
-63
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

F
requency Response (
con
tinued
)

A
t high f requenc ies, too, there i s an ef
fect that causes a l
oss o f amp li
fi-
c
ation. Th is l oss is d ue to total stray capacitance that ex
ists b etween t he
g
rid a nd g round. Th is t o
ta l capacitance c onsists of t
he p
la te-to-ca thode
i
nterelectrode c apaci
tance o f the tube fro m which the s
ignal i s taken, the
g
rid-to-ca thode c apacitance o f the tube to wh
ich the signal is brough t, and
t
he stray c apacitances b etween t he signal-carrying wires and t he chassis .

Gr
id-To-
Pla
te
.
Capaci
tance •
•
..

•
Ip s

Total S
tray Gr
id-To- Plate-to-
Wiring Cathode Cathode
Capaci
tance C
apac itance C
apac i
tance

The effect o
f t his t
ota
l capacitance i s to s
hun t t
he g rid l
eak resistor. At
l
ow a nd med iu m frequencies the r eactance o f this small capacitance is
h
igh and therefore itd oes n
ot disturb t he operat
ion o f t
he circui
t. A t h
igh
f
requencies, the reactance drops a nd effect
ively d ecreases the i mpedance
between grid a nd ground. The s ignal a ppearing b e
tween g rid and ground
decreases as the impedance between g rid and ground d ecreases.

Thus, t
he g a
in a t high frequencies is l
ess t han at medium f requenc ies be-
cause of the shun t
ing e ffects o
f the t
otal stray and interelectrode c apaci-
t
ances. It is i mpor tant to note that a low g ain in i
tsel
f is not bad; ifthe
sa me g
ain e xis
ted f or al frequencies, there wou ld be no proble m. D i
ffi-
cul
ties with frequency r esponse a re encoun tered only when there a re us-
equal g
ains at dif
feren t frequencies.

WITH 1
0 VOLTS I
NPUT

I
D •
•••

AT MEDIU M FREQUENCIES AT H
IGH FREQUENCIES

The s olution to the proble m of l

oss o f g
ain at high frequencies is to
use s pecial amp li
fier tubes with very low values of input and outputca-
paci
tances , t
o use s pecia
l w ir
ing techniques to reduce the s
tray capaci-
t
ance b e
tween t he wire and ground , a
nd to u
se l ower v a
lues of r
esistors
i
n t he RC c oupl
ing . These me thods increase the frequency at which the
shunting efect b eco mes not
iceable.

2
-64
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

The F
requency Response Curve

The usual way t hat the frequency response o f an amplif

ier is shown is
w
ith a frequency response c urve. I
n t h
is curve, aplo
t is made o
f t he g
ain
a
t each frequency; the h
ighest gain i
s 100 percent (
or so me
ti mes 1.00) a
nd
a
ny g a
in b elow tha
t is figured as ac ertain p
ercent o
f max i mum —such a s
7
5 percen t
, 25 percent, and so f
orth.

L
1
00%
r
I

7
0% POINTS

U
SABLE R
ANGE

t
r
-
1 1
00 2
00 5
,000 1
0,000 1
5,000
F
REQUENCY (
CPS)

The genera l shape of the curve shows a f

lat reg
ion (p
la teau
) between t
he
ends of the curve. Th is means that t
he g
ain d
oes n o
t v ary by v
ery much
as the frequency c hanges f
ro m t
he l
ow end t
o the h
igh end of t
his p
ortion
.
This represents the usable f
requency r
ange o
f the amp
lifier.

On either s ide of t
his f
l a
t portion,t
here is arapid f
all
ing-off o
f the curve.
This means t hat t
he gains at these f
requencies (
both l
ow and high)are not
as high a s the gain at t he middle f
requencies
. I n aspeaker, the e
ar c an
detect these lowered gains ifthey are abou
t 70 percentof maxi mum or b e-
l
ow . Therefore , it is the 70-percent poin
ts o n e
ach end o
f the curve that
deter mine the usable range.

As y ou r e me mber fro m t he previous d iscussions o n frequency r esponse ,

t
he r eason f or t he decreased g ain at t
he low e nd of the band was the fact
t
ha t the coupling capac i
tor a nd the grid leak r
es istor for m a vo
ltage
d
iv ider. T he reactance o f the coupl
ing c apacitor increases a t t
he low f re-
quencies , and the vo
ltage a cross t he resistor decreases . A t t
he high e nd,
t
he l oss o f gain is due to the shunting effect of the stray capacitances b e-
t
ween g rid and ground . At the middle f requencies , neither ef
fect is not
ice-
a
b le and the gain does n ot vary b y any appreciab le amoun t.

2
-65
 THE TWO-STAGE RC COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Rev
iew o
f t
he Two-S
tage Amp
lif
ier

Coup
ling C
apac
itor

RC COUPL ING — When t wo o r more

s
tages are used i
n an ampl i
fier, the
AC p
late vo
ltage of e
ach s tage is f
ed
t
o t
he grid o
f the n
ext stage through
t
he coup
ling capaci
tor a nd resistors
.

VOLTAGE GA IN — The t o
tal amp l
i-
f
ication o f atwo-stage ( or mu lt
istage)
amplifier is the product o f t
he am-
p
lif
ica tions of each stage . The r atio
o
f the o utput vo
ltage of final stage to
t
he inpu t vol
tage of firs
t s tage is
c
alled t he gain of t
he amp l
ifier.

AMPL IFICAT ION LOSSES — A t l

ow
f
requencies the high reac
tance o f t
he
c
oupling capacitor reduces v o
ltage
g
ain; a
t high frequencies stray ca-
p
acitance causes loss of vol
tage gain.

POZ W
II

FREQUENCY RESPONSE — A meas- L

I
"
u
re of t
he ab
ility o
f an ampl
ifier t
o -
amp
lify AC signals o
f var
ious fre-
q
uencies b
y the sa me amount.

U
SABLE R
ANCE

1
00 2
00 0000 1
0,000 I
'Li
ge
F
REQUENCY (
c
rs)

2
-66
 THE TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPLIF
IER

Trans
for mer C
oup
ling

A trans for mer-coup led amp li

fier i s an ampli
fier that makes u se of trans-
f
or mer c oupling i nstead of RC c oupling between the stages. Th is method
i
s most o ften u sed to couple a n amp lif
ier to its load, but ita lso may b e
used f or i n
ters tage c oupl
ing . One a dvantage o f u
sing a transfor mer i s
t
hat the s econdary w inding may h ave more t urns than the pri mary w ind ing,
r
esu lting i n av oltage step-up . I n addi
tion, there i s no sizab le voltage
d
rop i n voltage a t the plate o f the amp l
ifier tube as in t
he c ase o f us
ing a
p
late l oad r es
istor , and no c oupling condenser i s required. I n transfor mer
c
oup ling t he max i mum g ain i s Mu x N where "N" i s t
he ratio b etween t he
number o f turns i n t
he pri mary a nd secondary w indings and mu i s t
he am-
p
lification f ac
tor o f the t
ube . I n resistance coupling the max i mum p ossible
g
ain i s only the. Mu of the tube.

I
RMiS
FORMER

P
-
I
3 3
.
0
1 WE
I
I
N
PUT 5 6
C5 5 O
UTPUT

1
3

M
ON 4
7
01{
MM O OWD 2
5MFO
1
6
1T6 1
1( 5
M
2
5A

" B
.

The reasons why t ransfor mer coupling is not w

idely used are, f
irst, t
hat a
t
ransfor mer usua l
ly h as a p
oorer frequency r esponse than an RC network.
Modern high g a
in t ubes c
ance l a
ny a dvantages tha
t the t
ransfor mer has in
vo
ltage amp lif
ica t
ion . In spite of improve men ts i
n the d
esign o
f inter-
s
tage transfor mers , the t
rend is toward u s
ing high gain v
acuu m tubes wi
th
RC rather than transfor mer coupling between the stages o
f the amplif
ier.

There are many a ppl

ications i n which transfor mer stages h ave a par t
icu-
l
ar advantage. S o me o
f these a ppl
ica t
ions inc lude: High o u
tput for l
im ited
power supply vol
tage, impedance ma tching between l ow and high impedance
l
ines and push-pull app
lica tions. I n push-pull amp l
ifiers a transfor mer is
more readily adaptable t
han r esistance c oupling, and unlike a n RC c oup-
l
ing, i
tp laces a low DC r esistance in the grid circuit o
f the fo
llowing am-
p
lif
ier under cond i
tions where a l ow DC r es
istance i s e
ssen tia
l.

I
NTERSTAGE
T
RANSFORMERS

2
-67
 THE TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Trans
for mer Coup
ling (
con
tinued
)

The main d isadvantage of t

rans for mer coupling is that t
he impedance of
t
he pri mary and secondary windings is n
ot cons tant
,but changes ifthe f
re-
quency o
f the s
igna l i
s c
hanged. I fthe f
requency i ncreases,the impedance
i
ncreases a nd when the f
requency decreases , the impedance decreases.

Look at the t
ransfor mer i
n the sche ma
tic on t
he previous s
heet. Suppose
t
he pr
i mary winding has a
n inductance of 1
0 henries. At t
he low f
requency
o
f 100 cycles i
twill h
ave an inductive r
eactance of—

XL = 2
7fL =6
.28 x 1
00 x 1
0 =6
,280 o
hms

A
t t
he mid-frequency o
f 1
000 c
ycles
, t
he i
nduct
ive r
eac
tance w
ill b
e—

XL = 2
r f
L =6
.28 x 1
000 x 1
0 =6
2,800 o
h ms

a
nd a
t 1
0,000 c
ycles
, i
t wou
ld b
e—

XL = 2
r f
L =6
.28 x 1
0,000 x 1
0 =6
28,000 o
hms

S
ince the inductive reactance o f the pri mary is used as the p
late l
oad i m-
p
edance o f t
he t r
iode amp lifier, the inequali
ty of reactance to AC signals
o
f di
fferent frequencies w i
ll p roduce n on-unifor m amp li
ficat
ion over the
a
udio frequency r ange. A g raph o f the amp lificat
ion o f a transfor mer-
c
oupled amp li
fier is shown b elow. Co mpare t he graph of the t
ransfor mer-
c
oupled amp l
ifier with tha
t o f the RC-coup led amplifier
. No tice how much
more uni
for m the amp li
fica t
ion o f the RC-coup led amp l
ifier is
.

THE AMPLIFICATION OF AN RC
-COUPLED AMPLIFIER
AND A TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPL IFIER AT
AUDIO FREQUENCIES

II1
11
1
3
0
i
l
.1
1111 r :ng In M N
‘
l
i
g
2
5

Amp
lif
ica
tion 2
0

‘
1
5 f I

Transfor mer

I
Coupling
1
0

5
0 1
0
0
II
f
i
l' 1
,
000 1
0
,000
F
requency i
n Cyc
les p
er S
econd

2-
68
 THE TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Character
ist
ics o
f t
he T
rans
for mer-Coup
led Amp
lif
ier

The transfor mer-coup led amp li

fier s hown b e
low i s typica l of mos t am-
p
l i
fiers o f this type. The amp l
ifier h as two s tages c oup led b y an inter-
s
tage a udio transformer t hat has a 3 t o 1s tep-up r at
io . The i nput stage
uses a 6 C5 t riode V -1. The amp lif
ied o utpu t v oltage o f t his t ube i s
s
tepped u p 3t imes b y the transformer a nd then fed t o t he g r
id o f another
6C5 triode V -2. The s econd t r
iode amp lif
ies t he s igna l still further a nd
i
ts amp lif
ied o utput appears a cross the 100K p late l oad r es istor. The 0 .01
mid coup ling c apacitor blocks t he DC b ut presen ts a l ow r eactance t o the
AC c omponen t at the plate o f V-2. Therefore , o nly t he AC c omponen t of
t
he plate v oltage a t V-2 appears a cross the 4 70K r esistor . Nor mal ly, the
4
70K r es istor wou ld b e the grid resistor of the n ext stage s o tha t t
he sig-
n
a l a
cross t he r es
istor c ould be amp l
ified further .

. 0s
VORMER -
C
OUP
LED A
MpLi
fo

On t
he n
ext s
heet, asignal wi
ll b
e t
raced through t
he t
ransformer-coup
led
amp
lif
ier a
nd you wi
ll see how ampl
ifica
tion occurs i
n t
his c
ircu
it.

2
-69
 THE TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPL
IFIER

Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f t
he T
rans
former-Coup
led Amp
lif
ier (
con
tinued
)

The amp l
ification that can be expected f
ro m a transfor mer-coup led ampli-
f
ier s
tage i s approxi mately equal t
ot he amplif
ica t
ion factor (i
t) of t
he t
ube
t
imes t he turns r atio of the transformer ( N). Amp lification =p. xN. I n
t
his case, a6 C5 tube is used which has a ii o
f 20. The t ransfor mer h
as a
s
tep-up t urns r a
tio o f 3t o 1
. There fore, we c an expect a n amplif
icat
ion
o
r gain of —fr
i
. x N =2 0 x 3 =60.

S
uppose a 0 .01 v olt AC signal is a pp
lied to the grid of V -1. From
t
he il
lustration y ou can see that the o u
tput voltage of the 6 C5 a
ppears
a
cross t he pri mary winding o
f the transfor mer and is ampl
ified /
/ times
(
20 x .01 = 0.2V )
. T he t
ransfor mer steps up t
he p r
i mary voltage 3 more
t
imes s o t
hat t
he s econdary vol
tage i s 3x 0.2 = 0.6V .
I
t was stated that the g a
in of this stage is equa
l t op No r 60
. Le
t 11
3
s
ee ifthis checks. T he g rid s
ignal i
s 0 .01V. Ifw e mu l
tiply t
h
is grid
v
oltage by t
he g a
in w e should g
et the voltage a
t t
he s econdary o
f the t
rans-
f
or mer, or 0.6V. Mu l
tiply 60 x0 .01 = 0.6V and y ou can see that t
his
r
elationsh
ip h o
lds .
VOLTAGE AMPLIF
ICATION I
N A
TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPLIFIER

The vo
ltage across t
he secondary of t
he t
ransfor mer (
0.6V) i
s now a pp
lied
t
o the grid of V-2
. If we a ssume that t
he gain o
f V-2 is e
qual to/b, then
V-2 wi
ll amplify t
his s
ignal 20 t
imes. Therefore, the ou
tput v
oltage at the
p
late o
f V -2 w
ill b
e -20 x 0.6 = 1
2V.

The t
ota
l gain is de
ter mined b
y multip
lying the i
ndiv
idual s
tage g
ains t
o-
g
ether
. The g ain of V
-1 a nd t
he t
ransfor mer i
s 60 and t
he g
ain o
f V-2 i
s
20
. The overal
l gain i
s -60 x 20 =1200.

Check
ing t
h
is resu
lt, t
he inpu
t t
o V-1 t
imes t
he overal
l ga
in shou
ld g
ive u
s
t
he ou
tpu
t vol
tage o
f V-2 -1200 x 0
.01 = 1
2V wh
ich is c
orrec
t.

2
-70
 THE AUD
IO POWER AMPL
IFIER

Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f Aud
io P
ower Amp
lif
iers

Up t
o this time y ou have been l earning abou
t a udio ampli
fiers t
hat a re pri-
marily designed t o amplify the signal vo
ltage u p t
o many times the o r
igi-
n
al input voltage. N ow you w i
ll learn about power amp li
fiers. In av ol
tage
amplif
ier the v arying signal curren t i
n the p
late circui
t is used on
ly i n the
p
roduct ion of av oltage t
o b e applied t
o the gr
id o f af
ollowing s
tage . T he
p
late curren t i
s u sually re
lative ly smal
l.

On t
he other hand, apower amp l
ifier mus t supp
ly a heavy signa l c
urrent
i
nto a l
oad i mpedance wh
ich usually lies i
n the range o
f 2000 to 20,000
ohms. P ower amp li
fiers are u
sed to d r
ive power-consuming c ircui
ts or
d
evices, such as loudspeakers, certain por
tions of t
ransm itters and large
ampl
ifier stages whose grids r
equire p ower from the preceding stage.

One u se of audio power amp lif

iers is
, o f course, t o produce a p
ower ful
a
ud io signa l
. T he radioman w il
l f
ind itused a s the output s
tage of his re-
c
eivers , a nd also in equipment which in
jects v o
ice s ignals in
to transmitters.
The s ound man w i
ll find t
his c
ircuit i
n almos t every p iece o
f his sound equip-
men t
. T he s onarman w ill f
ind aud
io power amp li
f iers used to p
roduce t he
s
igna l to drive not only a l
oudspeaker but also the u nderwater sound elemen t
c
alled a t ransducer . A udio power amp l
ifiers are a lso used in e
quipmen ts
which r o
ta te radar antennas, sonar transducers a nd s hip
's guns.

POWER AMPL
IFIERS
Are U
sed i
n Many Types o
f
Equ
ipmen
t

2
-71
 THE AUDIO PO WER AMPL
IFIER

Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f Aud
io P
ower Amp
lif
iers (
con
tinued
)

You have l
earned in the preced
ing t
opics t
hat t
he ma
in p urpose of v
oltage
ampli
fier c
ircui
ts is to produce a large i
ncrease i
n signal vo
ltage. The
ampl
ified o
utput o
f the vol
tage ampli
fier w
ill n
ow be appl
ied to the g
rid of
apower ampli
fier s
tage .

I
n t he voltage amp lif
ier circuits the ou
tpu t o
f one voltage amp li
fier is c on-
nected t o t he grid of the nex
t stage . No c urrent f
lows i n th
is grid circu i
t,
t
herefore n o power w ill b
e consu med . I fcurrent d
id f low in t
he grid cir-
cui
t, t he p ower l oss in this circu i
t wou ld have t
o be s uppl
ied b y t
he p re-
c
ed ing s tage . In t he case of a n amp li
fier t ha
t feeds a loudspeaker , the
speaker r equires l arge amoun ts o
f AC s ignal current for proper opera tion.
When c urren t flows i n a circuit, power i s always c onsumed . The p ower
amp li
fier s tage mus t supply the p ower t hat is consumed i n the l oud-
speaker c ircu it
.

The tubes used in vol

tage amp lif
ier circu
its are generally o
perated as
Class A wh
ile the t
ubes used in power amplif
ier c
ircuits may be o
perated
e
ither as Class A, Class B o
r C lass AB.

Triodes
, p en
todes and bea m p
ower tubes can b
e used as power ampli
fiers.
These tubes may be operated s
ing
ly, in p
aralle
l, or i
n push-pul
l. The type
o
f operation depends upon t
he amoun
t of power required o
f the amp
lifier
.

Voltage amplif
iers a re usually operated with a h
igh va
lue of p
late l
oad r e-
s
istance o r i
mpedance t o o b
tain the maxi mu m v
oltage outpu
t. Pcwer am-
p
lifier tubes are o perated w ith l
ower values of load impedance t
o obtain a
l
arge c urrent v ariation a nd a l
arge power o u
tput. In ap ower ampl
ifier,
t
he amoun t o
f v ol
tage o utput is not important for it i
s the p
ower o utput
which is t
he ma in factor.

I
f l
arge amoun ts of power are t
o be supp
lied by t
he power ampli
fier
, it
mus
t be capable o
f carrying h
igh c
urren
t — much more c
urrent t
han a v
olt-
a
ge ampl
ifier.

A
UD
IO POWER
A
MPL
IFIER e
6
„C
i e
c •
S
c
:
31- e
l

$‘0
"3' 04
1t
2‘‘ 9
°4
i
V
-
I 40,•
-• V
-2

I
NPUT i
C5

S
ignal power
2
5 consumed
M
IS
1
116 •
• • • •

"

2
-72
 THE AUD
IO PO WER AMPL
IFIER

Charac
ter
ist
ics o
f Aud
io Power Amp
lif
iers (
con
tinued
)

The c
urren
t t
hat f
lows t
hrough t
he p
late c
ircu
it o
f t
he p
ower amp
lif
ier
t
ube i
s made u
p o
f two p
arts
:

1
. A s
teady o
r DC c
o mponent
2
. A v
arying o
r AC c
o mponent

The u seful part of t

he plate curren t i
s the varying co mponen t as on
ly v ari-
a
tions i n p
late current p roduce s ounds in t
he loudspeaker . The AC c o m-
p
onen t of p
la te c
urren t flows through the pri mary o
f t he output t
rans for mer
a
long w ith the DC co mponen t. The DC c o mponent j
us t produces a steady
magne tic f
ield about the pri mary w ind
ing a nd does not induce any voltage
i
nto the secondary . The AC c o mponen t makes u se o
f t ransfor mer action
a
nd induces a v oltage into the secondary wh ich is a
pp l
ied t o t
he voice c oi
l
o
f the loudspeaker . Th is voltage is converted into sound b y t
he loudspeaker .

You can see that the steady plate current does not c on
tribute directly t
o-
wards the s
ound output of t
he power amp l
ifier circuit. Th is portion o
f the
p
late current d
oes p roduce a p
ower loss in the pla
te c ircuit which produces
hea
ting of t
he power amp li
fier tube a
nd the output transfor mer.

A
C A
ND D
C C
URRENTS
I
N AP
OWER A
MPL
IFIER

2
-73
 THE OUTPUT TRANSFOR MER

The J
ob o
f t
he Ou
tpu
t Trans
for mer

The output t
ransfor mer's job is t
o couple the amp lified audio power fro m
t
he plate o
f the power amp lifier t
ube to t
he v oice c o
il o
f the loudspeaker .
I
n these next f
ew s heets you will l
earn about the c haracterist
ics of output
t
ransfor mers so that you will be a
ble to understand t he importance of i m-
p
edance ma tching. I mpedance ma tching is necessary b ecause t he p
ower
amplif
ier mus t have a relat
ive ly h
igh impedance p la te l
oad wh i
le the voice
c
oil impedance is low. The o utput t
ransfor mer ma tches the low imped-
a
nce v oice c
oil t
o the high impedance p la
te circu i
t.

Power amplif
ier tubes must o perate in
to a specified va
lue of pla
te l
oad
impedance f
or max i mu m power output and mini mu m d
istortion. The cor-
rec
t value o
f load impedance for a particu
lar tube c an be o
btained f
ro m
t
he tube manufacturer's references.

I
n ap ower amplif
ier circuit, the pr
i mary winding o
f the ou
tpu t t
ransfor mer
i
s used as t
he p
late load i mpedance and itis th
is impedance with which w e
are c
oncerned. T he pr
i mary i mpedance is de
termined b y t
he size o
f the
l
oad on t
he secondary a nd the t
urns ratio b
etween primary a nd secondary.
The t
urns rat
io and the size of t
he secondary load impedance mus t be so
c
hosen that t
he resultant primary i mpedance is t
he correct va
lue for the
r
equired load impedance of the power amp l
ifier t
ube.

THE O ati
te al 7 I
N THE AMPL
IFIER C
IRCU
IT

2
-74
 THE OUTPUT TRANSFORMER

The J
ob o
f t
he Ou
tpu
t Trans
for mer (
con
tinued
)

I
n at rans for mer t here a re t wo c urrents —the p ri mary a nd secondary c ur-
rents. The c urrent flow i n the p ri mary depends o n the amoun t of curren t
f
low i n the secondary . I ft he s econdary c urren t increases , then t he p r
i-
mary c urren t w i
ll also i ncrease . Th is can be e xplained b y referr ing to
Lenz 's l aw, wh ich s tates tha t the magnetic f i
eld p roduced b y an induced
curren t i s a
lways i n oppos i
t ion to the magne tic field t hat produced t he in-
duced c urren t
. I n o
ther words , t he magne t
ic f i
eld p roduced b y c urren t
f
low i n the s econdary o f at rans for mer is in oppos ition t o
, a nd c ance ls
so me o f
, t he magne tic field p roduced b y the pri mary w inding . You n ow
can s ee t ha
t ift he secondary l oad i mpedance i s decreased , t he secondary
curren t a nd magne t
ic f ie
ld w i
ll increase a nd c ancel ag rea ter por tion of
t
he p ri mary f ield. I fso me o f the p r
i mary field is c ancelled , then t he in-
ductive r eac tance a nd therefore t he impedance o f the p ri mary w i
l l de-
c
rease
. By c hoosing t
he proper va
lue o
f secondary impedance, we can
o
bta
in the d
esired pr
i mary l
oad impedance f
or the p
ower amp li
fier t
ube.

I
f t
he secondary load impedance canno
t be c hanged —for e xa mp
le, t
he
Pri mary t urns
v
oice c
oil i
n aloudspeaker —the t
urns r
atio -secondary t
urns can b
e v
aried
t
o obta
in the p
roper pri mary impedance
. Th
is i
s d
one b
y u
sing a
n o
utpu
t
t
ransfor mer w
ith a t
apped secondary.

Pr
i mary c
urren
t
S
econdary
c
urrent

2
-75
 THE OUTPUT TRANSFOR MER

I
mpedance Ma
tch
ing

Let u
s look back a
t so me o
f the th
ings y ou h
ave l earned up to t
his po
in t
.
You know tha
t ap ower amp l
ifier tube must opera te in
to a specif
ied v a
lue
o
f load impedance t
o obtain maximum p ower o u
tpu t and minimum d istortion
.
You also k
now that t
his load impedance i s a
ctually the ou
tput trans
for mer
pr
i mary impedance, wh ich is d
eterm ined by t
he l oad on t
he secondary .

T
he s
econdary l
oad i
s u
sual
ly a l
oudspeaker a
nd i
tis t
o t
he s
peaker t
hat
we w ish to supply the amp li
fied a ud
io power . You may b e thinking that it
would b e si mp
ler t o connect the speaker directly t
o the pla
te o f t
he p ower
ampl if
ier t ube but th
is is not possible
. You r ecall t
hat the plate load for
t
he p ower amp li
fier c annot be anything bu
t the specif
ied v alue. Th is load
i
s u sua l
ly in the order of severa l t
housand o hms while loudspeaker v oice
coi
l i mpedances a re in the order of 1to 15 ohms . Ifthe v oice coil im-
pedance was u sed a s t
he plate load, the amoun t o
f power o btainable from
t
he amp lif
ier wou ld b e very smal l t
o say nothing o
f the d
istort ion that
wou
ld r
esu
lt.

Therefore
, w e must use a
n impedance matching d
evice
, t he ou
tput t
rans-
f
or mer, which wi
ll a
llow us t
o opera
te t
he tube i
nto t
he high impedance
p
rimary a nd s
ti
ll,supply a
udio p
ower to t
he low impedance loudspeaker
v
oice c
oil
.
V
oice c oi
l
1to 1
5 L
ow p
ower outpu
t ...
oh ms
4t
. h
igh d
istor
tion

IMPROPER LOAD

1 B
+

CORRECT C
IRCU
IT

2-
76
 THE OUTPUT TRANSFOR MER

Impedance Ma
tch
ing (
con
tinued
)

Loudspeaker i mpedances a nd plate l oad impedances for different t

ubes
v
ary w ide
ly. Since t he pri mary i mpedance is set b
y the type of t
ube being
u
sed a nd t
he secondary l oad is set by the vo
ice coil impedance , t
here must
b
e some means o f adjust
ing t he relationship between pri mary and second-
a
ry i mpedance to obtain proper ma tching. T he means o f matching the two
impedances is by varying the turns r atio o
f the t
ransfor mer.

T
he output transformer t hat i
s shown below has a mult
i-tapped secondary
s
o that y
ou c an select d
ifferent numbers of secondary turns. Since the
p
ri mary turns are fixed
, i fthe secondary turns are v
aried then t
he turns
r
atio o
f the transfor mer is a
lso v ar
ied. T he pri mary impedance (ZD )i
s
r
elated t
o the secondary l oad impedance (Z s )b
y the f
olow ing f
or mula

ZP= N
2Z N
1

where N i
s t
he t
urns r
atio o
f t
he t
ransfor mer — ' N is t
he p
rimary t
urns
12 1

a
nd N2 is t
he number of secondary t
urns u
sed. You can s
ee t
hat i
fthe
v
alue of Zs i
s f
ixed b
y the voice c
oil i
mpedance
, any va
lue o
f Z can be
o
btained b
y varying t
he turns ra
tio
.

2
-77
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

How t
he Push-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier Works

I
n this topic, you will see t hat av ery g ood type of power amp lifier can b e
made b y using a push-pu l
l s yste m. A p ower amp lifier can b e made u sing
on
ly o ne tube, but when y ou wan t t
o d ouble the power , itis often more
c
onven ient to use two p ower t ubes, rather t han use one v ery large p ower
t
ube. The o bvious way t o use t wo tubes wou ld be to connec t the two g r
ids
t
ogether a nd the two p lates toge ther (para l
le l c
onnec tion) and t hereby
d
oub le the power o utpu t
. However , there i s a way that is better —tha t is t
o
c
onnect t he tubes in p ush-pu ll
. I n ap ush-pu l
l amp lif
ier t he input voltages
t
o the grids of the two t ubes a re 180 d egrees o ut o
f p hase. Th is phase
d
ifference i s o
ften a chieved b y p ut
ting t he signal i
nto the p r
imary o f a
t
rans former w ith a c enter-tapped s econdary —the t wo grids a re c onnected
t
o the oppos i
te e nds of the s econdary a nd the center tap is grounded o r
c
onnec ted to as ource o f g r
id b ias v o
ltage.

A TYP
ICAL PUSH-PULL C
IRCU
IT

The plates are c onnected to opposite ends o f t

he pri mary w
inding of a
n
o
utput transfor mer and the c
enter tap is connected t
o B+ . The f
inal ou
tput
v
oltage a ppears across t he ou
tput t ransfor mer secondary which is c
on-
n
ected to the l
oad.

2
-78
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

How t
he Push-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier Works (
con
tinued
)

I
n atypical push-pul
l amplif
ier, the g
rids r
ece
ive AC v
oltages f
ro m o
ppo-
s
ite t
er mina
ls of atransfor mer s
econdary w
inding
. The trans
for mer sec-
ondary i s c
enter- tapped and the center tap is connec ted t
o ground . The
AC g r
id v ol
tages a re 180 degrees o ut of phase. When o ne grid beco mes
l
ess n egative, the other grid beco mes more n egat
ive b y t
he s a me amount.
The s um of the tube currents d oes no
t v ary but re mains pure DC s ince
,
when o ne current is increasing, the other is decreas ing by t
he s a me
amoun t. Because t he sum of the two curren ts i
s p ure DC, n o bypass ca-
paci
tor i s needed a cross t
he c athode bias resistor.

I
n the outpu
t transfor mer, i
tis the d
ifference between t
he two curren
ts
t
hat is t
he output s
ignal. The greater the signa
l input
, the grea
ter th
is
d
ifference and the greater t
he o
utput.

Below you s
ee a s
et o
f typ
ical wave f
or ms t
aken f
ro m a p
ush-pul
l amp
li-
f
ier wh
ich is work
ing nor mal
ly.

GRID 0
TO
CATHODE
VOLTAGE
(
E-1)

GRID 0
TO
CATHODE _1
VOLTAGE
(
E-2)

N
ORMAL W AVE PLATE
CURRENT

F
O
RMS F ROM (
1)
0

APU
SH-PUL L
A
MPLIF
IER

2
-79
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

How t
he P
ush-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier Works (
con
tinued
)

Up to now , the only advantage of the push-pu ll c

ircu it tha
t h as been men-
t
ioned h as b een the f
act that no bypass c apacitor i
s n eeded s ince the volt-
age v aria t
ions p roduced a cross the cathode r esis
tor b y the ou
t-of-phase
p
late c urren t w il
l cancel e ach other. I f th
is were t he o n
ly advan tage
o
f the p ush-pu l
l circuit over the use o
f t wo tubes c onnected i n parallel
,
t
he p ara llel co mbination would be more c o m mon than iti s
. Actual ly, t
here
are so me v ery i mportan
t a dvantages wh ich make t he u se of the push-pu ll
c
ircui t p referab le.
Cons
ider wha t h appens ifthe two tubes in parallel are driven in
to c ut-off
b
y a large signal input. B o
th tubes go i n
to cut-off together and distortion
a
ppears in the o utput. Ifthe tubes are c onnected in ap ush-pull arrange -
ment
, one tube w ill be driven into cut-off on one half-cycle and the other
t
ube on the n ex
t h alf-cycle
. I n the output, t
he distortion is minim ized as
y
ou can see fro m the wave for ms below.

D
I
STORTED W
AVE FO
RMS
D
U
E TO C
UT-O
FF

DISTORTED
PLATE CURRENT

DISTORTED
PLATE CURRENT
/
1

EFFECT IVE CURRENT

I
N OUTPUT
TRANSFORMER

The r
eason t ha
t i t i
s s uch a b
ig advan
tage that t
he push-pul
l circui
t r e-
d
uces distort
ion i s th
is —the t
ubes can b
e i n
ten
tionally o
verdriven to pro-
d
uce a larger o utput and t
he o
utput s
ti
ll wi
ll be p
ractical
ly undis
torted.

2
-80
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

Phase I
nver
ters

Transfor mers are ob

jectionable i
n s o me p ush-pu l
l circuits because of
t
heir size
, weight and cost
. It is so meti mes d esirable to obtain t
wo signal
vol
tages 180 degrees out of p
hase with e ach o ther without the use of a
t
ransfor mer. A circuit t
hat acco mplishes t his is called a phase i
nverter.

You wil
l reca ll that the t
wo tubes of ap ush-pull syste m should be s uppl
ied
wi
th two signa l voltages of equal amp litude bu
t 1 80 degrees o ut of phase.
I
n the c
ircu i
t d iagra m shown b elow, t he s
ignal for the grid of the upper
t
ube (V2) of the p ush-pull s
ys te m co mes fro m the tr
iode ( V1
), wh ile the
o
ther triode ( V3) i s the phase i nverter wh ich d rives the o ther p ush-
pu
ll t
ube ( V4)•

The inco ming signa l i

s i mpressed o n the control grid of V 1 t
hrough c apac-
i
tor C 1 . The output fro m V 1 a ppears a cross the plate load resistor R3
a
nd is coup led through c apac itor C2 to t he grid o
f the u pper push-pull
p
ower amp li
fier V 2. The f ull o u
tput of V 1 appears b e
tween g r
id a nd
g
round o f V 2 —across R 4 a nd R 5 i
n series. Res istors R4 a nd R5 for m a
v
oltage div ider that supplies t he signal to the gr
id of the p hase inverter
t
ube V3 . The v alues of R4 a nd R 5 are s o c
hosen t hat the amoun t of s
ignal
f
ed to V3 i s exactly t
he s a me a s the i
npu t s
igna l t
o V 1.

The impor tant thing t o re me mber at this time is that t

here i s a
lways a
1
80 d egree p hase s hift between the signa l at t
he plate of an amp li
fier tube
and the signal at t he g r
id . Therefore , the signal taken fro m the grid of
V2 a t t
he j unction o f R 4 and R5, will be s h
ifted 180 degrees when i tis
amp li
fied b y V3. The o utput of V3 is fed through c apaci
tor C4 t o the grid
o
f the lower p ush-pu ll power amp li
fier t ube V4. S ince the signals on the
g
r ids of the triodes V 1 a nd V3 are equa l in ampl
itude a nd 180 d egrees o u
t
o
f p hase, their o utpu ts will a
lso be e qual in amplitude and 1 80 degrees o ut
o
f p hase. You s ee t hat these output signa ls are f
ed t o t
he grids of the
push-pull amp li
fier s o that t
he require men ts for push-pu l
l o peration have
b
een me t.

2
-81
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

How t
he P
hase I
nverter Works

S
uppose we a pply a s ignal t
o the p hase inver ter and trace itt hrough t he
c
o mplete push-pu ll amp l
ifier
. I f a 1volt signal is applied to the g rid o
f
V1 and we assu me t he gain o
f V 1 to be 20, there w il
l be a2 0 volt signal a
t
t
he plate. This signa l will a
ppear b e
tween g rid and ground o f V 2 —across
R4 and R 5 i
n series. S ince R4 i s 19 times a s large as R 5
, 1 9 volts will
a
ppear a cross R 4 and there w il
l b e 1v o
lt a cross R 5. The 1 v o
lt signa l
a
cross R5 i s applied to the g
r id of V3 at the junction of R4 a nd R 5. Since
t
he gain of V3 is the sa me as that of V1 (20), the output voltage o f V3 will
b
e 20 v ol
ts in amp li
tude a nd shifted in phase 1 60 degrees. Th is o utput
v
oltage is appl
ied b etween g rid a nd ground o f V4 .

You can see t

hat we have provided t
he push-pul
l ampl
ifier t
ubes w
ith t
wo
s
ignals equal i
n amplitude (20V) and 1
80 degrees o
ut o
f phase s
o t
hat
proper p
ush-pu l
l operation wil
l take p
lace.

W
AVE F
ORMS I
N AP
HASE I
N
VERTER

2
0V

2
0V

R
4 4
75 1
9
No
te: F
-
t
-
--
5 2
5 1
2
0V

2
-82
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

Ano
ther Type o
f P
hase I
nver
ter

The phase i nverter you wi

ll use h as h
alf o
f the l
oad resistance in the c
ath-
ode c
ircu i
t ( R-1), and h
alf i
n the plate c
ircuit (
R-2 ). The sa me current
f
lows in each o f these r
esistors a nd s
ince they have t
he sa me value, t
he
s
a me voltage a ppears across e ach of t
he m. These v o
ltages are 180 de-
g
rees o ut of phase . No s
ignal a ppears across R-3 since itis bypassed
w
i th a l
arge c ondenser.

The input v
oltage is a
pplied be
tween grid and ground a nd o
nly part o
f t
his
s
ignal appears between g r
id and c
athode. The t ube current responds t
o
t
he grid-to-cathode vol
tage and t
his current f
lows t hrough R-1 and R-2
,
caus
ing signal vol
tages to appear a
cross these r es
istors.

The vol
tage a cross R-1 (and a
lso the v
oltage a cross R -2
) is always l
ess
t
han the inpu
t v o
ltage
. Th is i
s so s
ince the grid-to-cathode v o
ltage i
s
equal t
o the d
ifference be
tween t he i
nput voltage and the vol
tage across
R-1. Therefore , t
he gain of t
his t
ype o
f p hase inverter (or phase s
pli
tter)
i
s less than one.

The t wo outputs are c onnected to the control gr

ids of the following push-
pul
l stage . These o u
tpu ts are 180 degrees o ut o
f phase w i
th e ach other
s
ince o ne is t
aken fro m the plate and the other from the cathode . Thus ,
when t he plate current is increasing, the "top" of R-2 is beco ming less
posit
ive a nd the "top" of R -1 i
s b eco ming more p os
itive. The p hase in-
v
er ter h as taken an AC s ignal input and produced two o u
tpu t signals o
f
equal magn i
tudes a nd of opposite phase.

Co mpare t
his c
ircu
it t
o t
he t
ransformer c
ircu
it s
hown b
elow
.

T
H
E S
I
NGL
E-TUB
E P
HAS
E I
N
VERT
ER C
I
RCU
IT

.
. A
C
TS L
I
KE T
H
IS

2
-83
 Co mp
V
-
1 V
-
2
3 C
-
3

lete D
I
N
PUT .
0
1MID
5 6
C
5

iagra m o
8
2
7
0K
R
-4
1
M
EG 1
2K 2
5
M
ID 1M
EG

f P
R
-
1 R
-
2
C
-
1 R
-
5
8

ush-Pu

L
,
H
a
M
ID
C
-
2 2
5K
R
-
3

ll Power Amp
1
3
+

l
I
S
H
-
d
1
1
7d
5
1
0

lif
T
-2 6
1
6

ier
t
r
, p
ins 2 a
nd 7
1A IV
-1 V
-2, V
-3. V
-4
V
-
4

v
w
d
a
F
-
1

r
m
RE
CT
.

a
l
V
-
5 8
0 1
0H 1OH
3
0
0n 3
0011
1
1
7 V6
0%AC

P
-
2
5K
R
-11
C
-9
.
00
1
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPL
IFIER

The Advan
tages o
f aP
ush-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier

1
. The core o
f the o
utput trans
former i s no
t satura
ted by DC current f
low
i
n the t
ransformer pri mary winding s
ince t
he two h
alves of t
he pr
i mary
winding a
re magne tized in opposite d
irect
ions. This causes a c
ancel-
l
ation o
f t
he magne t
ic lines of f
lux.

2
. More t
han twice t
he amoun
t o
f und
istorted power o
utput i
s p
roduced b
y
u
sing a p
ush-pull s
ystem t
han c
ould be f
urnished b
y one t
ube
.

3
. Any h
um v
oltages f
rom t
he p
late p
ower s
upp
ly w
ill b
e c
anceled o
ut.

4
. No s
ignal is fed fro m t
he plates of the p
ower tubes to the rest o
f the
ampl
ifier through the B+ lead because the p
late signa
ls c ancel o
ut at
BA
-
. T h
is also means that n
o bypass condenser is required across the
c
o m mon c
athode resistor s
ince the two s
ignal vol
tages d eveloped can-
c
el each o
ther out
.

The outputof apush-pu ll ampli

fier must be ma tched to t
he l
oad w i
th wh ich
i
ti s g
oing to b
e used , so t
hat there wil
l be a max i mu m t
ransfer of power.
Output t
ransfor mers are r a
ted for b
oth the primary a nd secondary i mped-
a
nces, a nd t
he impedance o f t
he primary w i
ll b e it
s rated va
lue o nly when
t
he secondary i s ter minated with i
ts own rated i mpedance. O nly under a
matched condit
ion i s t
here max imu m power o u
tpu t
.

S
o me o u
tput transfor mers h ave s pecific impedances t o which b oth the
p
rimary a nd secondary mus t be matched . I
ft he s econdary h as al oad con-
n
ected to it which i s l
ower i n i mpedance t han t he r ated v alue, the re-
f
lected impedance o n t
he primary would b e lower t han its rated v alue, re-
s
ulting in loss of p
ower o utput
. I ft he secondary h as a load connected t o
i
t which is h
igher in impedance t han the rated v alue, the reflected i mped-
a
nce o n t
he pri mary would be higher than it
s r a
ted v alue, a
lso r esu lt
ing in
l
oss of power output
.

O
ther output transfor mers are of t
he " universal" t ype. T h
is t
ype has a
s
econdary w inding with a n
umber o f taps. By s electing t
he proper taps
o
n the secondary , y
ou may p roperly ma tch a variety o f load imped-
a
nces to the transfor mer a
nd c onsequently get a max i mum transfer of
p
ower from t he amp lif
ier t
o the load.

2
-85
 THE PUSH-PULL AMPLIF
IER

R
eview o
f t
he Push-Pu
ll Amp
lif
ier

PUSH-PULL C IRCUIT u ses two

v
acuum t ubes and a t
ransfor mer
t
o double t
he power output o
f the
c
ircuit
. The t ube gr
id voltages
a
re 180 degrees out o
f phase.

DISTORTED
PLATE CURRENT
D
ISTORTED WAVE FOR MS d ue
t
o overdriving the tubes do no
t
n
oticeably af
fec t t
he current
wave f
or m in the output t
rans-
f
or mer of ap ush-pull ampli
fier.

EFFECT IVE CURRENT

I
N OUTPUT
TRA NSFORMER

PHASE I NVERTER p roduces two

s
ignal vo
ltages 180 d egrees out
o
f phase without u
sing a trans-
f
or mer. Ap hase inverter may
u
se one or two vacuum t ubes.

PUSH-PULL PO WER AMPLIFIER

c
ons ists o
f av o
ltage amp li
fier,
ap hase sp
litter (
inverter)
, t wo
p
ower amp li
fier tubes and an
ou
tpu t t
ransfor mer.

2
-86
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

Pr
inc
iples o
f S
ound

When i
tis d
esired t
o send an e
lectric c
urren
t fro m o
ne poin
t to ano
ther,
w
ires a
re used t
o carry t
ins current. When sound i
s sen
t direct
ly fro m
o
ne point t
o a
nother, i tis t
he part
icles o
f air t
hat c
arry the sound. In
o
ther words, in t
he trans mission o
f e
lectr
ic i
ty or s
ound, a med iu m must
e
xist be
tween the po
in ts o
f trans m
ission
; with e
lectr
icity
, w ires are used,
w
ith sound
, air is u
sed .

S
ound is actually t
he mo t
ion of p
ressure waves o f a
ir. Therefore , a ny d
e-
v
ice t
hat produces s ound, such as t
he hu man vocal c
ords , is adevice for
v
arying t
he p ressure of the s
urrounding air. A l
l mus ical i
nstru ments
make u
se o f th
is princip
le by having so me par
t, such a s atau
t string, a
r
eed or stre tched me mbrane , which when s et in
to v ibra
tion, p roduoes
v
arying pressure waves o f a
ir. I n t
he piano
, when a k ey i
s struck, at au
t
s
tring i
s se t in
to vibration
. The s tring v
ibrates on bo
th s ides o
f it
s rest-
i
ng poin
t a nd co mpresses a nd expands the surround
ing a ir
. When t he
s
tring (see figure below) moves f ro m i
ts rest
ing po
int to the r
ight, the a
ir
t
o the r
ight of the string i
s co mpressed (increased in pressure). When
t
he string moves t o t
he l
ei: o
f it
s resting p
oint, t
he air t
o the right of t
he
s
tring wil
l b e e xpanded (
reduced in pressure)
. I f asound detecting device,
s
uch a s t
he h u man ear, i
s located i
n the v
icinity o
f t
he vibrating string,
t
he varying pressure waves w i
ll str
ike the eardru m and p
roduce t he sen-
s
ation of sound.

The nu mber of co mplete v

ibrations of t
he string o
ccurring per s
econd d e-
t
er m
ines t he f
requency o r pitch o
f the result
ing sound wave
. The i ntensity
o
r amp litude of t
he s ound wave is d
eter mined by t
he amount of d
isp
lace-
ment o
f t he s
tring fro m i
ts rest
ing p o
int.

The sound produced by t

he hu man vo
ice may v ary i
n i
ntensi
ty in the r
atio
o
f 10
,000 t o 1and cover a r
ange of about 60 t
o 10
, 0
00 cycles. In mus ic,
t
he i
ntensity varia
tion may be as great as 1
00,000 t
o 1a nd the f
requency
r
ange is f
ro m about 40 t
o 1
5, 000 cycles
.

5
0
(1/
ID W
AYES PRODUCED BY V
IBRATING STRING

Maxi mu m
pressure
Min
i mu m p
re s
sure
p
ressure Nor ma
l p
ressure

Mini mu m
1/
/ /1 1
/1//
)2/ pressure

Nor mal p
ressure
(
resting posi
tion
)
D
IAGRA M OF VARIAT
ION
o
f s
tring
OF PRESSURE TO
RIGHT OF STRING

2-
87
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

C
haracterist
ics o
f M
icrophones

The s
ound waves that you p roduce when y ou ta
lk or sing can be converted
i
nto c
orresponding electrica l impulses b y the mechan is m o
f am icrophone.
Adiaphragm inside the m icrophone i s actuated by the air p
ressure v aria-
t
ions o
f t
he sound waves , a nd i
n turn c auses the microphone t o produce an
AC vo
ltage o
f the same f requency a s the o r
iginal sound. T he amp li
tude of
t
his AC vo
ltage wil
l b e proportional to the intens
ity of the sound
.

The rat
io of e
lectrical o
utput (vo
ltage) to the i
ntensity o
f sound i
nput i
s the
s
ens i
tivity o
f am icrophone. S ensit
ivity varies widely among dif
ferent
t
ypes of microphones. T he e
lectrical output o
f am icrophone depends on
t
he type of m
icrophone a nd t
he distance b e
tween t he microphone and t
he
sound source
. T he ou
tput decreases a s th
is distance is i
ncreased.

T
he frequency r esponse of am icrophone is a measure of i
ts abi
lity t
o con-
v
ert di
fferent sound frequencies in
to al
terna t
ing current. W ith a f
ixed
s
ound intensity a
t the microphone, the elec
trical output may vary widely
a
s the frequency of t
he sound source is var
ied . F or c
lear understanding
o
f s
peech , however , only a l
imited f
requency r ange is n
ecessary ; f
rom
2
00 to 4,000 cycles.

I
fthe o
utpu
t o
f am icrophone shows on
ly sma
ll v
ariat
ions i
n amp
litude be-
t
ween i
ts u
pper a
nd lower frequency l
imi
ts, i
tis s
aid t
o h
ave a f
la
t fre-
q
uency r
esponse
.

SOUND LOOKS L
IKE TH
IS

E
LECTRIC ALLY

ef
*"96
e9 d
oeo
ed a
tave4 i
gto d
ea Va
li

Y
ou w
ill s
tudy v
arious t
ypes o
f m
icrophones o
n t
he n
ext f
ew s
heets
.

2
-88
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

The Carbon Microphone

The most co m mon t

ype o
f m icrophone, the carbon m icrophone, is r
e-
s
tricted to al
arge e x
tent t
o co m munica
tions syste ms for t
he trans m
ission
o
f speech. Th is microphone is the most rugged o
f all the d
ifferen
t types
and supp
lies t
he largest o
utput fro m a g
iven sound input.

The f
igure below shows t he principal parts of as ing
le-bu t
ton carbon m icro-
phone
. Th is m icrophone o perates b y u
sing the v ary
ing pressure waves o f
sound t
o vary the resistance between c arbon g ranules. These c arbon
g
ranules are s ea
led in ab rass o r carbon cup w i
th an electrode tha
t is
mechanically connected to athin diaphrag m . The e lectrode acts as a
p
lunger in co mpressing the carbon g ranules in the cup
, wh ich is o
ften
cal
led a "
carbon b utton." T he c arbon button is connected in s
eries with a
s
ource of DC v ol
tage a nd t
he p r
i mary of am icrophone transfor mer.

4
r
itc
,CARBON M
ICROPHONE

D
iaphrag m A
lternat
ing
Current
Carbon or 3
Brass Cip
a 2
Carbon
To g
Granules
Amp. +
=
'
E
lec
trode 4
D
irec
t Curren
t

T
i me

When n o sound waves s trike t he diaphrag m , the c arbon g ranules are at

rest
. I n this cond it
ion , the r esistance o f t
he c arbon b ut
ton , between the
cup and the electrode , i s constan t and s o i
s t
he c ircuit curren t
. Th is is
i
llustrated in the reg ion fro m 1 t o 2i n the i
l
lustra tion. When t he pressure
waves of sound s trike t he diaphrag m , t he d
iaphrag m a nd the at
tached e lec-
t
rode move i n and o ut, vary ing the p ressure o n the carbon g ranules. An
i
ncrease i n air pressure moves t he diaphrag m i n, co mpressing t he carbon
g
ranu les and lower ing t heir r es
istance . T his c auses the c urrent to i
n-
c
rease , wh ich is shown i n the region f ro m 2 t
o 3o f t
he g raph. Ad ecrease
i
n air pressure c auses t he diaphrag m t o move o ut which r educes the pres-
sure on the granu les r a
is ing their r esistance and d ecreasing t he circui
t
current. Th is is s hown i n the reg ion fro m 3 to 4o f t
he g raph.

I
n this manner , sound waves vary t
he circui
t current in accordance with
t
he smu id pressure variat
ions. These c urrent varia
tions through the pr
i-
mary of the transfor mer i
nduce a s
tepped-up voltage in t
he secondary
which is fed t
o the g
rid of a
n ampli
fier. The o utput of t
he amp li
fier can
b
e c onnected to aloudspeaker or u
sed to contro
l the output o
f ar adio
t
rans mitter.
2
-89
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

The C
rysta
l Microphone

One of the disadvantages o f the c

arbon m icrophone is that i
tr equires an
external source o f DC voltage for operation
. I n certain appl
ica t
ions, a
DC s ource for the m icrophone is not easy t
o obtain. I n a
ddition, the c
ar-
bon granules may p ack together due to t
he DC c urrent arcing between the m
.
This w i
ll eventually reduce t he s
ensitivi
ty of t
he m icrophone. B ecause the
g
ranu les move a round and c ause t
iny arcs when the microphone i s h
and
led ,
objectionable noise may a ppear in the outpu
t.

The crysta
l microphone eliminates al
l t
he d
iff
icu l
ties encoun
tered wi
th t
he
carbon microphone because i
to perates o
n adifferent p
rincip
le and r
e-
quires n
o externa
l source of v
oltage
.

C
ertain c
rysta
lline subs
tances such a
s q
uartz a
nd Rochel
le s
alts
, generate
avo
ltage when pressure i
s a
ppl
ied. Re me mber
, "How Pressure Produces
E
lectric
ity" i
n Basic E
lectric
ity? This i
s known as t
he p
iezo-e
lectr
ic e
f-
f
ect a
nd th
is p
rinciple i
s used i
n c
rys
tal microphones.

The c
onstruc
tion o
f acrystal m
icrophone i
s s
hown be
low. The flat c
rysta
l
o
f Rochel
le sal
ts (
used i
nstead o
f q
uartz b
ecause i
tis more s
ens
i t
ive) i
s
mounted between t wo meta l p
lates which have e xternal connections. At hin
d
iaphrag m is mechan ically connected to t
he c rystal t
hrough a h ole i
n the
f
ront p
late. When t he sound waves str ike t
he diaphragm , v arying pressure
i
s appl
ied t o t
he crystal through the connect
ing p in and a varying voltage is
p
roduced b etween the plates. S ince t
he sound waves a pp
ly the p ressure to
t
he crysta
l, t he o
utput voltage wave for m will be an exact duplicate of t
he
o
riginal s
ound .

The c
rystal microphone i
s ahigh impedance microphone and i
s connec
ted
d
irect
ly to t
he grid o
f t
he amp
lifier wi
thout u
sing a t
ransfor mer
.

n
YTAI .
.....
..

Meta
l P
lates

Crys
tal

D
iaphragm

Connect
ing P
in
S
hie
ld
Ex
ternal
Connect
ions

:
..

2
-90
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

The Dyna m
ic Microphone

I
n t
he d yna mic o
r mov ing coi
l type o
f microphone, ac oil of wire, which
i
s r
igidly attached t
o ad iaphrag m, is s
uspended in an a
ir g ap in which
t
here is av ery s
trong magnet ic fi
eld. The magnet ic f
ield is produced by
aper manent magne t
. When t he sound waves s
trike the diaphrag m it moves
b
ack and forth with t
he coil
. S ince the c
oil i
s i
n the magnet ic fi
eld, an AC
v
oltage w
ill b
e i
nduced i
n it
. Th is v
oltage w
ill h
ave t
he s
a me wave f
or m
a
s the s
ound waves t
hat s
trike t
he d
iaphrag m
.

The f
requency of t
his AC vo
ltage i
s the sa me a
s the f
requency o
f t
he sound
wave and t
he amplitude o
f t
he vo
ltage is p
roportional t
o t
he sound wave
's
a
ir pressure o
r intensi
ty.

The dyna mic microphone ou

tput feeds in
to a t
ransfor mer wh
ich steps up
t
he vo
l tage and del
ivers a h
igh impedance output so t
hat i
twill work d
i-
r
ectly into t
he grid o
f an ampl
ifier tube
.

The dyna m
ic microphone can be handled and moved dur
ing o
peration wi
th-
o
ut producing undes
irable no
ise in it
s output. Itis d
ependab
le, requires
n
o DC s upply a
nd has e
xcellent f
requency r esponse b
etween 20 a
nd 9
,0 00
c
ycles.

DYNA M
IC M/CROPy

.r
C v
A

-
0
-21
-- D
iaphragm

S
hie
ld

Co
il

A
lnico Magnet D -
1 - 1 1
1

2-
91
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEA KERS

The R
ibbon o
r V
eloc
ity Microphone

The ribbon microphone consists of acorrugated r

ibbon o
f alu minu m a
lloy
,
which is s
uspended in astrong magne t
ic fie
ld so t
hat t
he ribbon can be
moved b y t
he sound waves. As t he s
ound waves move the ribbon back and
f
orth, itcuts t
he lines o
f force b
etween the poles o
f t
he magnets a nd a
v
oltage i
s i
nduced i
n the ribbon
. Th is v
oltage is very sma
ll but i
tc an b
e
s
tepped u
p by atransfor mer, which i
s u
sually enclosed i
n the microphone
c
asing. In addi
tion t
o stepping u
p t
he vo
ltage, the t
ransfor mer ra
ises t
he
o
utput impedance o
f t
he m icrophone s
o t
ha t i
tcan be c
onnected through a
s
hielded cab
le to t
he g
rid of an amp
lif
ier.

The microphones d escribed p rev

ious ly were p ressure o pera ted and had
d
iaphragms wh ich moved b ecause the s ound waves r a
ised t he a ir pressure
on t
he f ron
t side of the d
iaphragm a bove t he a
ir pressure o n the enclosed
back side of t
he diaphrag m. The r ibbon microphone h as n o diaphrag m a nd
both f
ron t and b
ack s ides o
f the ribbon a re exposed to the s ound waves .
The ribbon moves b ecause of the sma ll spaces between t he ribbon a nd the
pole p
ieces . The a ir passing through t hese spaces produces a d ifference
i
n phase a nd pressure o n t
he t wo s
ides o f the r
ibbon. The v oltage induced
i
n the ribbon is deter mined not by the pressure of the air b ut by t
he v e
loc-
i
ty of the a
ir particles traveling between t he r
ibbon a nd p o
le p ieces.

T
i
lea
ddva A
l
ivi
opl
ume

Per manen
t Magnets

Po
le P
ieces

--
------- F
lex
ib le Me
tal
R
ibbon
- -
-
---
-
Connec
ting Wire

2
-92
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

The Earphone

The purpose of am icrophone is t

o convert sound pressure waves i n
to c or-
r
espond ing AC vol
tages . The p urpose of a
ny s ound r
eproduc ing device,
such as an e
arphone o r l
cudspeaker, is to change t
hese AC v oltages back
i
nto sound waves. To d o t
his
, the sound reproducer mus t be designed to
vary t
he surrounding air -p
ressure in a
ccordance w ith t
he applied AC signal.

Earphones a re u sed mos t often i

n c o m mun ication syste ms where i n
for ma-
t
ion is to b
e r eceived b ut where h igh qua l
ity s ound is not necessary. I n
s
o me e arphones , c rystal e
le ments a re u sed . These e arphones make u se
o
f the piezo-elec tric effec
t a nd act like a m icrophone i n reverse. The
amplified AC s ignal v o
ltages are a pplied t o the metal plates of a Rochel
le
s
alt crystal ele men t, and these v ol
tage v ar iations cause the crystal t
o
c
hange i ts shape a nd produce p ressure v aria t
ions in the surrounding air,
r
esu l
ting in sound r eproduction. The c rysta l earphones are ligh
t in weight
a
nd h ave excellen t frequency response .

Most e
arphones operate cn magnet
ic princ
iples; atypica
l magnetic ear-
p
hone is s
hown in t
he il
lustrat
ion below. A c o
il o
f f
ine wire i
s wound on
e
ach po
le of a "U" s
haped per manent magnet
. These c oi
ls are u
sually
c
onnec ted i
n series and h
ave e x
terna
l leads connec
ted to t
he ser
ies co m-
b
ination. A s o
ft iron d
iaphrag m i
s held r
igid
ly in p
lace abou
t one s
ix-
t
eenth of a
n inch away fro m t
he po
le ends.
With n o s
ignal a pplied t o the coils, the per manen t magnet e xerts a c on-
s
tan t pull o
n the d iaphrag m . When t he audio frequency ( AC) c urren ts flow
t
hrough t he coils, t hey b eco me e lectro magnets . The magnet ic fie
lds t hat
are produced b y t hese c oils are c ontinuously r eversing d irection in a c-
cordance w ith the a udio signa l. A t s o me i
nstan t t
he elec tro magnetic f ield
wil
l a dd to t
he p er manen t magnet 's field and the diaphrag m w ill be p ulled
i
n further , reduc ing t he air pressure o n t
he o uter side. An i nstant later ,
t
he elec tro magnet ic field w il
l c ancel so me o
f t he per manen t magne t f ield
and the diaphrag m w i
ll move o ut beyond its nor mal position a nd co mpress
t
he a ir in front o f it. L i t h
is way t he a ud
io s igna l has been c onver ted
back into sound a ir pressure v ariations which, when s tr iking the e ardru m ,
produce s ound.

"U" Shaped
Magnet
D
iaphrag m

Co
ils

Crysta
l Drive
E
le men
t

Phone
Cord

2
-93
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

The Dyna m
ic L
oudspeaker

The dyna m
ic l
oudspeaker is v
ery similar in c
onstruct
ion to t
he dyna m
ic
microphone. In fact
, the p
er manent magnet t
ype of s
peaker is s
o meti mes
u
sed in i
nterco m munica
tion s
yste ms a
s both s
peaker a nd m
icrophone.

Cross-sections of t
he p er manen t magnet dyna m
ic s peaker and the electro-
magnet dyna mic speaker a re shown b elow. The c onstruction of both types
i
s exact
ly the same e xcept f or the method of o
btaining the magne t
ic f ie
ld.
The e
lectro magnetic type u ses a fi
eld coi
l wound o n as of
t iron coil. A
DC current is p
assed t hrough t he f
ield co
il and a s
trong magnet ic f ie
ld is
p
roduced in the air gap. I n the per manent magnet type, as trong p er ma-
n
ent magnet made of alnico a
lloy takes the p
lace of t
he f
ield co
il. A c oi
l
o
f wire, which has r
elatively f
ew turns, is suspended i
n the a
ir g ap a
nd is
a
ttached t
o ap aper cone. The o uter edge of t
he cone a
nd the voice co
il
s
uspension are corrugated and at
tached t o t
he speaker f
ra me
. The c or-
r
ugations a
llow the cone to move in and out f
reely.

The amp lif

ier i s connec ted to the voice c
oil through a n ou
tpu t t
ransfor mer
which s erves a s a
n impedance- ma tching device. The AC a udio signal cur-
rent flowing t hrough the v oice c oi
l causes itto g enerate a magnetic fie
ld
whose p o
lar ity is cont
inuous ly v arying. When t he voice coi
l fie
ld h as a p
o-
l
arity t hat aids the fi
eld i n t
he a ir gap, t
he v o
ice c oil a
nd cone move i n,
reducing t he air pressure i n front o
f the cone. When t he voice coi
l fie
ld is
i
n o ppos i
tion t o t
he field in the air gap, t
he v oice coil and cone are pushed
out
, c o mpress ing the air in front of t
he cone. I n this way, audio signal
curren ts are c hanged i nto sound p ressure waves .

r
PER MANENT- MAGNET
TYPE
ELECTRO- MAGNET I
TYP

Corruga
tions S
peaker
F
ra me

F
ield
Coi
l

Vo
ice Co
il

Rar
ified a
ir C
o mpressed a
ir -

1
*

C
one mov
ing i
n Cone p
ushed o
ut

2
-94
 MICROPHONES
, EARPHONES AND LOUDSPE AKE RS

Rev
iew o
f M
icrophones
, Earphones a
nd L
oudspeakers

SOUND WAVES a re v aria

tions in a
ir
pressure produced by av ibrating sol
id
body. The s peed of vibration d
eter-
mines the p
itch of t
he s ound; t
he am-
p
litude of v
ibration deter mines the
l
oudness of the sound.

D
iaphrag m

C
arbon or
B
rass Cup
Carbon
T
o
MICROPHONES c hange s ound waves G
ranu les
Amp.
i
nto e
lectrical impulses. "M ikes" E
lec
trode

may be carbon, crystal, dyna mic or

r
ibbon type. The e lectr
ica l impulses
are f
ed in
to the gr
id of an amp li
fier Me
tal P
lates

e
ither d
irec t
ly or through a step-up Crys
tal

D
iaphragm
t
ransfor mer. Capeec
tieg P
ia
I
sla
[Mers a
o
ssec
tices

EARPHONES o perate like micro-

phones in reverse, and p roduce sound
waves in response to e
lec trical im-
pulses. B oth t
he crystal a nd magnetic
earphones a re w
idely used , the mag-
netic t
ype being most c o m mon.

[
PERMANENT.MAGNET »%
LOUDSPE AKERS a re used where high TYPE

qua
lity sound reproduction i
s required.
The dyna mic l
oudspeaker operates
l
ike a dynamic m icrophone in r
everse
and may be of the p
er manent or e
lectro-
magnet t
ype
.

2
-95
 AUD
IO AMPLIFIERS

Rev
iew o
f Aud
io Amp
lif
iers

AMPLIFICATION — The p rocess of

v
changing a l
ow AC inpu
t to ahigh AC
output
. Ad evice wh
ich perfor ms amp
li-
f
ication i
s cal
led an ampl
ifier.

THE TR IODE — A v acuum tube s

im i
lar
t
o adiode but c
ontain
ing a gr
id which
c
ontrols pla
te curren
t between c
athode
a
nd plate
.

P
late V
oltage - 2
00V

TRIODE CHARACTE R ISTICS — A plot

o
f the varia
tions in p
late curren
t asgr
id
v
oltage changes; a measure of atr
iode's
a
bility t
o amplify
.
G
rid Vo
ltage
1
4 I
t N 4 2 I 2 4
—

G
rid V
oltage -
8 -
6 -
4 :
-2 : 0

GRID BIAS — The amoun t o f grid bias

vo
ltage deter mines the class of ampli-
f
ier operat
ion . In Class A t he bias i
s
l
ess than c ut o
ff; i
n Class B bias is at
or n
ear cut-off; i
n Class C bias is much
l
ess than cut-of
f.

TRIODE AMPLIFIER — A s i mple c

ircuit
u
sing a s
ingle triode with biasing co m-
p
onents
. Th is circuit i
s not u sed a
lone
i
n ac
tual equip ment.

2
-96
 AUD
IO AMPL
IFIERS

R
eview o
f Aud
io Amp
lif
iers (
con
tinued
)

THE PENTODE — A t ube which uses a

s
uppressor gr
id a nd a s
creen grid be-
t
ween con
trol grid and p
late
. I th as
g
reater amp
lificat
ion than t
he triode.

4k
11

S
INGLE-STAGE AMPLIF IER — A cir-
c
uit consist
ing of av acuum tube am- POI
,

p
lif
ier , b
iasing co mponents, aload
r
esistor, ad ecoupling network and a
r
esistor and capacitor to p
rovide P
.

c
oup l
ing to another s
tage.

TWO-STAGE RC-COUPLED AMPLI-

FIER — A circuit c
ons
isting of two
ampl
ifier s
tages. The input t
o the
g
rid of t
he s
econd amplif
ier tube is
t
he output f
ro m the f
irst stage
o
f amplif
icat
ion.

1
-
I 1
-
1

TRANSFORMER-COUPLED AMPLI-
F
IER — A t wo-stage ampli
fier iden-
t
ical t
o t
he two-stage RC-coup led am- 4
1
11
p
lif
ier except t
hat atransformer i s
u
sed to couple t he f
irst a nd sec-
o
nd stages.

VOLTAGE GA IN — The total amp li

fi-
ca
tion of atwo-stage (or mult
is tage)
amplif
ier is t
he product o
f the amp li-
f
icat
ions of each s
tage. The r atio o
f
t
he output v
oltage o
f the f
inal stage to
t
he input v
oltage t
o the f
irst s
tage i s
ca
lled the g
ain of t
he amplif
ier.

2
-97
 AUD
IO AMPLIFIERS

R
eview o
f Aud
io Amp
lif
iers (
con
tinued
)
v
-
7

I
n
AUDIO PO WER AMPL IFIER — An am-
p
lif
ier d
esigned to supply power t o a
l
oad. It
s inpu
t is the output of av o
lt-
a
ge amplif
ier stage. I t
s o u
tpu t f
eeds a
l
oad t
hrough an output transfor mer.

PHASE I NVERTER — A c ircuit which

u
ses one or two vacuum tubes to pro-
d
uce two signal vo
ltages 180 degrees
ou
t of p
hase. I tis a
lso called a p
hase
sp
lit
ter and replaces t
he transfor mer
i
n ap
ush-pu
ll c
ircu
it.

PUSH-PULL PO WER AMPL IFIER —

A c
ircui
t c
onsisting of avoltage am-
p
lif
ier, aphase spl
itter (
inverter)
,
t
p
u
wo p
t t
ower amp
rans
l
for mer
.
i
fier tubes and an ou
t-
I
E

THE OUTPUT TRANSFORMER — A

t
ransfor mer used t
o couple the power
ampl
ifier output t
o the l
oad. I t matches
t
he l
ow load i mpedance to t
he high im-
p
edance r equired by t
he amplifier.

e
+

MICROPHONES. EARPHONES AND

LOUDSPEAKERS — Carbon, crystal
,
dynam
ic a
nd r
ibbon m
icrophones are
u
sed to c
hange sound waves i
nto e
lec-
t
rica
l impulses
. Earphones a nd
l
oudspeakers change e
lectr
ical im-
p
ulses t
o sound waves.

2
-98
I
NDEX
 I
NDEX TO VOL
. 2

(
Note: A cumu
lat
ive in
dex c
over
ing a
l
l fi
ve vo
lume
s
i
n t
hi
s se
rie
s wi
ll be f
ound a
t t
he e
nd o
f V o
lume 5
.
)

Amp
lif
ica tion , examp les of, 2
-1 to 2-3 c
rys
tal
, 2
-90
Amp
lif
ie rs, 2 -1 to2 -10 d
ynamic t
ype
, 2-91
advan tage s o fp ush-pull t
ype, 2-85 r
i
bbon orve
loci
ty type
, 2
-92
cha rac teris
tic s ofa udio powe r t
ype,
2
-71 t o2 -73 Ou
tpu
ttransfo
rmers
, 2-74 t
o2-77
cha rac teristics o ft r
ansforme r
- j
ob o
f, 2
-74
, 2-75
coup led t ype , 2-69, 2-70
P
entodes, 2-47 to2 -49
, 2-52, 2-53
c
ha rac te ri
stic so ft he two-s
tage t ype
,
construct
ion of atypica
l tube, 2
-49
2
-60 , 2-61 h
ow t hey work, 2
-48
classe so f, 2 -30, 2 -31
s
umma ry o
fo perat
ion of
, 2-52, 2
-53
d
iag ram o fp ush-pu ll t
ype, 2
-84
P
hase inverters
, 2-81 to2-83
h
ow t hey wo rk, 2-17 t o2-19 ano thertype of, 2
-83
how t he push -pull type works, h
ow t hey work, 2
-82
2
-78 t o2 -80
single -stage , 2 -55 t o2-57 R
eview
, Audio Amplif
ie rs
, 2-96 to2-98
push -pu ll type , 2-78 t o2-86 M
icrophone s
, E a
rphone s and
t
r ans forme rc oupled , 2
-67 to2 -70 Loudspeake r
s, 2-95
tr
iode t ype, 2 -24 t o2 -41 T
he Push-Pu
ll Amp l
ifier
, 2-86
two -stage R C coup led type, T
he Tet
rode a nd the Pentode, 2
-54
2
-58 t o2 -66 T
he Tr
iode, 2-23
typica l stage , 2-55 T
he Tr
iode Amp lif
ier, 2-41
T
he Two-Stage R C C oupled
B
eam powe rt ube, 2
-50, 2
-51 Amplif
ier
, 2-66
c
onstruct
ion of atyp
ical t
ube
, 2
-51
B
ias
, 8+ p owe r s
upply
, 2-34 S
ound
, p
r
inc
iples o
f
, 2
-87
bat
tery, 2-32
Te
trode s
, 2 -42 t o 2-46
:
athode , 2-35
g
rid vol
tage , 2
-24 to2-26 e
limina t
ing e fec tsof seconda ry
em
i ssion , 2 -47
powers upply, 2
-33
n
orma l o pe ration o f, 2-46
C
a thode bypass capacitor
, 2
-38 t
o2-40 s
creen g rid , 2 -43
Cathode re
sistor
, 2-36, 2
-37 s
econda ry e m
i ssion in
, 2 -44
Coupl
ing, amp l
ifier s
tages
, 2
-59 s
tatic c ha rac te r
is t
ics of
, 2 -45
t
rans
fo rme r
, 2-67, 2
-68 why t hey w e re d eveloped , 2
-42
T
r
iodes, 2-11 t o2 -23
D
ecoup
ling f
i
l
ter
s, 2
-56
, 2
-57 c
ons truc tion o ft ypical tube, 2-12
control g rid i n
, 2 -14, 2-15
E
arphone
s, 2
-93
how t hey wo rk, 2 -13
s
imilia ri
ty t ot he diode , 2-16
F
requency re
sponse
, 2
-62 t
o2-64
T
r
iode amp l if
ie rs, w hy prope r bias is
c
urve
, 2-65
n
ece ssa ry, 2 -27 to2 -29
Ga
in, i
n
crea
se o
f
, 2
-58 T
r
iode tube c ha rac te r
i s
tics
, amp l
ificat
ion
f
acto r, 2 -20
I
mpedance ma
tch
ing
, 2
-76
, 2
-77 p
la te r es
i stance , 2-21
t
ransconduc tance , 2-22
L
oudspeake
rs, d
ynam
ic t
ype
, 2
-94
V
acuum tubes
, ampl
ificat
ion, 2
-11
M
icrophones, 2
-88 t
o2-92 h
ow they we
re d eve
loped, 2
-8, 2
-9
ca
rbon, 2-89 t
ypesof, 2
-6, 2
-7
c
haracter
ist
ics o
f
, 2-88 wha
tt hey c
an do, 2
-4, 2
-5

2
-101
.
.
- _
.

i
 O
t
he
rF am
ous T
r
ai
ning P
r
ogr
amsby
V
a
n V
al
ken
burg
h, N
o
og e
r &Ne
vi
ll
e, I
n
c
.
B
ASIC E
LECTR
ICITY B
ASIC
(
5 v
o
lumes
) I
NDUSTR
IAL E
LECTR
ICITY
(
2 v
o u
mes
)
VOLUME 1 — What E
lec
tric
ity I
s .. How
VOLUME 1 — I n
t roduction . . P
ower D is
-
E
lect
ric
ity I
s P
roduced . How F
r
ict
ion
t
r
ibution ...I lu m
inat ion ...E lectro
-
P
roduces E
lec
tric
ity ...H
ow P
ressure mecianical Machinery C ontrol ...E lec
-
P
roduces E
lec
tric
ity ...H
ow H
eat P
ro- t
rorrechanica
l Servo Cont ro
l Systems...
d
uces Electr
icity .. How Light P
roduces F
luid-Cont
rol Devices.
E
lect
ric
ity .. H ow Chemical Ac
tion P
ro-
d
uces Electr
icity — Pr
i mary Cel
ls ... VOLUME 2 — I ndustria
l F luid
-Control
Syste ms ...Process C ontro
l and Prod-
How Chem ical A c
tion P roduces E
lec
-
uct n spect
ion .. .R emo te Mon i
tor
ing
t
r
icity — Secondary Ce
lls ...How Mag - and C ontro
l . ..E lectr
ic We ld
ing a nd
n
etism Produces Elect
ric
ity ...C urrent Heating . . . Misce
llaneous I ndustr
ial
F
low — What ItIs .. Magnet
ic F
ie
lds... Control Systems
.
How C ur
rent Is Measured . . . How A
Meter Works ...What Causes C
urrent
F
low — EMF ...H ow Voltage I
s Meas- B
ASIC S
YNCHROS
u
red ...What C
ontro
ls C
urrent F
low —
&SERVOMECHAN
ISMS
R
esis
tance
.
(
2 v
o
lumes
)
VOLUME 2 — What a C
ircu
it I
s .D
irec
t VOLUME 1 — I ntroduc tion t o S ynchro
C
urrent S er
ies C
ircu
its ...Oh m
's L aw Funcarnenta ls ...S ynchro G enerators
and Mo tors .. T he S ynchro D ifferential
...E lec
tric Power ...Direc
t C urrent
...T ie C ontrol T rans former ...T he
P
ara
lle
l C
ircu
its .. O
hm's L
aw a
nd P
ar-
Synchro C apacitor .. C onclus ion t o Syn-
a
l
lel Circu
its .. Direct Cur
rent S
eries — chro F unda menta ls ...I ntroduc tion t o
P
aral
le l C
ircu
its .. Kirchhoff
's L
aws. Ser vo F unda menta ls . . . S ervo U sing
Ba la iced P otentio me ters .. S ervo D em -
VOLUME 3 — What A
lternat
ing C
urrent I
s ons tra:es B asic C haracter istics .. S ervo
with S ynchros ...A B asic T ransducer
...AC Meters .. R
esistance in AC C
ir
-
Posit
ion ing S ervo .
c
uits ...Induc
tance in AC C
ircuits ..
P
ower i
n Induct
ive Circu
its ...C apac
i- VOLUME 2 — T he E rror D etecting S ys-
t
ance i
n AC C
ircuits ...Capac
itors and t
em . . . T he B alanced P otent iome ter
C
apac
itive R
eactance
. E
r ro r D etector . ..T he C ontro l T rans -
f
orme r Error D etec tor.. .T he C on tro
lling
VOLUME 4 — I mpedance i n AC Ser
ies System .. T he DC S ervo Mo tor. . T he
DC S ervo Amp lifier... T he S ingle S tage
C
ircuits ...C urrent
, Voltage and Res
-
DC S ervo Amp lifier ...T he Two -Stage
onance in AC Ser
ies Ci
rcu its ...A
lter
-
DC S ervo Amp lifier .. DC S ervo Amp li-
n
ating Cur
rent Para
llel Circuits . . . f
ier U s
ing D iode V acuu m T ubes ...G as
R
esonance In A
C Paral
lel Circuits .. . Tubes i nS ervo Amp l
ifiers .. T he T hyra -
A
lternat
ing Cur
rent Ser
ies — P
ara
lle
l C
ir
- t
ron G as T ube ...A T hyra tron Mo tor
c
uits ...Transformers
. Cont ra C ircuit . T hyra tron S ervo Am -
p
lifier U sing Amp litude C ont rol... P hase
ShiftC ontrol for S ervo Amp lifiers The
VOLUME 5 — E
lementary G
enera
tors .. Ward -Leonard C ontro l S ystem .•.T he
D
irect C
urrent G
enerators .. Direct C
ur- Amp lidyne ...T he AC S ervo Mo tor...
r
ent Motors ...DC Mo tor Starters ... An AC S ervo Amp lif
ier U sing T hyratron
DC Mach
inery Ma
intenance a
nd T
roub
le- Tubes ...A n A C S ervo Amp l
ifier U sing
Vacuu m T ubes ...O scil
lat ions i n Servo
s
hoot
ing ...Al
ternators .. A
lternat
ing
Sys tems .. A n E lec t
ron ic A nti
-Hunt C ir-
C
urrent Mo
tors ...P ower C
ontro
l D e
- cuit ..Two -Speed S ynchro T ransm is-
v
ices
. s
i on.

JOH N F
. R
I DER PUBL
ISHER I
NC.
, NE W YORK