Lucille G.

Yu

BSEC 3

Activity 6
Cascaded Systems: Transformer Coupled Circuit
Objectives:
1.) To observe transformer coupled circuit characteristics.
2.) To compare circuit effects of 1st staged and 2nd staged transformer coupled circuits.
3.) To measure voltage inputs and outputs Vi1, Vi2, Vo1 and Vo2.
4.) To calculate the voltage gain Av1 and Av2 of each stage.
5.) To compare the input and output phases of the circuit.
6.) To graph the Bode plot of the circuit.

Introduction:
Transformer coupling is generally employed when the load is small. It is mostly used for power
amplification. A coupling transformer is used to feed the output of one stage to the input of the next
stage. In general, the last stage of a multistage amplifier is the power stage. Here, a concentrated effort
is made to transfer maximum power to the output device e.g. a loudspeaker. For maximum power
transfer, the impedance of power source should be equal to that of load. Usually, the impedance of an
output device is a few ohms whereas the output impedance of transistor is several hundred times this
value. In order to match the impedance, a step-down transformer of proper turn ratio is used. The
impedance of secondary of the transformer is made equal to the load impedance and primary impedance
equal to the output impedance of transistor.
Materials:
Breadboard

Connectors

Resistors

Transformers

Function Generator

NPN transistors

Multitester

Oscilloscope

DC Power Supply

Procedure:
1.) Construct the circuit below:

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Capacitors

Lucille G. Yu

BSEC 3

2.) Perform a DC analysis (without the transformers connected) on each circuit to get IE1, IE2,
re1 and re2. Record the values on the table below.
3.) Perform an AC analysis (with the transformers connected) and obtain Av1 and Av2.
Record the values on the table below.
4.) Make a Bode Plot of the circuit.

Results:

DC Analysis
IE1
IE2
rE1
rE2

0.706mA
0.706mA
36.82 ohms
36.82 ohms

AC Analysis
V1
V2
V3
V4
Vo
Av1
Av2

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203.916 V
2.568 mV
2.576 V
44.540 V
2.573 V
12.59
17.29

Lucille G. Yu

BSEC 3

Graphs:

Vi(red) and V1(blue)

Vi(red) and V2(blue)

Vi(red) and V3(blue)

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Lucille G. Yu

BSEC 3

Vi(red) and V4(blue)

Vi(red) and Vo(blue)

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Lucille G. Yu

BSEC 3

Conclusion:

Characteristics of the Transformer-Coupled Circuit

The low resistance of the 2k load was reflected as a high load resistance to
the previous stage through the impedance-changing properties of a transformer
and it depends upon the turn ratio. A certain transformer can have a step-up or
step-down behavior and is usually determined by its indicated ratio. In our
experiment, we had a step-up transformer located at the source, and a step-down
both of the remaining transformers.
Input and Output Voltages
When an ac signal is applied to the base of the first transistor, it appears in
the amplified form across the primary coil of the coupling transformer. No signal
power is lost in the collector or base resistors. The voltage developed across
primary is transferred to the input of the next stage by the secondary transformer.
The second stage renders same manner of amplification. Due to the excellent
impedance matching, a transformer coupled system provides a higher gain but it
also has a poor frequency response since the gain varies considerably with
frequency. Based on the bode plot, low frequency signals are less amplified as
compared to the high frequency signals.

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