1he ParLley CsclllaLor

1he maln dlsadvanLages of Lhe baslc LC CsclllaLor clrculL we looked aL ln Lhe prevlous LuLorlal ls LhaL
Lhey have no means of conLrolllng Lhe ampllLude of Lhe osclllaLlons and also lL ls dlfflculL Lo Lune Lhe
osclllaLor Lo Lhe requlred frequency lf Lhe cumulaLlve elecLromagneLlc coupllng beLween L1 and L2
ls Loo small Lhere would be lnsufflclenL feedback and Lhe osclllaLlons would evenLually dle away Lo
zero Llkewlse lf Lhe feedback was Loo sLrong Lhe osclllaLlons would conLlnue Lo lncrease ln
ampllLude unLll Lhey were llmlLed by Lhe clrculL condlLlons produclng slgnal dlsLorLlon So lL becomes
very dlfflculL Lo Lune Lhe osclllaLor

Powever lL ls posslble Lo feed back exacLly Lhe rlghL amounL of volLage for consLanL ampllLude
osclllaLlons lf we feed back more Lhan ls necessary Lhe ampllLude of Lhe osclllaLlons can be
conLrolled by blaslng Lhe ampllfler ln such a way LhaL lf Lhe osclllaLlons lncrease ln ampllLude Lhe
blas ls lncreased and Lhe galn of Lhe ampllfler ls reduced lf Lhe ampllLude of Lhe osclllaLlons
decreases Lhe blas decreases and Lhe galn of Lhe ampllfler lncreases Lhus lncreaslng Lhe feedback ln
Lhls way Lhe ampllLude of Lhe osclllaLlons are kepL consLanL uslng a process known as AuLomaLlc
8ase 8las

Cne blg advanLage of auLomaLlc base blas ln a volLage conLrolled osclllaLor ls LhaL Lhe osclllaLor can
be made more efflclenL by provldlng a Class8 blas or even a ClassC blas condlLlon of Lhe LranslsLor
1hls has Lhe advanLage LhaL Lhe collecLor currenL only flows durlng parL of Lhe osclllaLlon cycle so Lhe
qulescenL collecLor currenL ls very small 1hen Lhls selfLunlng base osclllaLor clrculL forms one of
Lhe mosL common Lypes of LC parallel resonanL feedback osclllaLor conflguraLlons called Lhe ParLley
CsclllaLor clrculL


ParLley CsclllaLor 1uned ClrculL
ln Lhe ParLley CsclllaLor Lhe Luned LC clrculL ls connecLed beLween Lhe collecLor and Lhe base of Lhe
LranslsLor ampllfler As far as Lhe osclllaLory volLage ls concerned Lhe emlLLer ls connecLed Lo a
Lapplng polnL on Lhe Luned clrculL coll 1he feedback of Lhe Luned Lank clrculL ls Laken from Lhe
cenLre Lap of Lhe lnducLor coll or even Lwo separaLe colls ln serles whlch are ln parallel wlLh a
varlable capaclLor C as shown

1he ParLley clrculL ls ofLen referred Lo as a spllLlnducLance osclllaLor because coll L ls cenLreLapped
ln effecL lnducLance L acLs llke Lwo separaLe colls ln very close proxlmlLy wlLh Lhe currenL flowlng
Lhrough coll secLlon x? lnduces a slgnal lnLo coll secLlon ?Z below An ParLley CsclllaLor clrculL can be


made from any conflguraLlon LhaL uses elLher a slngle Lapped coll (slmllar Lo an auLoLransformer) or
a palr of serles connecLed colls ln parallel wlLh a slngle capaclLor as shown below

8aslc ParLley CsclllaLor ClrculL


When Lhe clrculL ls osclllaLlng Lhe volLage aL polnL x (collecLor) relaLlve Lo polnL ? (emlLLer) ls 180o
ouLofphase wlLh Lhe volLage aL polnL Z (base) relaLlve Lo polnL ? AL Lhe frequency of osclllaLlon Lhe
lmpedance of Lhe CollecLor load ls reslsLlve and an lncrease ln 8ase volLage causes a decrease ln Lhe
CollecLor volLage 1hen Lhere ls a 180o phase change ln Lhe volLage beLween Lhe 8ase and CollecLor
and Lhls along wlLh Lhe orlglnal 180o phase shlfL ln Lhe feedback loop provldes Lhe correcL phase
relaLlonshlp of poslLlve feedback for osclllaLlons Lo be malnLalned

1he amounL of feedback depends upon Lhe poslLlon of Lhe Lapplng polnL of Lhe lnducLor lf Lhls ls
moved nearer Lo Lhe collecLor Lhe amounL of feedback ls lncreased buL Lhe ouLpuL Laken beLween
Lhe CollecLor and earLh ls reduced and vlce versa 8eslsLors 81 and 82 provlde Lhe usual sLablllzlng
uC blas for Lhe LranslsLor ln Lhe normal manner whlle Lhe capaclLors acL as uCblocklng capaclLors

ln Lhls ParLley CsclllaLor clrculL Lhe uC CollecLor currenL flows Lhrough parL of Lhe coll and for Lhls
reason Lhe clrculL ls sald Lo be Serlesfed wlLh Lhe frequency of osclllaLlon of Lhe ParLley CsclllaLor
belng glven as



noLe L1 ls Lhe LoLal cumulaLlvely coupled lnducLance lf Lwo separaLe colls are used lncludlng Lhelr
muLual lnducLance M

1he frequency of osclllaLlons can be ad[usLed by varylng Lhe Lunlng capaclLor C or by varylng Lhe
poslLlon of Lhe lrondusL core lnslde Lhe coll (lnducLlve Lunlng) glvlng an ouLpuL over a wlde range of
frequencles maklng lL very easy Lo Lune Also Lhe ParLley CsclllaLor produces an ouLpuL ampllLude
whlch ls consLanL over Lhe enLlre frequency range

As well as Lhe Serlesfed ParLley CsclllaLor above lL ls also posslble Lo connecL Lhe Luned Lank clrculL
across Lhe ampllfler as a shunLfed osclllaLor as shown below



ShunLfed ParLley CsclllaLor ClrculL



ln Lhe ShunLfed ParLley CsclllaLor boLh Lhe AC and uC componenLs of Lhe CollecLor currenL have
separaLe paLhs around Lhe clrculL Slnce Lhe uC componenL ls blocked by Lhe capaclLor C2 no uC
flows Lhrough Lhe lnducLlve coll L and less power ls wasLed ln Lhe Luned clrculL 1he 8adlo lrequency
Coll (8lC) L2 ls an 8l choke whlch has a hlgh reacLance aL Lhe frequency of osclllaLlons so LhaL mosL
of Lhe 8l currenL ls applled Lo Lhe LC Lunlng Lank clrculL vla capaclLor C2 as Lhe uC componenL
passes Lhrough L2 Lo Lhe power supply A reslsLor could be used ln place of Lhe 8lC coll L2 buL Lhe
efflclency would be less

Lxample no1

A ParLley CsclllaLor clrculL havlng Lwo lndlvldual lnducLors of 03mP each are deslgned Lo resonaLe
ln parallel wlLh a varlable capaclLor LhaL can be varled from 100pl Lo 300pl ueLermlne Lhe upper
and lower frequencles of osclllaLlon and also Lhe ParLley osclllaLors bandwldLh

1he frequency of osclllaLlons for a ParLley CsclllaLor ls glven as



1he clrculL conslsLs of Lwo lnducLlve colls ln serles so Lhe LoLal lnducLance ls glven as



upper lrequency





Lower lrequency



CsclllaLor 8andwldLh



ParLley CsclllaLor uslng an Cpamp

As well as uslng a blpolar [uncLlon LranslsLor (8!1) as Lhe ampllflers acLlve sLage of Lhe ParLley
osclllaLor we can also use elLher a fleld effecL LranslsLor (lL1) or an operaLlonal ampllfler (opamp)
1he operaLlon of an Cpamp ParLley CsclllaLor ls exacLly Lhe same as for Lhe LranslsLorlsed verslon
wlLh Lhe frequency of operaLlon calculaLed ln Lhe same manner Conslder Lhe clrculL below

ParLley CsclllaLor Cpamp ClrculL



1he advanLage of consLrucLlng a ParLley osclllaLor uslng an operaLlonal ampllfler as lLs acLlve sLage ls
LhaL Lhe galn of Lhe opamp can be very easlly ad[usLed uslng Lhe feedback reslsLors 81 and 82 As
wlLh Lhe LranslsLorlsed osclllaLor above Lhe galn of Lhe clrculL musL be equal Loo or sllghLly greaLer
Lhan Lhe raLlo of L1/L2 lf Lhe Lwo lnducLlve colls are wound onLo a common core and muLual
lnducLance M exlsLs Lhen Lhe raLlo becomes (L1+M)/(L2+M)

ParLley CsclllaLor Summary

1hen Lo summarlse Lhe ParLley CsclllaLor conslsLs of a parallel LC resonaLor Lank clrculL whose
feedback ls achleved by way of an lnducLlve dlvlder Llke mosL osclllaLor clrculLs Lhe ParLley
osclllaLor exlsLs ln several forms wlLh Lhe mosL common form belng Lhe LranslsLor clrculL above wlLh
Lhe Luned Lank clrculL havlng lLs coll Lapped Lo feed a fracLlon of Lhe ouLpuL slgnal back Lo Lhe
emlLLer of Lhe LranslsLor Slnce Lhe ouLpuL of Lhe LranslsLors emlLLer ls always lnphase wlLh Lhe


ouLpuL aL Lhe collecLor Lhls feedback slgnal ls poslLlve 1he osclllaLlng frequency whlch ls a slnewave
volLage ls deLermlned by Lhe resonance frequency of Lhe Lank clrculL

ln Lhe nexL LuLorlal abouL CsclllaLors we wlll look aL anoLher Lype of LC osclllaLor clrculL LhaL ls Lhe
opposlLe Lo Lhe ParLley osclllaLor called Lhe ColplLLs CsclllaLor 1he ColplLLs osclllaLor uses Lwo
capaclLors ln serles Lo form a cenLre Lapped capaclLance ln parallel wlLh a slngle lnducLance wlLhln lLs
resonanL Lank clrculL