122 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION December

APPENDIX for a simple RC lag network, solve for

For a cosine wave Em cos (0--)) with subtracted dc Ed, t
the composite signal is Eo = J dTE,(t - T)W(r), (7)
El = Em cos (d- Edc. (1)
using 0=cot, obtaining
Consider Edc=Em and define only the single peak, i.e.,
take ,2 = ~~~2& &o2t2 2&cA,T t + 28w T- 26X2
Eo - 6 + t- T2
E1 = E1(0) for all O > 24. (2) (p2 4q52 4) 4)2
Thus, r 2&coT
+ e-tlT [ + +, +
2&o2T2-
(8)
00
E1 E= E[Cos (O - q) -1], 0 < t} < 20, (3a)
El 0 < 0 < 0. (3b) Neglecting the e-tT term [a good assumption for
(41/cwT) >10], solve for the maximum value of Eo as
24
In the near vicinity of (6-q) =0, cos (d-4) may fairly 3C2T2
be represented by E0max - (
r~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~oa
)2] 4)2
(9))
L1- 2 and the consequent fractional difference between the
output peak and input peak amplitudes, referred to
Then maximum input Em, as
Em22 Eomax coTT)
El = 2 (° )2,2 0 <62) (4) for > 1 0.
Em 2 co T
;Z1
(10)
and zero everywhere else. Define Using coo = I/T as the RC network bandwidth
m¢24)2 = 6
E1(0)E()= (5) E ax 1/2 (-)2n for
E0E0max -o)w >10' (11)
Using the weighting function
12 (I/cO)2 iS
I
the same peak fractional error that occurs for
W(t) =- e-tIT t> 0 (6) a cosine wave of peak amplitude Em and frequency X
T applied to a first-order RC network with bandwidth coo.

Low-Power-Operated DC Instrument Transformers*

WILLIAM A. GEYGERt

Summary-In view of the various applications of nonlinear- transformer eliminates the considerable power dissipation (up to 5
magnetic control devices in earth-satellite equipment with solar- w) in a 5-ohm shunt resistor carrying the current to be measured.
battery supply, a low-power-operated prototype design of a minia- Smaller currents are measured with multiturn control where the
turized dc instrument transformer with single-turn or multiturn wire carrying the control current can be threaded through the window
control has been recently developed. This design combines a satu- opening for 2, 5, or 10 turns to give 5-v rated output-voltage value
rable-reactor push-pull circuit with a battery-supplied switching- for 0.5-, 0.2- or 0.1-a control current, respectively. DC voltages of
transistor magnetic-core multivibtator. the order of 1 to 100 volts can be measured indirectly by employing
When measuring a direct current in the range 0 . . 1 a, the four the current range 0 . .. 100 or 0 * * 200 Aa, control windings with
-

toroidal cores of the push-pull circuit link the wire, which carries 10,000 or 5000 turns, and a series resistor corresponding to the
this current and acts as a single-turn control winding. The corre- multiplier resistor of an ordinary dc voltmeter.
sponding dc output voltage of this circuit (0.*.*. 5 v) is polarity- In any case, the accuracy of measurements is ± 1 to 2 per cent
reversible and linearly proportional to the current to be measured. of the maximum value of the respective current or voltage range.
In this case, application of the single-turn-controlled dc instrument With multiturn control, actual response time is of the order of 100
to 500 msec. With single-turn control, half-cycle-response operating
conditions (transient response, about 8 msec), can be obtained.
* Received August 14, 1962. Presented at the 1962 Internatiolnal
Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements as Paper
Batr-oeae d. intuettasomes sdsrbdi
this paper, are quite valuable for other applications, where small
No. 2.4. size, light weight and an extremely low power drain, preferably not
t U. S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory, Silver Spring, Md. exceeding 5 mw, are of prime importance.

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
1962 Geyger: Low-Power-Operated DC Instrument Transformers 123
INTRODUCTION first step in this direction was the development of a 60-
K_HE TERM dc instrument transformer'-' has cycle-operated prototype design of a miniaturized dc
gained wide acceptance gencral for instrument transformer which permits the measurement
T
as a name

those
ae typeswe of
ae saturable-reactor
nes a geral circuits
namwhichf
of direct currents and low-frequency currents in the
permit measurement of direct currents, with a high de- range of from 0.1 ma to 10 a with an accuracy of ±0.3
'
gree of accuracy without the use of shunt resistors.4-9 . ~~~to 0.5 per cent. The meter circuit with the recorder iS
insulated
Such arrangements are based upon the inherent current- with conventional from the dc high-voltage circuit, in accordance
ac instrument-transformer tech-
transformer properties of ordinary saturable reactors
with nickel-iron-alloy core material. They have a linear niques.
input-output characteristic and provide electrical isola-
tion of direct-current circuits. Skillful design makes lt enn
With rardo th rapidyincreasngninerestgcon-
possible to reduce the imperfections of dc instrument control
aiu plctin fnniermgei
devices in earth-satellite equipment with solar-
supply, the author's activity has been devoted
tionofditimrfctskio dcsignsrmakent
transformers and the associated errors in current meas- battery recently to the development of another miniaturized
urements to the minimum and to approach very closely
type of dc instrument transformer which is battery-
the ideal operating conditions.'0
operated from a switching-transistor magnetic-core
Application of dc instrument transformers was origi- multivibrator in such a way that the respective power
nally intended for the measurement of very large bus- drain on the battery does not exceed 5 mw. Such low-
bar currents, up to about 50,000 amperes, in such a
power-operated dc instrument transformers are also quite
way that the cores of two equally rated saturable- valuable for other
reactor elements link the bus-bar which acts as a single- drain on the battery applications, where a very low power
supply is of prime importance.
turn control winding.'' A technique, however, This paper presents detailed design information and
can be applied for the indirect measurement of high dc performance characteristics of a small-size, push-pull
'imilar
voltages, up to about 10,000 v, by employing relatively type, dc instrument transformer which is 60-cycle oper-
small direct currents (in the range of 3 to 30 ma or less), ated from a correspondingly miniaturized switching-
multiturn control windings of the saturable-reactor transistor magnetic-core multivibrator with 6-v battery
elements, and a series resistor corresponding to the supply. Since the current actually drawn from the
multiplier resistor of an ordinary dc voltmeter.2 battery is about 800 ,ua, the total amount of dc power
In view of the properties and advantages of standard is less than 5 mw.
dc milliammeter ink recorders, recent research work has
been conducted toward the application of small-size
dc instrument transformers for multirange operation of FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF THE BATTERY-OPERATED
such recorders and panel-type milliammeters.1""12 A DC INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMER
General
W. Kramer, "A. simple direct-current type of instrument trans- The specific problem consisted in operating an ordi-
former having real current-transformer properties," Elektrotech. z., nary saturable reactor circuit with inherent current-
vol. 58, pp. 1309-1313; December, 1937. transformer character from a battery-supplied switch-
2 W. Kramer, "A new direct-voltage type of instrument trans-
former for the measurement of high direct voltages," Elektrotech. Z., ing-transistor magnetic-core multivibrator (static dc to
pp. I 1295-1298; December, 1938. ac power converter) in such a way that the power
W. Kramer, "Separately excited current transformer operating
as a universal-type instrument transformer for oscillographic inves- drain on the battery does not exceed 5 mw. Therefore,
tigations on alternating currents with direct-current components," actual power requirements of the saturable-reactor cir-
Elektrotech. Z., vol. 60, pp. 393-395; March, 1939.
4 U. Krabbe, "The Transducer Amplifier," Lindhska Boktrycke- cuit and those of the multivibrator must be reduced to
riet,I Orebro, Sweden, pp. 9-11; 1947. the minimum. This can be done 1) by applying a rela-
M. G. Say, "Magnetic Amplifiers and Saturable Reactors,"
George Newnes, Ltd., London, England, pp. 158-160; 1954. tively low power-supply frequency, e.g., 60 cps, 2) by
6H. F. Storm, "Magnetic Amplifiers," John Wiley and Sons, providing an extremely small cross-sectional area of
Inc., New York, N. Y., pp. 117, 167-169, 407-408; January, 1955.
7 W. A. Geyger, "Magnetic-Amplifier Circuits," McGraw-Hill the low-coercive-force, nickel-iron-alloy (Supermalloy)
Book Co., Inc., New York, N. Y., 2nd ed., pp. 9-10, 44-55, 313-314; cores and a correspondingly large number of turns of
May, 1957.
8 A. G. Milnes, "Transductors and Magnetic Amplifiers," Mac- their ac excitation windings, and 3) by using a rela-
millan and Co., Ltd., London and St. Martin's Press, New York, tively high external load resistance. Furthermore,
N. Y., pp. 231-232; 1957.
E. H. Frost-Smith, "The Theory and Design of Magnetic application of a low power-supply voltage in the range I

Amplifiers," John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N. Y., pp. 422- Of 10 to 15 v (rms) has proven to be particularly suitable
10 W. A. Geyger, "An experimental study on the ampere-turn for this purpose.
gain of ordinary saturable reactors," Trans. AIEE, vol. 80, Ote imotn deig cosdrtos r ocre
(Commun. and Electronics), pp. 173-178; May, 1961.Ote moandsg csdrtosaecnend
ll W. A. Geyger, "A miniaturized d-c instrument transformer," with proper selection of circuit configurations. If the
Proc. Special Tech. Conf. Non-Linear Magnetics and Magnetic Am- dietcreto otg ob esrdmycag
plsifiers, AJEE Special Publication T-116, pp. 130-153; September, thrent puh-ul circuitr reed
t polarity is requas tohag
12 W. A. Geyger, "Miniaturized current transformers for multi-
1959.''itpoaiythnps-ulcrutyireurdo
obai oupu poaiyta eed ntesga
range operation of milliammeter ink recorders," Trans. AIEE banotu plrty htdensonhesgl
vol. 80 (Co)mmun. and Electronics), pp. 681-689; January, 1961. polarity (duodirectionlal input-output characteristics).

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
124 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION December
In this case, two equally rated saturable-reactor
systems (the "plus-minus system" and the "minus-plus
system") may be back-to-back connected in such a way
that the dc voltages produced by them across the load A
are in opposition. Other significant advantages of push- + - +
pull-type saturable-reactor circuits reside in the facts
that thc input-output characteristic passes through the IC
origin, that linearity of this characteristic and zero 'EYc N12ST
stability are considerably improved, and that actual T
magnitude of current drawn from the ac power supply ICC AA"
is substantially independent of changes in magnitude -
and polarity of the current or voltage to be measured.
These additional advantages are so important that a __v__
four-core push-pull circuit has been provided for the L-,-----------___
BATTERY -SllPP,LIED INRUMFNT TRANS;BORPME
U-C US
solution of the specific problem, as outlined above, even MULJLTI I.'IBRATCS WITH SINGLE-I URN CCN-TIOL
in those cases where duodirectional input-output char- Fig. 1-Battery-operated dc instrument transformer with single-
acteristic is not required, i.e., when the current or volt- turn control (NVc l) providing the control-current range 0.*.*±
age to be measured does not change its polarity. 1 ampere.
From the many possible circuit configurations of
switching-transistor magnetic-core multivibrators the with Supermalloy 2-mil tape core (inside diameter = 1.00
conventional form of common-emitter circuit has been in, outside diameter = 1.25 .in, tape width = 0.25 in) and
selected. In order to minimize the magnetizing current two bias resistors, RB'= RB'"= 50,000 ohms. The elec-
requirements, mean diameter and cross-sectional area trodes of Q' and Q" are connected in the usual way
of the nickel-iron-alloy (Supermalloy) core of this cir- (Fig. 1) with primary windings Np, NpR (2200 turns,
cuit have been reduced to the minimum, and corre- each, of No. 40 wire) and feedback windings NF' ,NF"
spondingly large numbers of turns of primary windings (1100 turns, each, of No. 40 wire) of the core of SR.
and feedback windings have been provided, in accord- The two equally rated saturable-reactor systems with
ance with the given values of battery voltage (6 v) and matched Supermalloy 2-mil tape cores (inside diameter
oscillation frequency of the multivibrator (60 cps). = 1.25 in, tape width = 0.125 in, 26 wraps, each) have
series-opposing-connected ac output windings NL', NL"
Battery-Operated dc Instrument Transformer with Single- (10,000 turns, each, of No. 38 wire) and series-aiding-
Turn Control connected dc bias windings NB', NB"' (5000 turns, each,
Fig. 1 illustrates the combination of a conventional of No. 38 wire). These systems are combined, in this
saturable-reactor push-pull circuit of the bias-excitation case, by means of the saturating transformer ST having
type,13'14 with a battery-supplied switching-transistor two separate secondary windings, NA' and NA"' (4400
magnetic-core multivibrator. This arrangement makes turns, each, of No. 40 wire). The respective supply volt-
it possible to measure a polarity-reversible direct cur- ages, EA' and EA" (about 12 v, rms) have a sufficiently
rent Ic with the range 0 . . 1 a, by means of the mag- low value so that they do not saturate the cores with
netomotive force around a wire carrying this current, IB= 0, and Ic=0. The substantially constant dc bias
without using a power-consuming shunt resistor. The magnetization produced by the bias current IB drives
corresponding polarity-reversible dc output voltage EL the cores toward saturation so that, with Ic-=0, the
across load resistor RL=200,000 ohms, varies in the push-pull circuit is balanced, and its dc output voltage
range 0 . 5 v and is linearly proportional to Ic. This EL is zero.
dc instrument transformer with single-turn control is, of The four cores link the wire, which carries the control
course, also suitable for those applications where the current, Ic =0 1 a, and act as a single-turn wind- -

direct current to be measured, e,g., the total current ing (Nc= 1), as indicated in Fig. 1; and the bias wind-
drawn from a solar battery, does not change its polarity. ings, NB' and NB" (5000 turns, each, of No. 38 wire)
A common-emitter-type multivibrator circuit, sup- are evidently connected so that a positive control cur-
plied from a 6-v battery, operates as a static dc power rent Ic assists the bias current IB in the plus-minus
converter with an efficiency of about 80 per cent. system while IC opposes IB in the minus-plus system to
This circuit consists essentially of two p-n-p transistors, obtain push-pull action. The resultant voltage drop
Q', Q" (type 2 N 43-A), a saturating transformer ST (load voltage) EL across series-mixing resistors, RS~ and
13 W. A. Geyger, "Fundamentals of magnetic amplifiers for the
techniques of measurement and control,"
R8S'
(about 33,000 ohms, each) is proportional to the
Wissensclhaftliche Verof- actual resultant output current, IL' -IL". Quiescent-
fentlichungen aus den Siemens- Werken, vol. 19, pp. 249-252; Novem- current values (actual values of In' and IL"t with
14 W. A. Geyger, "Magnetic amplifiers of the balance detector Ic=O0) are here conveniently adjusted with the series
type-their basicl 7pri(nciples, tcharacteristicus, aynd papplic0ations," resistor RB in the bias circuit; and perfect zero adj ust-
October, 1951. See Fig. 29. ment may be achieved by varying the ratio of the bias-

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
1962 Geyger: Low-Power-Operated DC Instrument Transformers 125
circuit shunt resistors, RN, and RN" (about 50,000 - WORKING RANGE -
ohms, each). In order to derive a pure dc output volt- ±25 -1-
R~~S L 5L
(EL LE)
+250

age, EL = ±5 v, from the push-pull circuit, a EL= 2 Rs + R5

properly rated shunt capacitor, CL =0.1 ,u,f acting as a +20c SL +4
filter, may be connected across the load resistor, as Li
shown in Fig. 1. L 5 K -
The almost linear relation between direct control a 0 +loo- +2
("primary") current Ic and the average values of full- _ IL Q L 0
wave-rectified load ("secondary") currents, IL, andIL", o <' + 50---
I'> +1
is based upon the inherent current-transformer character ~
(law of equal ampere-turns"5) of ordinary saturable re- / <

actors with rectangular-hysteresis-loop core material. -50 - - - / _

With NL'=NL"=NL, NB'=NB"=NB, and NC =NC0' a IL°
"L
NC = 1, these average values are given by the ex- d< L 1D
2 D
pressions: + -<_ - -150- Al" ~ -1--3 La

IL' IQ' ± AIL IBANBLN± IcNC <h -200 b coto cr I

NL -<>±.±~ 330W
NL NL Fig. 2 Average values of
~~~indvda
~~~~ odcret IL' I"reultn
load
currentI'I" an oupu votg0La ucino
'BNB ±11( CONTROL CURRENT Ic AMPERES
NL NL Fig. 2-Average values of individual load currents IL', IL", resultant
load current IL' -IL", and output voltage EL as a function of
IBNB T IcNc the polarity-reversible control current Ic.
IL" = IQ" T AlL"1 =
NL
NB 1 working range, marked in Fig. 2 by dotted lines, the
'B IL', IC -,
NL NL
(2) output current IL" begins to increase again. Because of
this the arrangement must be so designed that the maxi-
does never lie outside the working
nium value of Itc
where IQ,-T
and -I, are the quiescent-current values (the range. However, order to minimize the power require-
in
individ2ual load currents IcR
with =), and AIL AlL ments of the push-pull circuit, actual magnitudeh Of B iS
-AIL are the respective load-current increments, in the adjusted to be just large enough to fulfill this condition.
linear region of the input-output characteristic. When Zero adjustment (EL=o with Ic=0) can be easily
employing a series mixing network (Fig. 1) with mixing achieved by varying actual ratio of the shunt resistors,
resistors, Rs, =Rs,, ==Rs, and load resistor RL, the RN' and RN", of the bias windings, NB' and NB".-
I2L, IL", and IL = EL/RL is given
relationship between It is to be noted that these shunt resistors have the
by the equation16 additional purpose to secure well-defined operating

IL =(IL' - IL") - + 2AIL

Rs Rslconditions
of the two saturable-reactor systems with
- (3) regard to the effects of even-harmonic currents. That is,
2Rh + RL -r -
2Ro Rbl both systems do operate here with "free even-harmonic
currents" ("natural" magnetization conditions)'17719
orolbecause the even-harmonic currents can flow freely
ILB=, + NC Rs 2 Rs through the closed-loop circuits NB'RN' and NB'F'RN",
Nsistor
Lc 2R)
RLat
Lthe +ONLthsysRems +peraetof
RL single-turn-controlled ordinary saturable reactors,
respectively. This is in contrast to the mode of operation

Thus, the average value of polarity-reversible output which generally operate with "suppressed even-harmonic
voltage, EL = ILRL, is linearly proportional to the con- currents" ("forced" magnetization conditions).i7-i9
trol current I'c.This is true, if the constant bias current Battery-Operated dc Instrument Transormer with Mqulti-
'B, derived conveniently from feedback windings NFr, Tur Conro
NF" of the multivibrator, is adjusted (by means of series 22urn
Control

regionm,of.cth,eir input77-outp characteristics, as9, illus- m tStorafor ser (. 1)-65, with73-7=04- 1 a andEL

tratedgr
in the . scemai
. diara
of13 Fig. 2 .. =0 Gey5ev, elimcinte,se the cosierbl powerdisipatio

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
126 IRE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION December
it is, of course, not permissible to introduce such rela- Fig. 4(a) shows the input-output characteristic, EL =f
tively large power losses by an arrangement which (Ie), of the push-pull circuit, measured with 5000-turn
serves merely for measurement of the currents derived control windings. This duodirectional characteristic,
from solar batteries. obtained with the quiescent-current value IQ, =Q,,
These considerations apply equally well to measure- = 125 ,ua, corresponds to that of the schematic diagram
ment of smaller direct currents, where the wire carrying of Fig. 2.
Ic can be threaded through the window opening for 2, 5, Fig. 4(b) presents the measured output voltage, EL
or 10 turns to give the 5-v rated output-voltage value for = ILRL, as a function of the battery voltage EDC with
0.5-, 0.2-, or 0.1-a control current, respectively (multi- control current Ic as a parameter. Within the wide range
turn control). DC voltages of the order of 1 to 100 v can of from 4.5 to 8.0 v, operation of the push-pull circuit is
be measured indirectly by employing the current range not influenced by changes in battery voltage EDC.
0 .
100 or 0 . . 200 ,a, control windings with 10,000
or 5000 turns, and a series resistor corresponding to the 03 0.3=O
multiplier resistor of an ordinary dc voltmeter. Smaller A
voltages may be measured in this way by correspond- 0
ingly reducing the number of turns of the control wind- ii 0,000 OHMS
ings. Z
I0.1 0.1 ~~~~~~~~~~ 0,00 CHOS

In a modified arrangement, control windings with a -o

series resistor are provided for indirect measurement of 0 0
S(uPPLY VLAEE
0- 00
VOLTS CONTROL CURN
0.2 (-
A
03
variable voltages, EC. This form of the battery-operated (a) (b)
dc inistrument transformer permits one to derive a
Fig. 3-Static characteristics of the individual two-core saturable-
polarity-reversible output voltage, EL =0 . . 5 v, reactor circuits, measured with 5000-turn control windings and
which is linearly proportional to the input voltage, e.g., sinusoidal 60-cycle supply voltage, EA'. (a) Voltage-current char-
E= 0 . 1 v. It also secures electrical isolation be- acteristic, IL=f(EA'), with control current Ic as a parameter.
(b) Input-output characteristic, IL' =f(IC), with external-load
tween the control circuit and the output circuit with resistance RL' as a parameter.
load resistor RL.
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BATTERY- 0 4 4
OPERATED DC INSTRUMENT TRANSFORMERS
Static Characteristics 2[ A, oC). oI 9roA
In order to obtain basic information on the behavior ,+
0 as
of the small-size saturable-reactor elements and their >o
ampere-turn-handling capacity, some preliminary meas- - /-05MA
urements have been made concerning the static charac- -, /
teristics of the individual two-core systems. These -O
measurements, made with 5000-turn control windings < /c 0d00MA-
and sinusoidal 60-cycle supply voltage, are in accord- 0 20sos
c MA-
ance with conventional procedures, as applied for testing -0.2 -01 0 00.2 4 5 6 F 7
of ordinary saturable reactors and magnetic amplifiers.20 (a) (b)
Fig. 3(a) shows the average value of load current IL'
as a functlon
function of supply voltage EA'
EAT with
wlth control current Fig. 4-Static characteristics of the battery-operated dc instrument
transformer with 5000-turn control windings. (a) Input-output
Ic as a parameter (external load resistance RL' = 30,000 characteristic EL =f(IC). (b) Output voltage EL as a function of
ohms). Within certain ranges, current ratio IL/ IC the battery voltage EDC with control current Ic as a parameter.
changes only slightly with relatively large variations of
the supply voltage. Dynamic Performance
Fig. 3(b) presents the input-output relationship, IL' Measurements have shown that, with multiturn
-f(Ic), with external load resistance RL' as a parameter conitrol, actual response time is of the order of 100 to 500
(supply voltage EA' = 12 V, rms). These characteristics msec. Such a dynamic performance is considered to be
indicate that, within certain limits, the current ratio satisfactory in view of respective applications, i.e.,
IL'jIe also is substantially independent of the actual measurement of battery voltages, where high speed of
value of RL'. This is true, if the external load resistance response is of minor importance. However, with single-
does not exceed a certain value which is determined by turn control (Fig. 1), half-cycle-response operating con-
the applied maximum value of load current IL', e.g., ditions may be obtained. That is, with the supply fre-
RL'-=30 kohms with IL', max=200 ,ua, RL'-=60 kohms quency fp=60 cps, the saturable-reactor circuit does
with IL', max = 110 ,ua, and RL' = 90 kohms with IL', reach 100 per cent of its final steady-state output volt-
max= 75 ,ua. age, EL, about 8 msec after the transient signal current
20M. A. Geyger, "Magnetic amplifiers with orthonol tape
cores," Proc. NEC, vol. 6, pp. 59-67; October, 1950.
Ici ple;adE rp t eoaot8me fe
the signal current is suddenly removed.

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
1962
Performance of the Switching- Transistor Magnetic-Core
Mulltivibrator
The oscillation frequency of the common-emitter-type
multivibrator2' is given by
where EDC is the battery voltage (volts), Bs is the sat-
uration-flux density of the core material (gausses), AST
is the effective cross-sectional area (cm2) of the core of
the saturating transformer ST, and NP = NP, = NP,, is
the number of turns of the primary (collector) windings
of ST. Furthermore, the average value of the output
voltages, EA =EA" =EA, across the two separate sec-
ondary windings, NA' and NA", is linearly proportional
to the battery voltage EDC. Consequently, the average
value of the supply voltages EA of the two saturable-
reactor systems is linearly proportional to the supply
frequency: EA=constant X fp. Therefore, actual flux
density in the cores of the four saturable-reactor ele-
ments, B = constant X EA/fP, will be substantially inde-
pendent of the usual variations of the dc supply voltage
EDC. As a result, the stability of operation of such
battery-operated dc instrument transformers will be
improved correspondingly.
The current IDC (Fig. 1) actually drawn from the
battery is the resultant of two components
'DC = IDC,O ± IDC,A (6)
where IDC,O represents the supply current of the multi-
vibrator circuit without load, and IDC,A is the increment,
which is produced by loading the multivibrator with the
two saturable-reactor systems IL', IL" and their com-
mon bias circuit IB. Since the total output current of
these systems (1) and (2):
IL' + IL" = IQ' ± AIL' + IQ" + AIL" 2IQ (7) disturbing the performance characteristics. For ex-
is independent of magnitude and polarity of the control- ample, tape-wound cores having an inside diameter of
21 G. H. Royer, "A switching transistor dc to ac converter ings with No. 42 wire (instead of No. 38 wire) may be
having an output frequency proportional to the dc input voltage," provided to minimize actual size and weight of the final
Trans. AIEE, vol. 74 (Commun. and Electronics), pp. 322-324;
July, 1955.
Geyger: Low-Power-Operated DC Instrument Transformers
EDc
p X 108
4BSA,STNP
Thus, the total amount of dc power, with EDC =6 v, is
less than 5 mw.
Finally, it is to be noted that the core size of the sat-
urating transformer ST is minimized with respect to
the required output-power capability of the multi-
vibrator (about 10 mw with 60 cps). It is possible, how-
ever, to reduce considerably both inside diameter and
wire size of the four saturable-reactor elements, without
0.75 in, 50 wraps of 1-mil Supermalloy tape, and wind-
127
winding ampere-turns, IcNC=IC NC, and because
bias current IB is also constant, the multivibrator oper-
ates with a substantially constant load.
Obviously, the supply-current increment IDC,A, de-
fined by (6), is proportional to the total power require-
(5) ment PA of the two saturable-reactor output circuits,
and the bias circuit:
PA = EA'IL} + EA"IL" + EBIB = 2EAIQ + EBIB (8)
where EB is the supply voltage of the bias circuit. As
indicated in a preceding part of this paper, the amount
of supply power PA has been minimized by proper design
of the components of these circuits.
The design of a correspondingly miniaturized multi-
vibrator with minimized power requirements, i.e., with
minimized value of the supply-current component IDC,O
(8), may be based upon the assumption that the multi-
vibrator will operate with an efficiency of about 80 per
cent. In this case, it can be assumed that IDC,O=0.25
XIDc,A. The power requirements of the multivibrator
have been minimized, as mentioned already, by apply-
ing a sufficiently small cross-sectional area (AST) of the
SuLpermalloy 2-mil tape core of the saturating trans-
former ST, and by providing a correspondingly large
number of turns of its windings. As a result, the per-
formance of the multivibrator (with RB' =RB" = 50,000
ohms) corresponds to the measured supply-current
values: IDC,O = 160 yua, IDC,A = 640 ,ua, and EDC = 800 ,ua.
construction.

Authorized licensd use limted to: Imperial Coleg Lond. Downlade on June 07,21 at 19:34 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.