November 23, 2015, 3:37 pm
Capacitor ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) measurement is very useful in diagnosing issues with power supplies. In linear power supplies, a high ESR filter capacitor may cause excessive ripple current on the voltage rails and can cause the capacitor to overheat due to its increased resistance. In low dropout linear supplies, the ESR of the output capacitors affect the loop stability and excessive ESR in these output capacitors can make the power supply unstable, which in turn can lead to out-of-tolerance voltage being applied to the load and could cause future damages. In switching mode power supplies, the ESR of capacitors are even more critical. In this blog post I will discuss how to measure the ESR of a capacitor using a function generator and a multimeter. A short video on this topic is also included towards the end. Continue reading ‘ESR Measurement Using Multimeter and Function Generator’ »
September 26, 2015, 8:46 pm
Last week, I posted a YouTube video explaining how to use a function generator to test an unknown transformer. I have received quite a few questions since so I thought I would explain this topic a bit more in detail here. Continue reading ‘Testing Unknown Transformers with Function Generator’ »
April 18, 2013, 6:21 pm
I did a teardown of a BK Precision 4011 5MHz function generator a few weeks ago. Like most of basic function generators in old days, BK 4011 does not offer frequency sweep as an option. What it does include is a VCG (Voltage controlled Generator) input, which essentially is just a VCO and it can be used in conjunction with an external sweep generator to generate frequency sweeps. Continue reading ‘Building a Sweep Generator for BK 4011’ »
April 4, 2013, 10:00 am
I got a used BK Precision 4011 5MHz function generator recently. The 4011 model is rather old and this particular unit was manufactured back in 1996. But BK precision still makes a similar model (4011A) which is identical to the older 4011 spec-wise except for the inclusion of an additional INV button for inverting the output waveform. Continue reading ‘BK 4011 Function Generator Teardown’ »