Pages

Monday, 10 May 2021

Noise in "Jelly Bean" Regulators - Part 3

I repeated the exercise with a 78L08 and noise fell from 480mVpp to 30mVpp. Two surprises - the 78L08 was less noisy than the LN6206. I had expected it would be noisier since higher output voltages tend to have more noise for the 78Lxx parts. And apart from the 78L08 being quieter than I expected my test apparatus is not perfect. 

I had expected that the capacitance multiplier would reduce noise by the same factor as it did with the LN6206 ( 30 fold, 1800mV / 60mV ). But in this case I was only getting a 16 fold reduction (480/30). I checked and the unterminated amplifier was producing ~1.5mVpp on the CRO. However, when I put a 75 ohm termination on the input BNC the noise increased to ~30mVpp. Which requires more investigation.

Still, the capacitance multiplier makes a substantial difference and will become a standard inclusion on future analogue projects.

Flush with some sort of success I put a TL431 onto the test board with no capacitors anywhere in circuit and with an approximate output of 8 volts. 

There was no change in the 30mV of noise on the CRO. So while I cannot quantify how quiet a TL431 is, it appears to be a substantial improvement on the 78L08 alone. I am also unable to determine if the TL431, with capacitors, is an improvement. Or indeed if a capacitance multiplier is worthwhile.

But I'm not beaten yet.

73's


No comments:

Post a Comment