Micropower CMOS
Oscillator, Draws Only 0.5ua - If truly low power oscillators interest you, this circuit draws a mere 2 microwatts (500nA) from a 6v battery. It uses a very inexpensive C-MOS IC to produce a frequency of 2Hz. However, by changing the component values you can push it to 300Hz. . . Circuit by Dave Johnson P.E.-June, 2000
Oscillator Draws 2 Nanoamps - If you have hundreds of touch switches that need an excitation signal, then this circuit is what you need. Its 20KHz 20v peak to peak output signal can supply up to 3 watts of touch switch excitation power . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-July, 2006
Oscillator with Ultra Low Current - Here is a challenge. Design an astable oscillator which draws only a few nanoamps of current from a +3v supply. I gave this some thought and came up with the circuit below. I used some pretty standard parts except for three surface mounted 1000M resist . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David A. Johnson P.E.-March, 2009
Precision Ultra Lower Power Oscillator - This circuit works much like the classic 555 timer, but draws only about 1.5 microamps from a 3 volt battery. It is highly stable under varying temperature and supply voltages. . . Circuit by David A. Johnson P.E.-May, 2000
Ten-Second Ultra Lower Power Oscillator - This circuit works much like the classic 555 timer, but draws only about 1.5 microamps from a 3 volt battery. It is highly stable under varying temperature and supply voltages. . . Circuit by Dave Johnson P.E.-May, 2000
Ultra Low Current Oscillator - Here is a challenge. Design an astable oscillator which draws only a few nanoamps of current from a +3v supply. I gave this some thought and came up with the circuit below. I used some pretty standard parts except for three surface mounted 1000M resistors I had on hand. The oscillator frequency measured a low 1Hz frequency and the average current was a very low 3 nanoamps. If I had some higher resistors values handy, I think I could have gotten the current down below one nanoamp. . . Circuit by David A. Johnson P.E.-March, 2009
Ultra Low Current Oscillator #4 - The circuit below was inspired by a programmable unjunction transistor (PUJT) circuit sent to me by Karl Isbrecht. In Karl’s circuit, the unijunction circuit made click sounds in a speaker and consumed very little power. His circuit reminded me that a PU. . . Circuit by David Johnson P.E.-January, 2010
Ultra Low Power Astable Multivibrator - Taking advantage of some new voltage comparators, this circuit can produce a nice square wave signal while drawing only 1.6 micro amps. With the inclusion of a diode, the circuit can also produce short pulses instead of a square wave signal. . . Circuit by Dave Johnson P.E.-December, 2004
Ultra Lower Power Oscillator - This circuit works much like the classic 555 timer, but draws only about 1.5 microamps from a 3 volt battery. It is highly stable under varying temperature and supply voltages. . . Circuit by David Johnson P.E.-May, 2000
VCO from CMOS
Schmitt Trigger IC - By changing the supply voltage fed to a classic 4584 Schmitt trigger type oscillator, the oscillator frequency can be changed over a range of 50:1. A 74HCU04 inverter is used at the output of the 4584 to maintain a constant TTL logic level signal . . . Hobby Circuit designed by David Johnson P.E.-March, 2002
Version 4 of a Ultra Low Current Oscillator - The circuit below was inspired by a programmable unjunction transistor (PUJT) circuit sent to me by Karl Isbrecht. In Karl’s circuit, the unijunction circuit made click sounds in a speaker and consumed very little power. His circuit reminded me that a PU . . . Hobby Circuit designed by Dave Johnson P.E.-January, 2010
Very Low Power Astable Multivibrator - This classic circuit draws only 200 nanoamps from a 1.5v supply. . . Circuit by David A. Johnson P.E.-June, 2000 |