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Experiment No.

ASTABLE MULTIVIBRATOR
Aim:
To design and setup an astable multivibrator and study the collector and base waveforms

Components and Equipments required:


Transistors, resistors, capacitors, CRO, dc supply, bread board etc

Circuit diagram

12
V1

5.6k
Rc1

Vc1

100k
Rb1

100k
Rb2

5.6k
Rc2

C1
10n IC=0

Vc2

10n IC=0
C2
Q1
BC107

Vb1

Design
Select 2 identical BC 107 transistors
Let Vcc=12V , Ic =2mA ,hfe = 100
Design for Rc1 and Rc2
Assume initially Q1 is on and Q2 is off
VceQ1 =0.2V
Rc1 =(Vcc VceQ1)/Ic1
= (12 -0.2)/2mA = 5.9K (choose 5.6K std value)
Take Rc1 =Rc2 =5.6K
Design for Rb1 and Rb2
To keep the transistor in saturation ,

Vb2

Q2
BC107

Ibmin =Ic/hfe = 2mA/100 =20uF


Let Ib = 5* Ibmin
Ib =5*20uA = 0.1mA
Rb1 = (Vcc Vbe2) / Ib2
= (12 -0.7) /0.1mA = 113 K (choose 100 K std value)
Take Rb1 = Rb2 =100K
Design of C1 and C2
Let the freq of oscillation be 1KHz , T = 1ms
T1=T2 = 0.5ms (Assuming 50% duty cycle)
T1 =0.693 Rb1C1
0.5 ms =0.693 *100K *C1
C1 = 0.007 uF (choose C1 =0.01uF )
C1 =C2 =0.01uF (10nF)
Note : If T1 is not equal to T2 (unequal duty cycles) C1 and C2 will not be equal because the
charging and discharging time changes.
Theory
Astable multivibrator is called as free running oscillator. It is used to generate a square
wave of desired frequency and duty cycle. It does not have a stable state. The states of the
transistors keep on switching depending on the charging and discharging time of the timing
capacitors.
Initially consider that Q1(cut-off) is off and Q2 is on (Saturation). The collector current Ic2
flowing through Rc2 will be maximum and Vc2 gradually approaches the saturation voltage
(0.2V).Hence this VC2 is coupled to Vb1 through C2 and hence the base of Q1 doesnt get
required voltage to keep Q1 in the ON state. The current Ic1 gradually decreases to 0 and Vc1
becomes almost equal to Vcc. Hence Q2 goes to deep saturation while Q1 goes to cutoff. This
state is called the quasi stable state as it doesnt remain so for ever. At the same time C2 will
charge towards Vcc through Rb2 and Q2.As the voltage at the left side of C2 becomes greater
than 0.7 V (the voltage required to turn on the transistor Q1), Q1 becomes on and Ic1 starts to
increase. When Icmax is reached Q1 becomes on and Q2 becomes off. The time duration in
which Q1 remains on is given by T1 =0.693*Rb1*C1 and T2 = 0.693*Rb2*C2 due to this
charging and discharging the collector voltage switches between saturation and cutoff (0.2V to
12 V).Hence square wave is obtained at the two collectors.
If Rb1=Rb2 =R and C1=C2=C then the time period of square wave is given by
T1+T2 =T =1.38 RC
Procedure
1. Setup the circuit with DC supply and check the biasing conditions
2. Observe the waveforms at collector and base of transistors Q1 and Q2.
3. Plot the waveforms and measure the frequency of oscillations.

Vb1 / V

-2
-6
-10

Vc1 / V

10
6
2

Vc2 / V

10
6
2

Vb2 / V

EXPECTED WAVEFORMS

-2
-6
-10

Time/mSecs

Result
The astable multivibrator is set up for a frequency of ---------------The duty time T1= ------, T2= --------

9
1mSecs/div

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