Activity 6

Cascaded Systems: Transformer Coupled Circuit

Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

To
To
To
To
To
To

observe transformer coupled circuit characteristics.

compare circuit effects of 1st staged and 2nd staged transformer coupled circuits.
measure voltage inputs and outputs Vi1 , Vi2 , Vo1 and Vo2 .
calculate the voltage gain Av1 and Av2 of each stage.
compare the input and output phases of the circuit.
graph the Bode plot of the circuit.

Introduction:
Transformer coupling is generally employed when the load is small. It is mostly used for
power amplification. A coupling transformer is used to feed the output of one stage to the input of
the next stage. In general, the last stage of a multistage amplifier is the power stage. Here, a
concentrated effort is made to transfer maximum power to the output device e.g. a loudspeaker.
For maximum power transfer, the impedance of power source should be equal to that of load.
Usually, the impedance of an output device is a few ohms whereas the output impedance of
transistor is several hundred times this value. In order to match the impedance, a step-down
transformer of proper turn ratio is used. The impedance of secondary of the transformer is made
equal to the load impedance and primary impedance equal to the output impedance of transistor.

Materials:
Breadboard

Connectors

Resistors

Transformers

Function Generator

NPN transistors

Multitester

Oscilloscope

DC Power Supply

Procedure:
1.) Construct the circuit below:

Capacitors

2.) Perform a DC analysis (without the transformers connected) on each circuit to get IE1 , IE2 ,
re1 and re2 . Record the values on the table below.
3.) Perform an AC analysis (with the transformers connected) and obtain Av1 and Av2 .
Record the values on the table below.
4.) Make a Bode Plot of the circuit.

Results:
DC Analysis
IE1
IE2
rE1
rE2
AC Analysis
V1
V2
V3
V4
Vo
Av1
Av2

0.706 mA
0.706 mA
36.82 ohms
36.82 ohms

203.916 V
2.568 mV
2.576 V
44.540 V
2.573 V
12.59
17.29

Graphs:

Vi(red) and V1(blue)

Vi(red) and V2(blue)

Vi(red) and V3(blue)

Vi(red) and V4(blue)

Vi(red) and Vo(blue)

Conclusion:
Unlike the RC coupled circuit which is connected by capacitors, the Transforme r
Coupled circuit is connected by transformers. Since the transformers act as shorted during DC
analysis, we can independently analyze the circuit. By this, we can obtain necessary values, such
us rE that is essential in AC analysis.
As observe from the values in the table, the transformer can increase or decrease the value
of the voltage depending on the turn ratio, N, of each transformer. When N1 is greater than N2,
then it is step-down, while if N2 is greater that N1, it is step-up. In calculations, both stages is
important to the other because the circuit needs to be biased in reverse for impedance matching
and forward to be able to obtain the voltage gain.
Since the configuration of the two amplifiers is common emitter it is expected that there is
an increase in the value of voltage. This is seen in V1 and V2 from the first stage and V3 and V4
from the second stage. But since the transformers are in step down, the value of the final output
became smaller.
The output of the amplifier is coupled to the next stage or to the load by a transformer.
2
2
With this, the overall circuit gain will be increased, therefore 1 = 1 , and also impedance
matching can be achieved. But such transformer coupled amplifiers will not have broad frequency
response i.e., (f2 f1) is small since inductance of the transformer windings will be large. So
transformer coupling is done for power amplifier circuits, where impedance matching is critical
criterion for maximum power to be delivered to the load.