HANDS-ON RADIO

Experiment #4—Active Filters

Amplifiers are great, but where op-amps really prove their feedback path (the parallel combination of Rf and C f) is one-
worth is in more advanced circuits that are difficult to execute half of the input resistance, Ri. This occurs when the reac-
with discrete transistors. A ham’s radio shack is full of filters, tance of C f equals Rf. The design equations for our low-pass
many of which are based on the op-amp. This month, we’ll filter are:
take a look at two of the simplest filters and one that’s a little Cf = 1/2πfcRf and f c = 1/2πCfRf [1]
more complex.
Let’s try it!
Terms to Learn
Testing the Low-Pass Filter
• Cutoff Frequency––The frequency, fc, at which the filter
• Design the amplifier to have a passband gain of 1, so
output voltage falls to 1/ 2 or 70.7% of its peak output. At this Rf = Rin. Use a value of 10 kΩ. For an f c of 3 kHz, Cf = 1/2π
frequency, the power of the output signal has been cut in half. (3 kHz)(10 kΩ) = 5.3 nF. Use the closest standard value of
• Low, High and Band-Pass Filters––Low-pass filters at- 5.6 nF, which will result in an fc of 2.8 kHz. (Don’t forget the
tenuate signals with frequencies above the cutoff frequency. power supply bypass capacitors when building the circuit.)
High-pass filters do the opposite (attenuate below cutoff). • Confirm that the filter has unity-gain at dc by using a
Band-pass filters pass a range of signal frequencies, but at- 1 kΩ potentiometer to apply a variable dc voltage as in the
tenuate signals outside that range, called the passband. previous experiment. Use a ±12 V power supply across the
• Q––The ratio of a filter’s center frequency to the band- potentiometer.
width of its passband. Higher-Q means a narrower passband • Use the function generator to apply a 1 Vp-p sine wave at
for a given center frequency. 10 Hz to the filter input. If you are using a DMM to measure
• Roll-off––The gradual reduction in signal amplitude be- signal voltage, this is 0.35 VRMS. Measure the input and out-
yond a filter’s cutoff frequency. put voltage at 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and
5000 Hz.
The Low-Pass Filter • Find fc by varying the signal frequency until output volt-
The amplifier circuits we built last month can amplify sig- age is 0.7 Vp-p (or 0.25 VRMS). It’s unlikely that fc will be
nals all the way from dc to the limits of the op-amp, more than exactly 2.8 kHz because the actual values of Rf and Cf are some-
1 MHz. But what if we don’t want to amplify all those fre- what different than their labeled values.
quencies—perhaps just those in the communication audio • Change the filter’s passband gain to 2.2 by increasing Rf
range below 3 kHz? That requires an amplifier whose gain to 22 kΩ. Measure the output voltage from 1000 to 5000 Hz.
changes with frequency, or a low-pass filter. What happened to f c? As Rf increases, the frequency at which
the reactance of C f balances Rc decreases. To restore f c, Cf
We’ll start with the unity-gain amplifier (refer to Figure 3
will have to be decreased by the same amount as Rf increased—
in last month’s column). Remember that the op-amp output to 5.6 nF / 2.2 = 2.5 nF. Replace Cf with the closest standard
must balance the input current (Vin / Ri) with an equal current value of 2.7 nF and see if fc is back where it belongs.
through the feedback component, Rf. What if Rf was replaced
with components whose impedance changed with frequency? High-Pass Filters
Then the op-amp’s output voltage would also have to change You can also make gain “roll off” at low frequencies with
with frequency to keep the currents balanced. components that cause the balancing function of the op-amp
That’s just what is happening in Figure 1, where capacitor Cf to reduce its output voltage below the cutoff frequency as
has been placed across Rf. The reactance of Cf (X =1/2πfc) gets shown in Figure 2. As frequency decreases, the reactance of
smaller with frequency. That means the impedance of the feed- Ci increases, reducing input current. Balancing current thus
back path between the op-amp’s inverting terminal and output takes less output voltage and the filter’s output will decrease
also gets smaller with frequency. The lower impedance means along with input frequency. Following similar reasoning, the
that less output voltage design equations for the high-pass filter are:
is required to balance the
input current and the Ci = 1/ 2πf cRi and
circuit’s output will f c = 1/2πCiRi [2]
decrease for high- Gain in the passband is
frequency signals. This still the same, –Rf/Ri.
is a low-pass filter.
We only want to am- Creating a Band-
plify communications Pass Filter
audio, so the cutoff fre- Continuing with the
quency, f c , should be communications audio
about 3 kHz. In this cir- theme, it’s usually
cuit, fc is reached when desired to attenuate
the impedance in the Figure 1––A low-pass filter. frequencies below Figure 2––A high-pass filter.

H. Ward Silver, NØAX ! 22916 107th Ave SW, Vashon, WA 98070 ! [email protected]
May 2003 59
Figure 3––A band-pass filter. Figure 4––A multiple-feedback band-pass filter.

300 Hz. We can combine high-pass and low-pass functions as

in Figure 3. This circuit has a cutoff frequency, fcl and fch, at
each end of the passband. We already have f ch from our low-
pass filter. For an f cl of 300 Hz:
CI = 1/2π(300 Hz)(10 kΩ) = 53 nF
We’ll use the closest standard value of 56 nF. Let’s build it!
Testing Band-Pass Filter #1
• Restore the low-pass filter circuit to its original configu-
ration with two 10 kΩ resistors. Add the 56 nF capacitor in
series with Rin.
• Measure input and output voltage between 10 and
5000 Hz. Determine the lower cutoff frequency as before.
Figure 5––Listening to your filter circuit.
A Better Band-Pass Filter
More advanced designs have a much steeper rolloff above Listening to Your Filters
and below the cutoff frequencies. The passband can be nar-
rowed, amplification can be combined with filtering functions. All this measuring is fine, but it’s more fun to actually use
There are a number of filter types that achieve these goals. your circuits for a practical purpose. Figure 5 shows how to
Band-pass filters have two additional parameters that de- route your rig’s received audio through the filter circuit so that
fine how the filter affects the input signals. The first is the you can hear the effect of the filter using headphones from a
filter’s frequency of peak response, also called the “center fre- portable music player. Set your rig to use its widest filter (usu-
quency,” and abbreviated fo. The second is a measure, called ally “AM”) and then listen to the filter output. The op-amp
“Q” of the filter’s passband relative to fo. (The symbol Q is can’t drive a very big load, so keep the audio output level low
also used in other related measurements, but it only refers to to avoid distortion.
the shape of the filter passband here.)
Suggested Reading
Q = f o / (fch – fcl) [3]
Higher values of Q mean that the filter’s response is get- The 2003 ARRL Handbook, pp 16.1-16.2, 16.28-16.29;
ting narrower or sharper. The quantity fch – f cl is the filter’s Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics, chapter 5, sections
bandwidth. 5.01-5.05. One of the best books for hobbyists on active fil-
Figure 4 shows a “multiple feedback” band-pass filter, so- ters is Don Lancaster’s Active Filter Cookbook.
called because there are two feedback paths from the output The ARRL Web site for this series is www.arrl.org/tis/info/
through R f and C f. Although there are many methods of de- html/hands-on-radio/.
signing this circuit, we’ll use the “Equal-C” method in which
both Ci and Cf are given equal values. After fo and Q are cho- Shopping List
sen, the resistor values are then calculated. The filter’s gain is • 741 op-amp
equal to –2Q2. The circuit values shown set fo to 500 Hz, Q to • ¼-W resistors of the following values: 2.2 kΩ, 10 kΩ
2.3, and gain to –10.4. (2 ea), 22 kΩ, 47 kΩ
• 1 kΩ potentiometer (single or multi-turn)
Testing Band-Pass Filter #2 • 56 nF, 33 nF (2 ea), 5.6 nF, and 2.7 nF film or ceramic
• Build the circuit and find f o, fch and fcl by measuring the capacitors (1 nF = 1000 pF = 0.001 µF)
input and output voltage of sine waves at frequencies from 50 • 2—10 µF capacitors with a voltage rating of 25 V dc or
to 5000 Hz. Calculate the filter’s peak gain (V out/Vin), band- higher
width (f ch – f cl) and Q.
• Most filter responses are measured in decibels, or dB. Gain Errata
in dB = 20 log (V out/V in). Recalculate gain in dB. Gain at the Experiment #2 mistakenly equated 1 Vp-p with 0.7 VRMS. It
upper and lower cutoff frequencies should be close to 3 dB should be 0.35 VRMS. VRMS = 1/(2 2 ) Vp-p = V p-p/2 2 .
below the gain of the filter at fo.
• To change fo, increase or decrease both capacitors, keep- Next Month
ing their values the same. To increase fo, decrease capacitance, Next month, we’ll take a look at the popular “555” timer and
and vice versa. fo is directly proportional to the value of the use it as an oscillator, a pulse generator and maybe even as a
capacitors. timer!
60 May 2003