Beginners Guide to LTSpice

Pages 1&2 Commands & techniques for drawing the circuit

Pages 34 Commands and methods for analysis of the circuit
Page 4 Additional notes (crystals & transformers)
Pages ! "utorial #1 $ %raw & Analy&e a "ransistor Am'lifier
Pages 1(11 "utorial #2 $ %raw & Analy&e a )ow Pass *ilter
Page 11 Concluding comments
Drawing putting circuit components on the drawing:

(+n each case, the com'onent a''ears when you mo-e the mouse. /o-e it to the desired location
and clic0. Press control12 to rotate 3efore 'lacing. After 'lacing, you are ready to 'lace another
of the same ty'e. Press a different 0ey or 3utton, or 4sca'e to e5it 'lacing that com'onent ty'e.)
Resistor: Press 627 or 'ush the resistor 3utton.
Capacitor: Press 6C7 or 'ush the ca'acitor 3utton.
Inductor: Press 6)7 or 'ush the inductor 3utton.
Ground: Press 687 or 'ush the ground 3utton (triangle ground sym3ol)
Diode: Press 6%7 or 'ush the diode 3utton
Other component: Press *2 or the com'onent 3utton (has an A9% gate on it). A menu comes
u'. *ind your com'onent and dou3le1clic0. :n the left are other su31menus of 'arts you may
ha-e to chec0. *or e5am'le, 3attery is under ;misc<.
Wiring:
(=ou can connect com'onents 3y aligning their terminals when you 'lace them on the drawing,
otherwise use the wire function.)
Wire: Press *3 or the wire 3utton ('encil and 3lue line). Clic0 the first 'oint, clic0 at any
intermediate 'oints where you need to ma0e !( degree turns, clic0 the second terminal 'oint.
()">'ice7s wire function is 3etter than most. +t doesn7t want to stic0 to e-erything. ?ut watch
out for crossing intermediate terminal 'oints. And if you intended a @unction of wires and not a
crossing, loo0 for the square that indicates a @unction.)
ssign !a"ues to components:
/o-e the cursor o-er the com'onent until the 'ointing finger a''ears. 2ight1clic0 and ty'e in
the -alue.
*or -oltage sources, @ust 'ut in the 3asic %C -alue if you are doing %C analysis. *or transient
analysis, clic0 ad-anced, go to the left side, clic0 >ine (usually) and enter the am'litude ('ea0
-alue) and frequency. *or AC (frequency res'onse) analysis, go to the >mall >ignal AC section
and 'ut AC in the am'litude 3loc0 and 1 in the 'hase 3loc0.
#nits
+n assigning -alues, you can use ' for 'ico, n for nano, u (letter A) for micro, 0 for 0ilo, m for
milli, and /48 for mega. ("his isn7t intended to 3e a com'lete list.) A common mista0e would
3e to say B.1/ for frequency e5'ecting /C& 3ut getting millihert&. Ase B.1/48 instead. =ou
can also use either con-entional American 4.B0 for a 4.B01ohm resistor or the 4uro'ean or
international 40B. =ou don7t ha-e to 'ut D for -olts, C& for hert& and so on, 3ut in most cases it
will 3e ignored (no error) if you do.
La$e" components
)">'ice la3els com'onents as 21, 22, 23, C1, C2, C3 and so on. =ou can change them for ease
of recognition to things li0e 2c, 231, 232, )oad and so on. 2ight clic0 the la3el and ty'e in
your new name.
La$e" %odes
Press *4 or the ;la3el net< 3utton (a 3o5 with an 6A7 in it). "y'e in a name. Place the little dot
o-er the wire or node and clic0. "here are a cou'le of reasons to do thisE
1. =ou can gi-e logical names li0e ;out< and ;in< to nodes so it7s easier to 'ic0 out the one
you want to 'lot from a list.
2. +f a certain node connects to many 'oints in the circuit, you can eliminate a lot of messy
wiring on the drawing 3y gi-ing all the nodes the same name. *or e5am'le, call your
3attery (F) terminal Dcc and then 'ut the same Dcc name on all 'oints connecting to that
3us. +t has the same effect as connecting them with wires.
Te&t comments:
Press 6"7. "he ;comment< 3utton should 3e selected. "y'e in te5t, ending each line with
Control1/ and 'lace on drawing. Ander "ools G Control Panel G %rafting :'tions, you can select
the font si&e.
'anipu"ating components
De"ete: Press the delete 0ey or * or 'ush the scissors 3utton. /o-e the scissors icon to the
desired com'onent or wire or other entity and clic0.
'o!e: Press mo-e 0ey (hand with s'read fingers) or *B. Clic0 com'onent and mo-e to new
location. (+t is disconnected from any wiring & com'onents.)
Cop(: *H or co'y 3utton (two sheets of 'a'er). Clic0, 'lace new com'onent.
Rotate: Control12. +f the com'onent is already selected (hasn7t 3een 'laced), @ust 'ress control1
2. +f it has 3een 'laced, select /o-e (*B), select the com'onent, Control12, and 'lace again.
'irror: Control14. =ou can rotate all day and still not get an 9P9 with the emitter down and
the 3ase to the right. *or this, you need the mirror function.
))) %L*SIS )))
"o set1u' a simulation, go to menu choice >imulation and choose 4dit >imulation Command. +n
e-ery case after you set it u' and choose :I, a te5t command is attached to your cursor and you
must clic0 somewhere on the drawing to ma0e it effecti-e for the ne5t 2un command.
Ase DC operating point for %C circuits and to chec0 3iasing and %C le-els in electronic
circuits.
Ase Transient ana"(sis to see your wa-eforms in time domain, see if they are distorted, run
s'ectrum (**") analysis, figure actual im'edances and 'owers deli-ered and dissi'ated.
Ase C ana"(sis to see res'onse -ersus frequency for am'lifiers, attenuators, filters (acti-e or
'assi-e) and so on. 2es'onse is in d? relati-e to 1 -olt on the source.
DC op point: 9o 'arameters to set. %ro' the command on the drawing and 'res the 2un (man
running) 3utton. A window with %C -oltages and currents 'o's u'. ?ut you can see them e-en
more easily 3y closing the 3o5 and mo-ing the cursor o-er wires or nodes and reading -oltages
at the 3ottom of the screen, or mo-ing the cursor o-er de-ices and reading currents. 4-en watts
are gi-en for resistors and sources.
Transient ana"(sis: *or the simulation, as a minimum enter the start and sto' time, may3e
enough to ca'ture 1(( cycles or more (you can &oom later). =ou also must set in your source(s)
as a minimum the wa-eform (normally >ine), magnitude and frequency. )eft1clic0 the source
and do this on the left side of the dialog 3o5. Clic0 2un, and then dou3le clic0 the -alue you
want 'lotted from the list.
"ransient analysis featuresE
*rom the drawing windowE
1. Clic0 a wire or node (a -oltmeter 'ro3e a''ears) to 'lot the -oltage.
2. Clic0 a de-ice (current 'ro3e a''ears) to 'lot the current.
3. Cold down the Alt 0ey and clic0 a de-ice (thermometer a''ears) to 'lot 'ower.
*rom the 'lot windowE
+, Clic0 and drag a section of wa-eform to -oom in
., Control1clic0 the wa-eform name at the to' of the screen to get the R'S and other
ca"cu"ated !a"ues,
/, Alt1clic0 a wa-eform name to get a cursor you can drag and dis'lay -alues in a 3o5.
2ight1clic0 a wa-eform name and you get a dro' down 3o5 that allows attaching the 1
st
,
2
nd
, or 3oth cursors. =ou can mo-e the cursors around with the mouse and read indi-idual
-alues and their differences in time, frequency and magnitude.
0, 2ight1clic0 a wa-eform name to do wa!e1orm math, *or e5am'le, you could square
D(out) or you could di-ide D(in) 3y +(in) to find the in'ut resistance.
C ana"(sis: *rom menu >imulation G 4dit >imulation Command, choose AC analysis. 4nter
num3er of 'oints to 'lot and starting and ending frequencies. =ou must also ha-e a source with
its small signal analysis am'litude set to 6AC7 and 'hase set to 617. Press 2un.
AC Analysis *eaturesE
/agnitude (relati-e to 1 -olt) and 'hase are dis'layed. "he gain is -oltage d?. As in other 'lots,
you can use the mouse and right1clic0 on a5es -alues to change a5is setu'.
Some additiona" notes:
Cr(sta"s: )">'ice actually uses the same model as for a ca'acitor, since it allows s'ecifying
series C, ), and 2, and 'arallel C, which are the normal crystal 'arameters. ?ut you get a crystal
drawing sym3ol for it 3y going to the ;misc< su31directory on com'onents and choosing 65tal7.
Trans1ormers: )">'ice doesn7t ha-e a se'arate transformer com'onent, 3ut instructs in Cel'
on how to create one with a s'ice command. *irst, create two inductors )1 and )2 to 3e the two
windings. Press 6"7 to get the ;enter te5t< dialog and chec0 the ;>P+C4 %irecti-e< 3o5. +n the
3o5, ty'e in I1 )1 )2 0, where 0 is the coefficient of cou'ling. 9ormally use 617 for 0 in case of
a toroid or 'ower transformer. >omething smaller is used for air core transformers. Clic0 :I
and clic0 in the drawing to 'ut the command on it (suggest near the transformer). 9ote that
'olarity dots were added to your inductors after you created the s'ice command. Ase I2 for the
ne5t transformer, and so on.
"he inductances of the windings are in the same ratio as the im'edance transformationJ the
square root of the inductance ratio is the same as the -oltage transformation ratio. +f you aren7t
sure of the inductance of the transformer you are modeling, use a -alue that would gi-e a3out 1(
times the reactance of the connected load at the lowest frequency of interest.
A cou'le things to remem3er a3out transformers and s'ice in general. 4-ery loo' containing @ust
a source and inductor (such as a transformer 'rimary circuit) must contain some resistance,
howe-er small. And e-ery isolated loo', such as a transformer secondary connected to a load,
must ha-e a 'ath to ground, howe-er large its resistance may 3e.
Trans1ormer2 center tapped:
>imilar to a3o-e, 3ut create three inductors. "wo of them are connected in series to form the
center ta''ed winding. "he s'ice command is I1 )1 )2 )3 1. ?ut note that the inductance of
the two inductors forming the center1ta''ed winding is one fourth of the total winding
inductance. *or e5am'le, a 1E1 (total winding) center ta''ed 2* transformer might 3e made
with inductors of 1(uC, 2.uC, 2.uC.
dding e&terna" S3IC4 1i"es
"his goes 3eyond ;3eginner7s guide< sco'e, 3ut most users will get to the 'oint where they need
to use a com'onent not included in the )">'ice data3ase. +t could 3e a ty'e of com'onent not
included at all, or may3e 'arameters for a s'ecific transistor not included with the 'rogram.
"here are many -ariations on how )">'ice may 3e e5'anded. +7ll descri3e one sim'le one
in-ol-ing tying a su3circuit descri'tion to a com'onent sym3ol. + assume the user has found a
te5t descri'tion of the desired com'onent, as in my file >C2.>A? for e5am'le.
)">'ice 'ro-ides a sym3ol for an >C2, 3ut no models. ?elow is a ste'13y1ste' method for how
+ added one.
1. 8oogle searching for >C2 >P+C4 models, + found a >P+C4 file on 4%97s we3site. +t
descri3ed a com'lete circuit, so + e5tracted @ust the >C2 descri'tion. =ou can du'licate
this 3y ta0ing the te5t at the end of this section and sa-ing it as a file in your )">'ice
directory CEKProgram *ilesK)"CK>LCad+++Kli3Ksu3K with the name >C2.>A?.
2. >tart a new )">'ice document, *2, /isc, >C2, :I to insert the >C2 sym3ol.
3. %o a C:9"2:)12ight1clic0 on the >C2 3ody to o'en the attri3ute editor 3o5.
4. Clic0 the 'refi5 field and in the edit 3o5 a3o-e, 'ut an M in front of the current entry,
unless it already is an M.
. Clic0 the -alue field and change the current entry to your file name without the e5tension.
+n this case, that7s >C2. Clic0 :I to close the attri3ute editor.
H. 9ow 'ress 6"7 to o'en the te5t edit 3o5. Clic0 the ;s'ice directi-e< 3utton. +n the te5t
3o5, ty'e ;.inc >C2.>A?< without the quotes. Place this statement on the drawing. 9ow
the 'rogram 0nows e-erything a3out how to find the information for the >C2.
B. +f you were to wire u' a circuit with the >C2 and run it, the simulation would run 3ut the
results would not 3e as e5'ected. Lhat7s wrongN >ee ne5t ste'.
O. Again do C:9"2:)1right1clic0 on the >C2 to o'en the attri3ute editor. (Actually, @ust
right1clic0 wor0s on this com'onent, 3ut it won7t wor0 on all of them.) Press the :'en
>ym3ol 3utton in the editor. A window o'ens with the drawing of the >C2 sym3ol.
!. 2ight clic0 the anode terminal. "he 'inG'ort 'ro'erties window o'ens. >ee in the u''er
right, the netlist order 3o5 and note the num3er in it. 9ow do the same for the gate and
cathode (3anded end) terminals. "a0e a loo0 again at the te5t in >C2.>A?. =ou see the
author was good enough to include a comment stating that anode, cathode and trigger
(gate) are 1, 2, 3. "hey don7t match the num3ers you @ust chec0ed.
1(. =ou could change the >C2.>A? te5t or change the netlist order in the )">'ice 'inG'ort
3o5. + found the latter to 3e easier. /a0e them match the s'ice te5t. =ou7re finishedJ the
>C2 is ready to use.
11. Lant to see it run in a sim'le circuitN Add and connect the following. Doltage source,
sine wa-e, H( C&, 1B( -olts. 2esistor ( ohms from source to anode. 2esistor 10 ohms
from source to gate. Ca'acitor 2u* from gate to ground. 8round the cathode and other
side of the source. >et transient analysis for ( to (.( seconds and run. Plot the current
through the ( ohm resistor. Plot the -oltage on the gate to see the firing thresholds.
("he 10 resistor and 2u* ca'acitor create a 'hase shift to fire the >C2 at some 'oint
remo-ed from the &ero crossing.)
Cere7s the te5t for the >C2.>A? fileE
(?e careful that word wra's 'erformed 3y Lord don7t result in some comment lines that don7t
start with an asteris0.) (+7m not sure if this is a good general 'ur'ose >C2 model or not. +t
loo0ed :I for this demo.)
* SCR:
* Extracted from PONT_DIPH.CIR file from EDN website.
* I reamed t!at file as SCR_C"T.CIR
*
* #ode
* $ Cat!ode
* $ $ Tri%%er
* $ $ $
.s&bc't SCR ( ) *
*
* +odels &sed b, t!e SCR model:
.model STH -Switc! .RO/0.(1-Off/0.23
.model D45 D .Rs /)2m3
*
* 6e ass&me t!at t!e SCR i t!e o7state is e8&i9alet to 0.( o!m:
SSCR ( : 2 0 STH
-SCR : ) 0-
*
* Tri%%er to cat!ode im;edace is a (' o!m resistace 7 for sim;lificatio:
RTri% * ) ('
*
* T!e followi% circ&it loc's i t!e o7state w!e a (m# c&rret flows
* t!ro&%! t!e %ate to t!e cat!ode wit! a ;ositi9e aode to cat!ode 9olta%e.
* T!is circ&it loc's i t!e off7state w!e t!e c&rret t!ro&%! t!s SCR teds
* to become e%ati9e:
-Pl&s < 0 )-
SiTri% < 2 * ) STH
CState 2 0 (&= IC/0
D4o%ic 2 > D45
HC&r > 0 ;ol,.(3 -SCR ( (0000
*
* T!e ;otetial of ode 2 reflects t!e state of t!e SCR. It is less t!a (-
* for t!e off7state ad betwee (- ad )- i t!e o7state.
.eds
Tutoria" 5+ e&ercise 1or LTSpice
Step $( step entr( and ana"(sis o1
simp"e transistor
mp"i1ier
"his e5ercise ste's you through entering (drawing) and analy&ing a sim'le one transistor
am'lifier. (+t7s much easier to do than to descri3e in words.) +f you get into trou3le, see the
section on commands for information on how to delete and mo-e com'onents.
1. >tart )">'ice and 'ress the new document icon on the left, a sheet of 'a'er with the )"
logo on it.
2. Press the 627 0ey or clic0 the resistor icon. Ase your mouse to mo-e the resistor to the
to' center of the 'age, a3out one dot 3elow the to', and clic0. Press 4>C to clear the
resistor mode.
3. Press the insert com'onent icon that loo0s li0e a two1in'ut A9% gate (alternateE 'ress
*2). A dialog 3o5 for com'onents a''ears. >elect ;n'n<, then clic0 :I. Ase the mouse
to align the to' (collector) terminal of the transistor with the 3ottom terminal of the
resistor and clic0. (Aligning terminals is an alternati-e to connecting them with wires.)
4. 9ow we7ll add fi-e more resistors. %o them in this order so our num3ers will match.
Press 627 or clic0 the resistor icon. Put one with its to' terminal touching the 3ottom
(emitter) terminal of the transistor. Put another one @ust 3elow that one with their
terminals touching. 9e5t resistor goes to the left of 21, @ust a little a3o-e and to the left
of the transistor7s 3ase. 9e5t, 'ut 2 directly 3elow 24, with its to' terminal @ust 3elow
the le-el of the transistor7s 3ase. *inally, 'ut the last resistor near the far right edge of the
screen, a3out at the same le-el as the transistor. 9ow you could 'ress 4>C to clear the
;insert resistor< mode, or @ust select the ne5t desired action and it will 3e cleared
automatically.
. 9ow 'ress 687 or clic0 the ground icon, which is a triangle with a wire coming out of the
to'. %ro' grounds 3elow 2, 23, and 2H. %on7t 3other to align terminals, since we need
to 'ractice wiring at some 'oint.
H. Press *3 or clic0 the wire ('encil with line) icon. =ou add a wire 3y clic0ing the starting
terminal, mo-ing to the ending terminal, and clic0ing again. +f there7s not a direct 'ath
that wor0s, clic0, go to the intermediate 'oint and clic0 again, then turn !( degrees and
go to the destination or ne5t !( degree turn 'oint. /uch easier done than said. :I.
Connect 24 to 2. 9e5t, connect the 3ase of P1 to the wire you @ust created. A square
will indicate the termination 'oint on the wire. Connect each ground you @ust inserted to
the resistor a3o-e it, unless you already aligned their terminal 'oints. +f any of the other
'oints that were to 3e aligned ha-e a ga', connect them with wires. (21 to collector, 22
to emitter, 22 to 23.)
B. Ca'acitors. Press 6C7 or 'ush the ca'acitor icon. /o-e the mouse and 'lace the
ca'acitor to the right of 22, the first emitter resistor, so it is ready to 3e wired in 'arallel
with it. 9ow mo-e the mouse again to start another ca'acitor, 3ut 'ause a moment and
'ress control12 to rotate it to hori&ontal. Place this ca'acitor so it will 3e ready to
connect to the collector of P1 and the to' of 2H. *inally, 'lace another hori&ontal
ca'acitor @ust left of the @unction of P17s 3ase, 24, and 2 so it7s ready to connect to
them.
O. ?attery and signal in'ut sources. Press *2 or clic0 the com'onent icon. *irst, ma0e sure
the scroll 3ar is fully to the left. "he names in 3rac0ets are additional 'arts directories.
%ou3le1clic0 ;/isc< and you will o'en a directory containing ;3attery<. >elect and hit
:I, or dou3le1clic0 the 3attery. "a0e it u' to the u''er left area, left of 24 with the to'
terminal near the to' of the drawing.
!. 9ow go 3ac0 to the ;insert com'onent< mode, *2 or icon. 9otice that you are still in the
;misc< directory. Clic0 the ;folder u'< icon to go 3ac0 to the root, scroll right, and select
;-oltage<. Put this source off to the left and a little lower than C3, ready to connect to it.
9ow hit 687 and 'ut grounds 3elow D1 and D2.
1(. Press *3 or the wire icon and hoo0 e-erything else u'. Connect the grounds to D1 and
D2. Connect the to' of D1 to the to' of 21. Connect the to' of 24 to the line from D1 to
21. "o' of D2 to left of C3. 2ight end of C3 to the @unction of 24, 2, and 3ase of P1.
C1 in 'arallel with 22. C2 to P17s collector and the to' of 2H. Press 4sca'e to clear the
wire mode.
11. *inally, you must gi-e all com'onents -alues. =ou do this 3y mo-ing the cursor o-er the
3ody of the 'art until you see a 'ointing finger and right1clic0ing. >ome information is
o'tional. *or resistors 21 through 2H, enter ((, 1(, 3!, 10, 40, ((.
12. *or ca'acitors C1 through C3, enter 1((u, 4Bu, 1((u. ()etter u wor0s for microfarad.)
13. *or P1, select ;'ic0 new transistor< and then select 292222 from the list.
14. *or D1, enter 12. *or D2, 'ut in 1 for the %C -alue, which is of no consequence 3ut is
required for the %C analysis. )ater, we7ll 'ut in a''ro'riate -alues for AC analysis.
1. =ou may want to 'ut some te5t comments on the drawing. Press 6"7, select 6comment<
and ty'e them in. %ro' the comments on the drawing. Ad@ust font si&e on menu "ools G
Control Panel G %rafting :'tions.
Simu"ations:
>o far, all you ha-e is a drawing of a circuit. 9ow you ha-e to tell the 'rogram what 0ind of
simulation to run.
1. >tart with the DC ana"(sis to see the 3ias 'oints and steady1state %C -alues. :n the
menu 3ar, clic0 >imulate and choose 4dit >imulate Command. Choose the ta3 that says
%C :P P9" and clic0 :I. 9ow there7s something stic0ing to your mouse 'ointer. +t7s
the command as a >P+C4 statement. Clic0 anywhere in the document to 'lace the
command on it.
2. 9ow 'ress the 2un icon, which is the little running man. +n a short time, a 3o5 with a
long list of -oltages and currents a''ear. >ome of them you can recogni&e, li0e emitter
current and current through resistors. >ome are unfamiliar, li0e node num3ers. ?ut
there7s an easier way.
3. Close the 3o5 and mo-e your cursor to 3e o-er the wire that connects to the 3ase. +n the
information line at the 3ottom of the screen, te5t a''ears telling you the node num3er and
the %C -oltage. /o-e the cursor around to see collector and 3ase -oltages in a similar
fashion.
4. 9ow mo-e the cursor o-er a resistor (cursor changes to a hand) and you will read the
current through it and the 'ower 3eing dissi'ated. /o-e the cursor o-er the 3attery and
you see the total su''ly -oltage and 'ower. 9ice. =ou can see that 3ase -oltage is 2.3!D,
collector at B.HD, and collector current is O.OmA (cursor o-er 21 to read this).
9e5t we do transient ana"(sis, which is actually where you see steady1state wa-eforms in
addition to transients. AC Analysis (later) @ust does gains, 3ut doesn7t see what is ha''ening to
the actual wa-eforms.
+, 2ight1clic0 on signal -oltage source D2 and clic0 the ;ad-anced< 3utton. +n the list of
*unctions on the left, clic0 >ine. +n the stac0 of 3o5es in the same 'ane, 'ut in the -alue
of 1(m (for 1( milli-olts) in the am'litude 3loc0 and 1((( in the frequency 3loc0. Clic0
:I.
., 9ow go 3ac0 to the menu and >imulate G 4dit >imulation Command. Clic0 the "ransient
ta3 and enter a >to' time of (.1 and time to start sa-ing data of (. Clic0 :I and clic0 in
the drawing to dro' the command statement there.
/, "his is a good 'lace to show you how to "a$e" a node with a name you can recogni&e.
Press *4 and ty'e ;out< in the 3o5 and clic0 :I. 9ow you find a little sym3ol attached
to your 'ointer. Carry it to the wire going to the load, to the right of C2. Put the little
circle right on the wire and clic0. Press *4 again and ty'e ;in<. Put that la3el on the wire
coming from the to' of signal source D2. Cit 4>C to get rid of the la3el function.
0, 9ow clic0 the 2A9 3utton. "he simulation runs and 'resents you with a list of
wa-eforms you can -iew. :ne is D(out). >elect and clic0 :I, or dou3le1clic0. A 'lot of
the out'ut -oltage a''ears. 9ow we7ll 'lay with a few of the features a-aila3le. /a0e
the 'lot full si&ed, if it came u' sharing the window with the circuit.
6, *irst you see that choosing (.1 second ga-e 1(( cycles 'lottedtoo much to see detail
on. >o here7s the -oom 1eature. Put your cursor a3o-e the wa-eform at a3out 3(ms and
clic0 & drag to the 3ottom at a3out 4(ms and release. "he screen will &oom to that time
range and now you see 1( cycles more clearly. "he first useful thing you see is that the
wa-eform a''ears to 3e undistorted. At least it7s not cli''ed and doesn7t ha-e gross
a3normalities. Also note that the 'ea0 -oltage is a3out B mD. >ince you set the source
am'litude at 1(mD 'ea0, the -oltage gain is .B.
7, Put the cursor on the wa-eform name tag D(out) at the to' center and C:9"2:)1clic0.
A 3o5 gi-es some mathematical information, most interesting of which is the rms -alue
at the 3ottom. Close the 3o5. (9ote that rms is 3est read on the AC side of a 3loc0ing
ca'acitor as we7-e done here. :therwise the %C -alue is included in the calculation.)
8, Another interesting o'eration is the 99T, which shows frequency domain 'roducts. =ou
can use the Diew menu and select **", or right clic0 the wa-eform itself and select **"
from the 'o'1u' menu. Ca-e it 'lot the **" of D(out). =ou7ll see the larger 'ea0 at 1(((
C& and smaller 'ea0s at the harmonics. +f you ho-er your cursor (cross) at each 'ea0,
you7ll see the d? and frequency in the info line at the 3ottom. =ou can see that the third
harmonic at 3(((C& is a3out 31d? 3elow the fundamental at 1(((C&. "he **" 'lot
came u' in a se'arate window, which you can now close. Please note that if you close all
'lot windows, the transient analysis is gone and you7ll ha-e to 2un it again to see more
'lots.
:, Clic0 the document ta3 at the left (with the transistor sym3ol in it) to return to the circuit
drawing. 9ow mo-e your cursor o-er -arious com'onents. =ou7ll see it change to a
thing li0e a 'liers which is actually a c"amp;on ammeter used 3y electricians. +f you
clic0 when this tool is -isi3le, the current through the com'onent will 3e added to the
'lot. "ry it for collector resistor 21. Clic0 it and go 3ac0 to the 'lot ta3.
<, 9ow you see that a new 'lot +(21) has 3een added with its scale on the right.
+=, :I, the 'lot screen can get 'retty cluttered with wa-eforms in a hurry, 3ut it7s easy to
trim them down. Lhile in the 'lot window, 'ress the delete 0ey or the scissors icon.
9ow ta0e the scissors icon u' to the +(21) tag at the to' of the 'lot window and clic0.
+t7s gone. Press 4sca'e.
++, 8o 3ac0 to the circuit drawing window. /o-e the cursor o-er load resistor 2H and 'ress
the A)" 0ey. 9otice that the cursor turns into a thermometer. Clic0 and go to the 'lot
screen. "he instantaneous power is 'lotted and is tagged D(out)Q+(2H). =ou7d 'ro3a3ly
'refer to 0now the a-erage 'ower. Control1clic0 the 'lot7s tag and note that in the 3o5
the 'ower to the resistor is 3.14uL. =ou can use this to find the dissi'ation in the
transistor, for e5am'le. Dery useful. 9ow delete the 'ower wa-eform.
+., ?ac0 to the circuit. Lhen you mo-e the cursor o-er a wire, a -oltmeter 'ro3e a''ears.
/o-e it to the to' of the signal source D2 and clic0 to 'lot D(in). Lhile you7re at it,
mo-e the ammeter sym3ol o-er the 3ody of D2 and clic0 again. 9ow go to the 'lot ta3.
"he -oltage D(in) is naturally 1(mD 'ea0, as you s'ecified. "he current +(D2) is scaled
at the right. 9ow we7ll try some wa!e1orm math,
+/, +n the 'lot window, right clic0 the D(in) tag. A math window o'ens with D(in) shown.
4dit the te5t in this window to show ;D(in)G+(D2)< (no quotes) and :I. :3-iously, this
is the :hm7s )aw e5'ression for the in'ut resistance from the 'ers'ecti-e of the source.
=ou see the 'lot in ohms. +n this case, the range is small, so it7s easy to 'ic0 out the
a-erage. ?ut control1clic0 the 'lot7s name and the 3o5 shows you that the a-erage in'ut
resistance is 2.3H01ohms. (+gnore the minus sign. +t7s @ust a function of assumed
directions.) =ou can use the e5'ression editor to do many other math functions on your
signals.
+0, Another fun thing to do in transient analysis is to increase the am'litude of the signal
in'ut in ste's while doing the analysis and loo0ing at the 'lot. 4-entually you reach the
'oint where distortion 3egins to occur and you see the to's andGor 3ottoms of the
wa-eform 3egin to flatten. =ou can start seeing this at around H((mD in'ut. 9ow close
your 'lot window to lea-e the transient analysis 3ehind.
C na"(sis
"his is the analysis you run to see the 1re>uenc( response of your circuit.
1. ?efore setting u' the simulation, you need to set 'arameters in the source (D2) for it.
2ight clic0 on D2 and in the dialog 3o5, on the right side in the >mall >ignal AC Analysis
section ty'e ;AC 1< (s'ace 3etween AC and 1) and 'ress :I. "he am'litude and
frequency you 'ut in earlier for transient analysis are ignored. Alternately, you can 'ut
AC in the magnitude 3o5 and 1 in the 'hase 3loc0.
2. 9ow go to the menu >imulate G 4dit >imulation Command and the AC Analysis ta3.
=ou7ll want to 'lay with ;ty'e of swee'<, 3ut :cta-e is fine for now. )i0ewise, num3er
of 'oints 'er octa-e isn7t critical, so 'ut in 2(. Put in 1( for >tart *requency and 14H for
>to' *requency, to get a 'lot from 1(C& to 1/C&. :I, and clic0 in the 'age. Press 2un
and dou3le1clic0 on D(out).
3. )oo0 at the 'lot and you see a few interesting things. "he mid13and gain (the flat 'art) is
1.2d?. (9ote that gain is calculated as -oltage gain or 2(Q)og(DoutGDin). +t would 3e
the same as 'ower gain only if the in'ut and load resistances were equal.) =ou also see
that the roll1off on the low end is at a3out H(C& for 13d?. *inally, the circuit is flat to
3eyond 1/h&. Can this 3e realN Lell may3e, and it7s time to discuss the limitations of
>'ice. "he 3ig ca'acitors are ideal with no inductance. (=ou can choose real ones if you
wish.) And there7s no source resistance. Change these things and you7ll see some more
realistic effects.
Tutoria" 5.
passi!e circuit
Low;pass 1i"ter
>'ice ty'e 'rograms e5cel at analysis of 'assi-e networ0s containing resistors, ca'acitors,
inductors, and crystals, for e5am'le.
+7ll gi-e slightly less detail for this tutorial, since you7-e done the one a3o-e and learned a few
things. Le7re drawing a ladder ty'e filter, such as might 3e used as the out'ut of a transmitter.
"wo hori&ontal inductors are the ;3ac03one< and three ca'acitors are ;legs< e5tending -ertically
down from the 3ac03one to ground. A source is at the left and a load resistor at the right.
1. Press 6)7 for inductor, then control12 to rotate, and 'lace two inductors in a line, a3out
two or so grid dots a'art.
2. Press 6C7 and 'lace a ca'acitor with its to' terminal @ust 3elow the left terminal of the left
inductor, a second ca'acitor with to' terminal @ust 3elow the area 3etween the two
inductors, and a third with to' terminal @ust 3elow the right1hand inductor.
3. Press 627 and 'ut a resistor @ust to the right of the right1most ca'acitor.
4. Press *2, choose 6-oltage7 and 'ut a -oltage source left of the circuit with to' terminal
near the left terminal of the inductor.
. Press 687 and 'ut ground terminals 3elow the -oltage source, the three ca'acitors, and the
resistor.
H. Press *3 and wire left to right, source to inductor, inductor to inductor, inductor to
resistor. Lire the center ca'acitor to the @unction of the two inductors and the end
ca'acitors to the ends of the inductors @ust a3o-e them. Connect each ground to the
de-ice a3o-e it. Press 4sca'e.
B. Assign -alues to each com'onent 3y 'utting the cursor o-er it and right clic0ing, as
followsE 2esistor, (. :utside ca'acitors H(H', inner ca'acitor !B!', inductors 1.1u.
Doltage source, clic0 ad-anced, then in the small signal AC analysis 3loc0s, 'ut AC in
am'litude and 1 in 'hase.
O. )a3el the out'ut node. Press *4, ty'e 6out7 in the 3o5 and :I. "hen 'ut the dot on the
wire at the to' of the right hand resistor. Press 4sca'e.
!. 8o to the /enu, >imulation, edit simulation. >elect the AC analysis ta3. )ea-e at
:cta-e ty'e simulation. 4nter 2( 'oints 'er octa-e, B((43 start frequency, B(4H sto'
frequency, and :I. Clic0 in the 'age to dro' the simulate command.
1(. Press 2un (running man icon).
11. 9ow dou3le1clic0 on D(out) in the 3o5. /a5imi&e the 'lot if it7s not already full si&ed.
9ow you see the 'lot of the filter res'onse, which is fairly flat at ( d? attenuation from
B((0C& to around B.(/C& and then slo'es down to 1!3d? attenuation at B(/C&.
12. An e5'eriment. =ou7d li0e to add more attenuation at 21/C& 3y 'utting a 'arallel
resonant ca'acitor across one of the inductors. =ou7d li0e to 0now if this would cause
'ro3lems in the 'ass3and or elsewhere. Put a 3B' ca'acitor across the left inductor and
run the simulation again.
1ew more comments
+f you sa-e your circuit while a 'lot is still o'en, the 'lot data will also 3e sa-ed. >ome of the
data files can get 'retty large, so consider this when sa-ing and close the 'lot window 3efore
sa-ing if you wish.
"his file is written for 3eginners 3y a 3eginner. +t 3arely scratches the surface of )">'ice7s
ca'a3ility. "here7s a =ahoo 8rou' for )">'ice at htt'EGGgrou's.yahoo.comGgrou'G)"s'iceG
Consider @oining as a lur0er, as + ha-e. "hey ha-e a lot of files for download, including an
e5tensi-e manual.
2e-ised 1(G2G2((H
9ic0 Iennedy, LA?%A
0ennnic0Rgmail.com