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gary pimm's latest self-biasing CCS circuit

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jarthel said:
1. It talks about "reference voltage" and it is ranging from 9.5 to 27V. Is this reference voltage the voltage across C2?

I believe so.

jarthel said:
2. Is the output coming out the "-" lead (after R1)? I have a feeling this is right but just want to confirm.

Gary's CCS's are all "two-wire", which he confirmed to me in an email. So the output depends upon the application. If you're using the CCS for a plate load, then "-" is the output to the plate. If you're using the CCS for a long tailed pair, the "+" is the output to the cathodes.
 
Depending on where you put R1 and how much current you're going for, the CCS will start to operate around 25-35v, though for large R1 & large R11 values, it can take more.

I assume your current is pretty low? Six 9v batteries in series should work. They won't last very long at 20-30ma for instance but you should be able to check that its working and trim the current.
 
Rescue Toaster said:
Depending on where you put R1 and how much current you're going for, the CCS will start to operate around 25-35v, though for large R1 & large R11 values, it can take more.

I assume your current is pretty low? Six 9v batteries in series should work. They won't last very long at 20-30ma for instance but you should be able to check that its working and trim the current.


I need 75mA. hmm maybe I do need a b+?

thanks again
 
What R1 value did you choose?

Regardless, 6x 9v should cause it to turn on even with very large values of R1. Even good alkalines won't give you very long to test it though, so get it setup w/ your voltmeter across R1 already, and switch on. If you have to adjust R11 to an extreme to get it to 75ma, you probably need to change R10. Or you might have picked too large a value for R1.



vvv Sounds good. Unless you get unlucky with your mosfets you shouldn't have much trouble. You might be able to use only four 9v's to test but that gives pretty low Vds for Q2.
 
Rescue Toaster said:

vvv Sounds good. Unless you get unlucky with your mosfets you shouldn't have much trouble. You might be able to use only four 9v's to test but that gives pretty low Vds for Q2.


I assume you meant the 200hms resistor I chose?
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anyway, thanks everyone for the help 🙂
 
MOSFETs aren't matched very well, so you'll get some variance in terms of where they'll bias up. If the mosfet is really far off of the ideal you might not be able to adjust R11 enough.


And yeah, I meant 200 ohms puts the value of R11 right in the middle of it's adjustment range. So unless your mosfets are waaaay out of whack you should be able to hit 75ma without having to change any parts.
 
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