EEE 54 Switch-mode Light Dimmer using

Multivibrators
Hazelle P. Mamugay
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute
University of the Philippines Diliman
Quezon City, Philippines

Abstract – T​ he purpose of this design problem was to transistor is open, the output voltage will be equal to the
integrate the lessons learned by the students in their positive voltage of the input. This happens with help of
electronic circuits lab class. The objective was to capacitors which charges and discharges.
construct a circuit that would vary the intensity of the For this design problem, the duty cycle and
light of a bulb and make a TIP31C transistor frequency specifications asked for the output voltage
saturated through the use of a monostable and an were, 30% minimum, 90% maximum, and 4kHz
astable circuits, with different specifications. Upon frequency. These output specifications should vary the
working on the problem, the proponents came across light intensity of the light bulb, through the switching
the problem of loading effect, thus a buffer circuit was mechanism thoroughly explained in the previous
also added to tackle this. Computations were done as paragraphs.
it were necessary to use the right - or near enough -
values in order to meet the specifications asked. As a II. ​METHODS AND DISCUSSIONS
result of the computations, it lead to the usage of a
potentiometer to vary the duty cycle of the monostable A. Astable Circuit
circuit, which in turn varied the intensity of the light
of the bulb.

I. INTRODUCTION
Bipolar junction transistors are used in different
ways, may it be as an amplifier, oscillator, rectifier, filter,
and et cetera [1]. For this design problem, BJTs were
used as switches, as it was the primary purpose studied
and needed to enable the varying of light intensity of the
bulb. The flow of currents are rerouted by the transistors,
as they operate in their cut-off and saturation regions.. For
this report, all transistors to be described are NPN only as
no PNP transistor was used in the actual circuit, and for
simplicity also.
When a BJT is switched off, it is in its cut-off
operation; it has a less than 0.7V base-emitter voltage,
and its BE and CB junctions are reverse-biased, therefore
no collector current is flowing, and essentially acts as an Figure 1. The astable multivibrator
open circuit in this region. Meanwhile, for a switched on
BJT, its operation is in the saturated region, and its The astable circuit is the trigger used to start the
base-emitter voltage is greater than 0.7V, and both its BE switching cycle of the monostable. There is a 12V voltage
and CB junctions are forward biased. When the transistor supply in the upper node of this circuit although it is not
is saturated, max current flows, essentially making it a visible in Figure 1. The output of this circuit is gotten
short circuit [2]. The circuits used for the switching in this from the collector node of Q4. The values shown in
design problem are the monostable and astable circuits. Figure 1 are the actual values used for the circuit,
For the switching to occur, an input square wave although standard values were initially used for the
voltage should be introduced in the circuit. The positive simulation.
voltage of the input triggers the transistor to saturate, The calculation shown for this astable circuit is
while the negative voltage brings the transistor to cut-off. supposedly for the BJT 2N3904, but due to limited
When the transistor is shorted, the output voltage will resources, it was changed with 2N4401. Replacing the bjt
show the negative voltage of the input, and when the
did not lead to very far output values so the same values
were used.
The first values computed for this circuit were
for R7 and R5 in Figure 1. The collector currents and base
currents were first assumed to be equal to 10mA and 1mA
respectively, for the transistors were assumed to be
saturated. With these assumed values, the resistances
were calculated by:
(12V −V Q1 )
R5 = R7 = 10mA , where
V Q1 = V ce(sat) + V F = 0.2V + 0.75V = 0.95V
(12V −0.95V )
R5 = R7 = 10mA = 1105Ω

V​F​ is the forward voltage of the 1N4148 diode

and a higher standard resistance was used, i.e. 1.2k Ω .
For simplicity, the standard values were used for the
computations and not the actual ones seen in Figure 1 and
in the succeeding figures. Figure 2. Output Voltage Plot for the Astable
The base resistances, R6 and R8, were then Circuit
computed using KVL:
12V − I B R3 − V BE(ON ) − V F = 0 , where Diodes were inserted between the emitters of the
IC transistors and the ground to protect the transistors from
IB = hF E(min) = 100µA ,​ h​FE,min​ for 2N3904 is 100
reverse biased currents.
R3 = 105000Ω
B. Astable - Monostable Buffer Circuit
Using 100k base resistances yielded to a smaller
frequency, so the 91k was used as this resulted to a higher
frequency which is much nearer to the 4kHz needed in the
specifications.
For the computation of the capacitances, the
formula for the pulse width was used. In an astable
circuit, its output frequency has negligible effect to the
monostable circuit, thus only the frequency was set to
4kHz - which is the wanted specification - and the duty
cycle was assumed to be 50% for simplicity. Following
these, the capacitances were gotten by:
t = 0.69CR , where t is equal to PW, Figure 3. buffer circuit connecting the astable
1 multivibrator to the monostable multivibrator
t = P W = D * T = 0.5 * 4000 = 0.125ms ,
where D is the duty cycle, and T is the period Directly connecting the astable circuit
0.125ms = 0.69 * 100kΩ * C to the monostable circuit changes the output
C = 1.81nF (2nF std) voltage of the former - which is better known as
loading effect [3]. In order to tackle this, a buffer
circuit as shown in Figure 3 was used, so that the
After simulating the circuit with these values, the same output voltage of the astable circuit would
plot given in Figure 2 is generated. drive the monostable. This buffer consists of a
high-pass and a common-emitter circuit. The
values of the resistor and capacitance was only
assumed such that the high-pass circuit has
 greater cut-off frequency than the frequency To find the value of the capacitance,
needed to be passed which is 4kHz. The diode C5, the first order equation for RC circuits was used:
also serves as a protection for the transistor. Vf + (Vi - Vf)e​-t/RC ​= Vb,
where Vb = V​be,on​ + V​F​ = 0.7+0.7 = 1.4V
Vi = V​ce,sat​ - V​cap​ = 0.4-10.6 = -10.2V
C. Monostable Circuit
Vcap = V​f​ - V​F​ - V​be,ont​ = 12-0.7-0.7=10.6V

For the maximum duty cycle, 90%,

t = 0.9/4kHz = 225µs
12 + (-10.2-12)e​-225µ/(7066.67 Ω )(C)​ = 1.4V
C = 43.1nF

Due to scarcity of components, the capacitor

used was a series of two 0.1µF parallel to a 3.3nF, which
is equivalent to 53.3nF. Adjusting the first computed
resistance and computing for the resistance at minimum
duty cycle:

12 + (-10.2-12)e​-225µ/(R)(53.3nF)​ = 1.4V
R = 5710 Ω
For the minimum duty cycle, 30%,
t = 0.3/4kHz = 75​µs
Figure 4. The monostable multivibrator 12 + (-10.2-12)e​-75µ/(R)(53.3nF)​ = 1.4V
R13 = 1903 Ω
For the monostable circuit, the datasheet of
2N4401 is used, as the calculations for all the values had A standard value of 2k Ω is used for R13 and
crucial differences which affect the output frequency, and since a potentiometer of 1 Meg was already available,
duty cycles. Because of this, the values are computed as R10 was computed such that
follows: (1 Meg ∥ R10) + 2k Ω = 5710 Ω
2N440: Vce,sat = 0.4, Ic = 150mA as seen from
R10 = 3723.8 Ω
the datasheet, and by KVL,
(12−V ) Again, due to scarce resources, R10 was
R3 = 150mAQ2 , where adjusted 4680 Ω and so
V Q2 = V ce(sat) + V f = 0.4 + 0.7 = 1.1V (1 Meg ∥ R10) + 2k Ω = 6658 Ω
R3 = 73 ohms
(12−V Q2 ) For the resistances R2 and R4,
R1 = 150mA , where V Q2 = V ce(sat) = 0.4 R4 = (12V - Vbe,on)/(5(I​B​)+I​B​) = 1255.56 Ω
R1 = 77 ohms R2 = (Vbe,on)/(5(I​B​)) = 93 Ω
For some reason, the computed values for R4
These computed resistances lead to an output and R2 give an output of 10V. Upon some more
voltage with dc offset, thus, through trial-and-error, tinkering, multiplying both by 10 lead to the output
higher values were considered. The adjusted values for voltage plot shown in Figure 5. The new values of R4 and
R1 and R3 are 500 and 300 ohms respectively as shown R2 are now,
in Figure 4. R4 = 12550 Ω ≅ 10k Ω
For the base resistance of Q2: R2 = 930 Ω ≅ 1k Ω
Ib = 150mA/h​FE,min​ = 1.5mA, where h​FE,min​=100 as shown in Figure 4.
12 - V​be,on​- V​F =10.6V,
​ where V​be,on​=V​F​=0.7V
(12−10.6) Figure 5 shows the simulated output voltage of
Rbase = 1.5mA = 7066.67Ω
the monostable circuit.
 transistor exhibits loading effect, thus a buffer circuit is
again essential. This loading effect can be seen by the
non-negligible drawn base current of the transistor
TIP31C. The computation for such is as follows:
Vce,sat for TIP31C is equal to 1.2V, h​FE,min​ = 10
I​BULB​ = (12V - 1.2V)/5 Ω = 2.16A
I​B​ = 2.16A/10 = 216mA
I​B​ = 216mA > I​C,SAT​ = 150mA

The value for R11 was computed by,

Let Vbe,on of 2N4401 be Vbe,onx, and Vbe,on of

TIP31C be Vbe,ony,

12V - Vbe,onx - Vbeon,y - I​B​R = 0

12 - 0.7 - 4 - 216mA*R = 0
R11 = 33.79 Ω (100 Ω )
Again, due to limited resources, a 50 Ω resistor is
instead use. Using the 50 Ω resulted to a little bit
Figure 5. Output Voltage Plot for the Monostable
noisy signal, so a higher resistor was again used
Circuit
which is 100 Ω .
D. Monostable to TIP31C and bulb with buffer

Figure 6. The monostable output connected to the

base of the transistor, used as a buffer circuit, that connects Figure 7. The plot of the output voltage in the
it to the TIP31C and the bulb collector of TIP31C

Just like in section C of this report, directly

connecting the monostable output to the TIP31C
 http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jeee/Papers/Vol13%20Is
sue%201/Version-1/H1301015257.pdf​. ​[Accessed: 12-
III. CONCLUSION Apr- 2019].

BJT’s can be utilized in different ways, but for

this design problem, its purpose as a switch was
highlighted. A transistor is switched off - and acts as a
non-conductive material - when it is in its cut-off region,
wherein it has a collector-emitter voltage equal to the
voltage supply, and no collector current. Meanwhile, a
transistor is switched on - and acts a fully conductive
material - when it is in its saturated region, wherein it has
minimum collector-emitter voltage, and a collector
current [5].
Using the concept mentioned above, the light
intensity of a bulb may be varied through a rigorous and
some trial-and-error solutions to meet the specifications
asked.
Using buffers and diodes are essential, as it help
maintain the properties of the input signal to be
transported, and protect the transistors from reverse
biased currents, respectively. Meanwhile, the varying of
light intensity may be achieved by manipulating the value
of the base resistance of the output transistor in the
monostable circuit. Passing only the required frequency
through the astable circuit is already enough to meet the
required frequency in the output signal.

IV. ​REFERENCES
[1] Oscarliang.com, ‘How to use BJT Bipolar Junction
Transistor - Beginner’s Tutorial’, 2013. [Online].
Available:
https://oscarliang.com/bjt-bipolar-junction-transistor-begi
nner-tutorial/.​ [Accessed: 12- Apr- 2019].

[2] Electronics-tutorials.ws, ‘Transistor as a Switch’,

2011. [Online]. Available:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_4.htm
l​.​ [Accessed: 12- Apr- 2019].

[3] Nd.edu. ‘What is a Buffering Circuit?’, 2009.

[Online]. Available:
https://www3.nd.edu/~lemmon/courses/ee224/web-manu
al/web-manual/lab5/node6.html​. ​[Accessed: 12- Apr-
2019].

[4] Bell,​ Solid State Pulse Circuits. 1​ 976, pp. 192-214

[5] A. H. Aseeri and F. R. Ali, “Bipolar Junction

Transistor as a Switch,” ​IOSR Journal of Electrical and
Electronics Engineering (IOSR-JEEE), Volume 13, Issue
1 Ver. I, PP 52-57, (Jan. – Feb. 2018). [Online].
Available: