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The Basic Circuit

The document discusses using a grid dip meter (GDM) to measure various circuit parameters. It describes how a GDM can be used to measure the resonance of LC circuits, resonators, antennas, and individual inductors or capacitors by coupling the GDM to the component and tuning to find the dip. It also explains how a GDM can measure signal frequencies absorptively by tuning it to match the frequency, or heterodynely by mixing the signal with the GDM's oscillation. Finally, it notes that a GDM can function as a variable frequency oscillator or generate AM modulated signals for some uses.

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Costel Olariu
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89 views

The Basic Circuit

The document discusses using a grid dip meter (GDM) to measure various circuit parameters. It describes how a GDM can be used to measure the resonance of LC circuits, resonators, antennas, and individual inductors or capacitors by coupling the GDM to the component and tuning to find the dip. It also explains how a GDM can measure signal frequencies absorptively by tuning it to match the frequency, or heterodynely by mixing the signal with the GDM's oscillation. Finally, it notes that a GDM can function as a variable frequency oscillator or generate AM modulated signals for some uses.

Uploaded by

Costel Olariu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Basic Circuit

The circuit shown here comes from a book called “Konstrukcje krótkofalarskie dla
początkujących” by Andrzej Janeczek, call sign SP5AHT. It is quite possibly the simplest GDM
circuit using a BJT,

A basic TDO circuit

At the heart of this circuit lies an VFO in a Hartley configuration, R1 provides base bias, R2
limits collector current, C5 decouples the power supply switched by the GF switch, C4
prevents base bias being shorted to ground by L. C3 and L form a resonant circuit that sets the
frequency, C2, P2 (printing error, should be D2) and D1 form a voltage doubler that rectifies
(magnetic meters can’t measure AC) the signal, which is then filtered by C1 and fed to the
50uA meter via the sensitivity setting pot P1.

L should be mounted outside the case on a socket so it can be exchanged for different coils for
different bands. The socket and coil plug could be a 5 or 3 pin DIN, a stereo 3.5mm
socket/jack or whatever you have on hand that also prevents the coil from being plugged the
wrong way around (grounded part to the base and vice versa), as it may prevent oscillation.
C3 can be a standard variable capacitor from a transistor radio, although one without anything
between the plates (air type) is preferable for higher frequency stability. T1 can be any NPN
BJT with hFE of over 150 and transition frequency of over 100MHz, such as 2SC1815,
2N2222A, 2N3904, BF199. L depends on the desired band, for LW and MW it can be wound
on a ferrite rod but at SW and up air core is better. For 3MHz – 8MHz band it’s 11uH but can
be calculated using the many coil calculators online for different bands

Measuring Resonance of an LC Circuit


The use of a Grid Dip Meter as an inductor-capacitor resonant circuit resonance measuring
device depends on the circuit. If it is just a resonant circuit, not connected to anything and with
the coil exposed, you just need to put the coil of the resonant circuit close to the exposed coil
of the GDM, tune your GDM until the meter drops. This drop is caused by the resonant circuit
coupled to the coil in the GDM absorbing some of the energy in the resonant circuit, causing a
drop in the oscillator’s output voltage and a change in the meter’s displayed value.

If the coil is shielded (IF transformers for example) you need to couple the GDM by winding a
few turns of wire and connecting it between

Measuring Resonance of a Resonator

Coupling loop can be 3 turns.

Measuring crystal resonators with GDM is easy but not very accurate. This method is useful
for determining the crystal frequency when the label has worn off. All you need to do is
connect a few turns of wire around the GDM coil and connecting that loop to the crystal. The
resonance will be very steep so you need to tune the GDM very slowly.

Measuring Antenna Resonance

To measure the resonance frequencies of an antenna (such as a dipole) wind a few turns of
wire around the GDM coil and connect it to the antenna connector. Tune the GDM and
exchange coils until you see the dip on the meter. You can also measure how wideband is the
antenna is by noting how fast the needle drops during tuning.

Measuring Inductance or Capacitance


You can measure the inductance of an inductor or a capacitor by making a resonant circuit
with the measured inductor or capacitor and a known value capacitor/inductor in parallel and
tuning the GDM and changing coils until you see the dip on the meter, just like with a regular
LC circuit. Input the resonance frequency and the known capacitance/inductance into an LC
resonance calculator to get the unknown inductance/capacitance.

We previously made an Arduino based Capacitance meter and frequency meter to measure


the capacitance and the frequency.

Measuring the Frequency of a Signal


There is two way of measuring the frequency using the GDM:

 Absorptive frequency measurement


 Heterodyne frequency measurement

Absorptive frequency measurement works when the GDM is turned off, the signal is applied
to a few turns of wire looped around the GDM coil, then the meter is tuned and the coils are
changed until the meter readout goes up and that is the signal frequency.

The absorptive frequency measurement mode works similarly to a crystal radio, the GDM
tuned circuit rejects all signals from frequencies other than it’s resonant frequency, the diode
turns the high-frequency AC of the signal to DC because meters can only work with DC. It only
works with those GDM types that have the meter connected to the resonant circuit via a diode,
such as the one in the Basic TDO circuit explained earlier. The signal amplitude has to be
relatively high, no less than 100mV, because of the forward voltage of the diode. It can be also
used to see the level of harmonic distortion in the signal, simply tune the GDM to a frequency
2, 3 or 4 times higher than the measured signal frequency and also tune to a frequency 2 or 3
times lower to see if you didn’t measure a harmonic in the first place.
Tube GDMs usually use high impedance (2k) headphones

Heterodyne frequency measurement mode only works with those GDM that have a
dedicated phone jack. It works on the principle of mixing frequencies, for example, if our GDM
oscillates at 1000kHz and there is a 1001kHz signal coupled to the GDM coil the frequencies
heterodyne (mix) creating a signal on 1kHz (1001kHz – 1000kHz = 1kHz) which can be heard
if there are headphones plugged into the jack.

This is a much more sensitive and accurate method of frequency measurement and can be
used to match crystals for crystal filter.

A GDM generating a signal, which is then displayed on a scope

Signal Generation
To use your GDM as a variable frequency oscillator all you to do is wind a coil over the original
GDM coil and connect a buffer amplifier to it. The use of a buffer amplifier is recommended
because taking the output directly from the coil wound over the GDM coil will load it and cause
amplitude and frequency instability and maybe even the oscillations dying down.

Generation of modulated RF signals


Some grid meters are capable of generating AM modulated signals, they either do it by
modulating it with 60Hz AC from the power transformer, 120Hz AC after rectification (first two
are the usual methods in old tube GDM) or by having an onboard AF generator (more often
found in fancy transistor TDMs). If the modulation happens at the generator, there might be a
small FM component in the AM signal.

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