Advice on adjusting op amp circuit pots

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
13,720
I am a hobbyist. I come from a railway electrical background but thats mostly medium to high voltage and lots of relay logic. Electronics although not entirely new to me, is a keen interest that i know little about currently especially when trying to create something from scratch.
60dB ratio? mathematics is one of my worst subjects so no, not really im afraid. keen to learn as always though...

kind regards
Hi,

Oh you don't like math, that's a shame, because you can learn a LOT using math to analyze some circuits and gain a lot of insight into how everything works. Even algebra goes a lot way though.

You can also look on the web for some theory on how op amps work, and how they work in common circuits.
 

Thread Starter

Steve200

Joined Jun 22, 2024
68
i dont hate maths, i was just bloody useless at it, kinda puts you off trying.
Ohms law is the only one i ever managed to learn, thats probably because i had something interesting to relate it to.

kind regards steve
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
21,463
Interesting, and easily achieved.....
How stable will the op amps be with a fluctuating supply voltage?
Hi S,
The PSSR of 60dB means a reduction of greater than 10,000, so to answer your question,
it should not be a problem.
E
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
13,720
i dont hate maths, i was just bloody useless at it, kinda puts you off trying.
Ohms law is the only one i ever managed to learn, thats probably because i had something interesting to relate it to.

kind regards steve
Hi,

Oh well at least you do not hate it, that's a good start.

Math is necessary for advanced engineering. Even if you adjust a PID controller by hand, math tells you why you are doing that with exquisite accuracy and resolution. It also tells you what you could mess up doing it :)

You probably just need practice, and not be afraid of some of the expressions and equations you see out there that seem too advanced to handle. It will always be like that because nobody knows everything. You just need to know what you are interested in.

I would recommend at least becoming familiar with algebra; simultaneous equations. These seem difficult, but they just have a certain mechanics behind them where many of the operations are just repeated over and over again in order to solve them.
If someone helped you with this I am better you would start to understand how simple it is, and with modern math software, almost anybody can solve multiple variable simultaneous equations with just the trouble of entering them into the software and then typing something like "solve" or "linsolve".

I guarantee you will see the world in a completely different way.
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
5,016
You can also look on the web for some theory on how op amps work, and how they work in common circuits.
When starting I considered op amps an intriguing subject and a formidable stumbling block.

Having implemented the most basic amplifiers on a breadboard measuring every single cuurent/voltage with various values at the input I managed to understand the basics. Formulas then made sense.
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
13,720
When starting I considered op amps an intriguing subject and a formidable stumbling block.

Having implemented the most basic amplifiers on a breadboard measuring every single cuurent/voltage with various values at the input I managed to understand the basics. Formulas then made sense.
Hi there,

Op amps are amazing devices.
I think the main credit for the feedback amplifier was given to H S Black, but there had been other parallel works as is common with early inventions.

The most interesting thing about op amps I think is the slew rate, combined with the differential measuring inputs.
Even when there is a differential input, the output cannot change instantaneously it has to 'slew' up to meet the requirements. Once it slews up the feedback starts to make a large contribution to the input which 'balances' the two inputs, almost like an old 'I' beam balancing scale.

I first encountered op amps way back in the early 1970's or late 1960's. The first thing I built was a guitar preamp circuit that could be put inside a solid body electric guitar. Driven by a regular 9v battery.
 

Thread Starter

Steve200

Joined Jun 22, 2024
68
I do wonder if I should look for some sort of evening college or online maths course. It would be nice to have more of an understanding of what i'm doing with regards to electronics. Im fine doing things like volt drops and load calculations, they are the main important things ive had to deal with in the past, but with electronics there is so much more to it and knowing the formulas and how to work them out would have saved you all the headache of trying to help me with my last little project.
Its a hobby ive enjoyed on and off since i was a kid, but its clear my lack of understanding of maths is what is really holding me back now.
Ive started the next little project now, slowing down the solenoid in an 'impulse slave clock' to quieten it down. No doubt ill struggle with this too, so wish me luck!

Kind regards Steve
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
13,720
I do wonder if I should look for some sort of evening college or online maths course. It would be nice to have more of an understanding of what i'm doing with regards to electronics. Im fine doing things like volt drops and load calculations, they are the main important things ive had to deal with in the past, but with electronics there is so much more to it and knowing the formulas and how to work them out would have saved you all the headache of trying to help me with my last little project.
Its a hobby ive enjoyed on and off since i was a kid, but its clear my lack of understanding of maths is what is really holding me back now.
Ive started the next little project now, slowing down the solenoid in an 'impulse slave clock' to quieten it down. No doubt ill struggle with this too, so wish me luck!

Kind regards Steve
Hi,

There is so much available online these days you may be able to just look up a topic and read it over.
Since algebra is so important, you should probably start with that, as long as you know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide already :)

Just check out some one variable problems like:
a*x=y-b

1. Do you know how to solve for 'x' here?
2. Can you also solve for 'y' here?

When we solve for a single variable that usually means we want to get the one variable on the left with everything else on the right. For example:
x=9*a+K
y=K*x+g
etc., where we have solved one (different) equation for 'x' and one (different) for 'y'.
 
Top