How to make a triangle waveform

Thread Starter

andy24691

Joined Nov 25, 2010
42
I have to generate a triangle wave at 200 kHz, would the circuit posted above be appropriate? I have an LM324N quad op-amp chip with a bandwidth of 1MHz, will this be sufficient? Also I don't understand what the voltage divider on the right of the diagram with the diodes is supposed to be? I'm guessing the other voltage divider is for generating the voltages necessary for the op-amps. Also I thought the triangle wave appears at the output of the integrator and not the input.

cheers
 

Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
The output of a lousy old LM324 opamp has trouble above only 2kHz due to slew-rate limiting. Most half-decent opamps work well up to 100KHz but you need one that has a good output up to 2MHz.

The voltage divider with the LEDs is connected to the output of the square-wave opamp and one LED lights when its output is high and the other LED lights when its output is low.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
Welcome to AAC!

A thread belongs to the OP (original poster). Trying to take over someone elses thread is called hijacking, which is not allowed at All About Circuits. I have therefore given you a thread of your very own.

This was split from

http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=60094

The answer is the same as given to the other OP, you will need a much faster op amp to do what you want.
 

Thread Starter

andy24691

Joined Nov 25, 2010
42
Sorry I didn't realise.

Referring to the schematic posted by sheldons, if you input a square wave of 200kHz into the circuit am I right in saying the output should be a triangle wave of 200kHz?

I also don't know the difference between line and field rate?
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
It is a simple RC osciallator. The twist comes in the form of the integrator coming out with a linear wave form, the triangle wave. It is a close cousin of the 555 Hysteretic Oscillator, which uses a RC intigrator instead of an op amp version.

If you need a linear ramp, and not a triangle you could use this design, which is much simplier.



This from my cookbook, a work in progress stalled.

My Cookbook

Think about using an op amp integrator, the op amps have to be very fast. A LM324 would have trouble following your signal at unity gain, let alone creating it. Think in terms of a much faster op amp, something like a TL084 or better.

High Speed Op Amp Query

The reason a thread belongs to the person starting it (in this case you) is to prevent someone from confusing the issue and leaving you with no answer. Since this thread is yours you can take it whatever direction you want, generally understanding a circuit isn't linear for people, and there is no telling which explination will click best for you.

I'm not sure which schematic you were referring to, but I suspect it is an old project of mine that resembled a function generator (loosely). It made a square wave, triangle wave, and a rough approximation of a sine wave.

I tend to draw a lot of schematics, some of them are even useful. :D
 
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Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
That gets harder, though I'm sure there are parts that can do it.

Part of the problem is phase, the integrator has to be inverting, which means the 555 section needs not to be. The 555 sets the amplitude of the wave form because of it's 1/3 and 2/3Vcc setpoints as a Schmitt Trigger.

BTW, you do want a symetrical triangle wave form?
 
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