I need to come up with a speed control for an AC miniature motor (400Hz).

stator/rotor - 16.5V / 26V

only the 16.5 volt coil can be controlled and takes about 200mA.

Voltage reduction does not work so i was thinking about a PWM control and would like to know if there is something available “off the shelf” or if someone can help design it for me. Thanks!

 

Is this an aircraft instrument?

 

Is this an aircraft instrument?

Yes, it’s a vintage instrument that will be used for display only.

 

Yes, it’s a vintage instrument that will be used for display only.

That's what I thought. Making a simulator I assume? If not, maybe you're not aware, a lot (well maybe not a lot, but some) people are making flight simulators with real (old) instruments. The purists rarely want to do the sensible thing and replace that archaic drive circuitry with servos that are easily controllable, so several have designed circuits to drive things like this. It's not something I follow closely so I can't point you to any good slam dunk "heres 10 steps to get that thing working" links but this document has some terminology in it that you could probably Google to find what you're looking for.

 

That's what I thought. Making a simulator I assume? If not, maybe you're not aware, a lot (well maybe not a lot, but some) people are making flight simulators with real (old) instruments. The purists rarely want to do the sensible thing and replace that archaic drive circuitry with servos that are easily controllable, so several have designed circuits to drive things like this. It's not something I follow closely so I can't point you to any good slam dunk "heres 10 steps to get that thing working" links but this document has some terminology in it that you could probably Google to find what you're looking for.

Thanks but that’s not it. It’s just a single phase motor that needs a speed control. You might have pointed me in the right direction though….the simulator community!

 

Are you familiar with the Arduino microprocessors? For high frequency PWM that is where I would start. But then I've had a good bit of experience programming them... Not sure what you want the control element to be but it would be fairly easy to use a potentiometer or even a Digi pot. Arduino can handle digital and analog inputs and be programmed to output the range of PWM for the input scale.