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Old February 20th 11, 04:46 PM posted to sci.electronics.design,rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
[email protected] dagmargoodboat@yahoo.com is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Apr 2010
Posts: 10
Default help designing gimmick capacitor

On Feb 20, 11:14*am, "amdx" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Feb 20, 10:20 am, "amdx" wrote:

Hi all,
I finished the amp that had the 5 Ghz transistor, I changed it to a slower
one.
The objective of this amp is to cause minimal loading of the circuit it is
measuring.
When I install the box cover the voltage gain drops by 7%, so I think the
input capacitor
plate is being loaded by the cover.
The input capacitor plates can be seen here;


http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/p...mspaced5mm.jpg


The plates are 1 cm x 1 cm spaced 5 mm apart.


I have thoughts about rectangular plates 0.25 cm x 4 cm to get more
distance from the top cover, (and the bottom.)
Or a real gimmick cap where I twist a couple of 39 Gauge wires together
and
attach opposite ends to input and output.


Any ideas to minimize input capacitance to the box?


Here's the amp in
box.http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/p...erampinbox.jpg


This is the original circuit page with
schematic;http://www.crystal-radio.eu/enfetamp.htm
Thanks, Mike


PS, I was having trouble getting some close-up pictures, I grabbed a
magnifying glass and took some
pictures through that, works good.


.......................................

The old-tyme gimmick was two wires, twisted together. *That would
contain the field better than your open plates.
Another alternative: you could surround your cap with a shield and
drive the shield from the FET source, bootstrapping it.

r

* Hi James,
* The twisted pair may be the easiest, but as a thought, if I took a piece
of coax and
removed the center conductor leaving just the shield, then inserted a
twisted pair as my capacitor.


That's too tight a box, and the dielectric screws things up--you'll be
making shunt caps to the shield.

*I then connect the shield the FET source, Ok, I have never bootstrapped
before, but wouldn't I
then have a higher potential than desired, even a possibility of
oscillation?


Higher potential? No. Possibility of oscillation? Yes, but not
likely. Keep the shield well clear of the gimmick to minimize that.

Just the twisted gimmick itself is probably all you'll need. The
bootstrapping is lagniappe.

* * * * * * * * * * * *Mikek
*PS. Do I have any concern about inductive coupling with a twisted pair?


Nope.

--
Cheers,
James Arthur