EveryCircuit
Contact
Reviews
Home
escriblings
modified 9 years ago

Colpitts Oscillator - not working

1
10
137
02:45:12
Why doesn't this appear to be working? This should be a copy of the "Practical Example" in the Wikipedia article. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colpitts_oscillator (Overview fig.3)
published 9 years ago
jason9
9 years ago
Three problems: 1: the LED is a very bad idea that may the oscillator from working, and it will not work at the 50MHz of the colpitts oscillator. 2: in between the two caps there's a wire which you need to connect to the terminal of the transistor with the arrow. 3: when you press the clock button a knob will show up and you will need to turn it counter-clockwise until it says 100nS/S before you start the simulation. Hope this helps. :)
jason9
9 years ago
Fix: the LED is a very bad idea that may -stop- the oscillator from working etc.
jason9
9 years ago
Oh, and the circuit isn't properly grounded. That's another reason it doesn't work.
jason9
9 years ago
Actually, you can't do step three without starting the sim. So, start the sim, do step three, stop the sim, start the sim, and watch it work. It's important that after you do step three you stop then start the sim. Otherwise the oscilloscope won't work properly.
escriblings
9 years ago
1). Removed LED. 2). Added wire (can't believe I missed that). 3). Adjusted simulation speed, stopped and started, still didn't already to be working. Thoughts?
escriblings
9 years ago
Not properly grounded??? Where should the grounds be placed?
Tigozawr
9 years ago
Just make the capacitance of the EC cap different for a sec and then make it right again
hurz
9 years ago
and shake to start http://everycircuit.com/circuit/4800469210234880
escriblings
9 years ago
OK didn't know about the shake thing - strange. I noticed the adjust and adjust back, that's odd too. - what's bugging me now is that with all the values power the Wiki it's supposed to have a frequency of ~50MHz, and its not happening.
jacyhenry
9 years ago
There is nothing wrong with your circuit. I have use very similar circuits in real life and have a lot of success with them. I believe that it is the transistor model in this program that is the problem.

EveryCircuit is an easy to use, highly interactive circuit simulator and schematic capture tool. Real-time circuit simulation, interactivity, and dynamic visualization make it a must have application for professionals and academia. EveryCircuit user community has collaboratively created the largest searchable library of circuit designs. EveryCircuit app runs online in popular browsers and on mobile phones and tablets, enabling you to capture design ideas and learn electronics on the go.

Copyright © 2025 by MuseMaze, Inc.     Terms of use     Privacy policy