Recommendations for a little LTSpice design project?

November 28, 2009 | Amateur Radio | By: Mark VandeWettering

Well, one of the advantages of getting a new Windows 7 laptop is that I now have a much nicer environment for running LTSpice. Does anyone have any ideas of a good, simple project that I could do to help me learn the ropes of LTSpice, and which I could also build for real to test my understanding? Perhaps something like a VFO + buffer amplifier + power amplifier chain, that could be done in steps? The simple transmitter in EMRFD would seem to be a reasonable choice, but the oscillator is crystal controlled, and I’ve heard that LTSpice can have some difficulty simulating these kind of “high Q” circuits.

What would you all suggest?

Comments

Comment from Brad
Time 11/29/2009 at 7:54 am

Wonder if you’ve seen KL7R’s (RIP) demos of LTSpice:

http://www.soldersmoke.com/kl7r/ltspicebasics.htm

http://www.gadgeteer.us/returnloss2.htm

Comment from Bill
Time 11/29/2009 at 9:30 am

Mark: I’ve never really tried modeling oscillators, but I have had a great time using LTSpice to design amplifier chains. Maybe set a power output level (1 W ? 5 W?) as your goal, and begin with the power level you expect to get from your oscillator stage. I tried to keep mine in Class A as a design exercise. Then I built it in the real world and compared results. Have fun. 73 Bill