Rectifier Circuits

From Amateur Radio Wiki
Revision as of 17:25, 8 April 2009 by Carlb (talk | contribs) (→‎Four diode or bridge rectifier)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

related wiki pages : Electronic Theory, capacitors. Inductors, Voltage, Current, Oscillator Design, Power Supply Design. Filters

What is a Rectifier

A rectifier converts Alternating Current (AC) to Direct Current (DC). This is usually achieved by using a diode, which allows current to flow only in one direction.

Half-wave Rectifier

Halfwave.rectifier.png

copied from Wikipedia under the licensing agreement of the author.

The circuit above illustrates the effect of a single diode in an AC line. The effect is that half of the AC sine curve is "chopped off". This is a very inefficient way of rectifying AC, but may be used to reduce power to a resistive load R.

Full-wave Rectifier

Two diode - centre tapped transformer

Fullwave.rectifier 2.png

Four diode or bridge rectifier

Fullwave.rectifier 1.png


Electronic Theory
Physical quantities Current * Gain * Impedance * Power * Q of a circuit * Radiated Power Measurement * Reactance* Resistivity * Resonance * Voltage
Components Baluns * Bipolar-Junction Transistors * Capacitors * Diodes * Inductors* Lasers * Microphones * Resistors * Transformers * Wire
Circuits Attenuators * Digital Signal Processing (DSP) * Dummy load * Filters * LC filters * Power Supply Design * Rectifier Circuits
Design Amplifier Design * Oscillator Design
Electromagnetic Waves Relative power (Decibels) * Harmonics * Interference and BPL