Bandpass filter features adjustable constant maximum
Bandpass filter features adjustable Q and constant maximum gain
Mar 22, 2026 Articles

Applications such as audio equalizers require bandpass filters with a constant maximum gain that's independent of the filter's quality factor, Q. However, all of the well-known filter architectures – Sallen-Key, multiple-feedback, state-variable, and Tow-Thomas – suffer from altered maximum gain when Q varies. Equation 1 expresses the second-order bandpass transfer function of a bandpass filter:   (1) where K represents the filter's gain constant. When the input frequency equals ω0, the filter's gain, AMAX, is proportional to the product, KQ. Thus, modifying the quality factor alters the gain and vice versa. Figure 1. This bandpass active filter features adjustable Q and maximum gain in the passband and consists of a twin-T cell with Q adjustment and a differential output stage. You can also extract a frequency-notch output from the voltage-follower stage. This Design Idea describes a filter structure in which K is inversely proportional to Q. Altering Q also modifies K, producing a magnitude-plot set in which the curves maintain the same maximum gain at the central frequency ω0 – that is, KQ remains constant. Figure 1 shows the filter, which comprises a twin T cell with an adjustable quality factor and a differential stage. The differential stage comprises op amp IC3 and resistors R5A through R< ...

Vishay Intertechnology RGB LED 0404 package
Vishay Intertechnology RGB LED in 0404 package provides independent control of red, true green, and blue chips for wide color range
Mar 22, 2026 News

Vishay Intertechnology introduced a new tricolor LED that provides luminous intensity to 252 mcd at 5 mA for RGB displays and backlighting...

High rupture capacity fuses same idea
High rupture capacity fuses: same idea, different reality
Mar 19, 2026 Articles

We’re all familiar with thermally activated fuses, where the conducting element self-heats due to current flow, melts at a defined current value, and breaks the flow path. They are simple in concept...

Move high-speed data across long distances
Move high-speed data across long distances
Mar 17, 2026 Articles

Modern high-speed RS-485 data links are pushing the envelope to the absolute breaking point with regards to data rate versus cable length. Applications include position encoders, traffic monitoring, seismic networks, and GPS transceivers...

An LM317-based 0-20 mA 4-20 mA
An LM317-based 0-20 mA to 4-20 mA 2-wire converter
Mar 16, 2026 Circuits

My recent DI contribution used the LM337 regulator in a novel circuit arrangement to translate an input 0-20 mA current source into a 4-20 mA two-wire transmitter current loop (a standard two-terminal industrial current source)...

Deliberate diamond defect yields ultrasensitive magnetometer
Deliberate diamond defect yields ultrasensitive magnetometer
Mar 12, 2026 Articles

I have always been intrigued by the many ways scientists and engineers have devised to sense basic physical parameters such as temperature, pressure, voltage, current, and electric fields, to cite just a few...

adjustable digital DC load
5 A adjustable digital DC load
Mar 10, 2026 Circuits

A DC load is an essential testing tool for any electronic enthusiast, especially for testing and repairing power supplies. An adjustable DC load can limit the current at any desired level...

Safe operating area
Safe operating area
Mar 9, 2026 Articles

Any semiconductor has limits on how much voltage, how much current, and for how much time combinations of voltage and current can be supported in normal usage...

Single IC forms sensitive modulated light
Single IC forms sensitive modulated light receiver
Mar 8, 2026 Circuits

It is a great circuit when you want to extend the range of an optical remote control transmitter...

Simple shorts sniffer
Simple shorts sniffer
Mar 4, 2026 Circuits

Recently, frequent and favorite contributor Nick Cornford gave us a cool and novel acoustic-interface design for a super sub-ohmmeter capable of audibly sniffing out defects in PWBs...