Oscillation frequency for small TDO coils

Chuck Agosta - Clark University

We have tested a number of coils with the current TDO circuit and below are the resonant frequencies for coils of various sizes, number of turns, and with various size capacitors added to the TDO board. The actual frequency is the result of the coil inductance, the added capacitance, the parasitic inductance and capacitance of the coil and twisted pair transmission line connecting the coil and circuit and the parasitics on the board itself. There is also a contribution from the diode capacitance despite the addition of Rp which should decouple the diode capacitance from the coil. In these tests the twisted pair transmission line between the coil and the circuit is kept to 3 mm or less. It is very difficult to make all the coils and twisted pairs accurately at this small scale, and lots of the variation in the results are due to random amounts of parasitic contribution. As more measurements are made, the tables will be filled out and expanded. To get an idea of the general trends a figure that summerises some of the results is included at the bottom of the page. Frequency in MHz.

# 45 wire# 50 wire# 56 wire
TurnsCap0.5 mm1.0 mm0.5mm1.0 mm0.5 mm--
2015301185145410781310--
21.0123794211378601086--
23.3981709838625----
25.1843609752533664--
210.0599444--400----
30--93211418531150--
31.21098443921681----
33.3830541659483----
35.1721482555415578--
310.0534380413317430--
4012146871042637968--
41.2--557827511----
43.3--409590375----
45.1--356503319----
410.0--268381257363--
50--626918573----
51.2--485722463----
53.3--362525340----
55.1--335461292----
510.0--245345226----
The frequency of the TDO with small coils connected to the TDO board. The frequency is in MHz.
......... Last updated 22 Jul 2025
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