[time-nuts] OP-Amps for 10MHz distribution...?

Attila Kinali attila at kinali.ch
Mon Feb 20 16:55:40 UTC 2012


On Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:28:01 -0500
Michael Baker <mpb45 at clanbaker.org> wrote:

> Here is a link to a TI app note on using op-amps for
> RF.  It occurred to me that this might work OK for
> distribution of the ref freq from a GPSDO...
> 
> http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slyt102/slyt102.pdf

Depends on what you want to do and what your specs are.
If you just need a 10MHz signal that looks ok, then an
Opamp is an obvious choice. It is by far simpler to design
than a discrete solution (especially today, when nobody
knows how a transistor works). Just plug it in, a few
resistors around it and you're done. 

But there are two things that the article does not
tell you: Noise and power. Opamps (used as amplifiers)
generally have a higher noise than equivalent discrete
transistor circuits and use more power.

So if you care about jitter, noise and want to be in
the nutty of the time-nutty region, then there is no
way around designing your own distribution amplifier
using discrete components.

And just for reference: There are already Opamps
around with a gain bandwidth product of 1GHz. 


			Attila Kinali

-- 
The trouble with you, Shev, is you don't say anything until you've saved
up a whole truckload of damned heavy brick arguments and then you dump
them all out and never look at the bleeding body mangled beneath the heap
		-- Tirin, The Dispossessed, U. Le Guin



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