Hartley Oscillator

Introduction

The Hartley oscillator was invented by Ralph Hartley while he was working
for the Research Laboratory of the Western Electric Company. Hartley
invented and patented the design in 1915 while overseeing Bell System's
transatlantic radiotelephone tests.

TheHartley oscillatoris anelectronic oscillatorcircuitin which the

oscillation frequency is determined by atank circuitconsisting ofcapacitors
andinductors, that is, an LC oscillator. The distinguishing feature of the
Hartley oscillator is that the tank circuit consists of a single capacitor in
parallel with two inductors in series (or a single tapped inductor), and the
feedbacksignal needed for oscillation is taken from the center connection of
the two inductors.

Discussion

The advantage of constructing aHartley Oscillatorusing an operational

amplifier as its active stage is that the gain of the op-amp can be very easily
adjusted using the feedback resistorsR1andR2.

With the transistorized oscillator above, the gain of the circuit must be equal
too or slightly greater than the ratio of L1/L2. If the two inductive coils are
wound onto a common core and mutual inductanceMexists then the ratio
becomes(L1+M)/(L2+M).

Hartley oscillators are commonly used in radio frequency (RF) oscillator

applications and the recommended frequency range is from 20KHz to 30MHz.

Circuit Diagrams

Op-amp version of Hartley oscillator

Using transistors

Tank Circuit

If twouncoupledcoils of inductanceL1andL2are used then L = L1 + L2

If the two coils are magnetically coupled the total inductance will be greater
because ofmutual inductanceM. L = L1 + L2 + 2M

Mutual inductanceoccurs when the change in current in one inductor induces

a voltage in another nearby inductor.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of the Hartley oscillator include:

The frequency may be adjusted using a single variable capacitor, one side of
which can be earthed

The output amplitude remains constant over the frequency range

Instead of two separate coils as L1 and L2, a single coil of bare wire can be
used and the coil grounded at any desired point along it.

Very few components are needed including either two fixed inductors or a
tapped coil.

Disadvantages include:

Harmonic-rich output if taken from the amplifier and not directly from the LC
circuit (unless amplitude-stabilisation circuitry is employed).

It cannot be used as low frequency oscillator since the value of inductors

become large and size of the inductors becomes bulky.

Sample Problem

Calculate the oscillation frequency for the transistor Hartley circuit of Fig.
14.30 and the following circuit values: LRFC = 0.5 mH, L1 = 750 mH, L2 =
750 mH, M = 150 mH, and C = 150 pF.