AD606
REV. B
–9–
Low Frequency Applications
With reasonably sized input coupling capacitors and an optional
input low-pass filter, the AD606 can operate to frequencies as
low as 200 Hz with good log conformance. Figure 8 shows the
schematic, with the low-pass filter included in the dashed box.
This circuit should be built inside a die cast box and the signal
brought in through a coaxial connector. The circuit must also
have a low-pass filter to reject the attenuated RF signals that
would otherwise be rectified along with the desired signal and
be added to the log output. The shielded and filtered circuit has
a 90 dB dynamic range, as shown in Figure 9.
In this circuit, R4 and R5 form a 20 dB attenuator that extends
the input range to 10 V rms. R3 isolates loads from VLOG.
Capacitors C1 and C2 (4.7 µF each), R1, R2, and the AD606’s
input resistance of 2.5 kΩ form a 100 Hz high-pass filter that is
before the AD606; the corner frequency of this filter must be
well below the lowest frequency of interest. In addition, the
offset-correction loop introduces another pole at low signal
levels that is transformed into another high-pass filter because it
is in a feedback path. This indicates that there has to be a
gradual transition from a 40 dB roll off at low signal levels to a
20 dB roll off at high signal levels, at which point the feedback
low pass filter is effectively disabled since the incoming signal
swamps the feedback signal.
This low-pass filter introduces some attenuation due to R1 and
R2 in conjunction with the 2.5 kΩ input resistance of the
AD606. To minimize this effect, the value of R1 and R2 should
be kept as small as possible–100 Ω is a good value since it bal-
ances the need to reduce the attenuation as mentioned above
with the requirement for R1 and R2 to be much larger then the
impedance of C1 and C2 at the low-pass corner frequency, in
our case about 1 MHz.
4
–80 40
3
1
–60
2
020–20–40
INPUT SIGNAL – dBm
V
LOG
– Volts DC
0
100Hz
3.5V
1kHz – 10MHz
90dB
Figure 9. Performance of Low Frequency Circuit at 100 Hz
and 1 kHz to 10 MHz (Note Attenuation)
C1
4.7mF
TO
DVM
R3
1kV
+5V
INHI
COMM
PRUP
VPOS
FIL1
FIL2
LADJ
LMHI
INLO
COMM
ISUM
ILOG
BFIN
VLOG
OPCM
LMLO
AD606JN
NC
0.1mF
NC
C4
4.7mF
NC
R1
100V
LOW-PASS
FILTER
R2
100V
C3
680pF
R4
453V
20dB
ATTENUATOR
R5
51.1V
AC
INPUT
C2
4.7mF
+
+
DIECAST BOX
NC = NO CONNECT
Figure 8. Circuit for Low Frequency Measurements