IC 152: Makerspace Laboratory

EE Component: 2023-24
Exp 2: Simulation of Op-amp amplifiers using TINA TI and
testing on BreadBoard

Objectives:
1. Getting familiarized with TINA TI Simulation Software
2. Perform a simulation of an inverting Op-Amp on TINA TI simulator and inferring the analysis.
3. Assembling the circuit on a breadboard and testing out the same.

Brief Overview of TINA TI:

TINA-TI (Toolkit for Interactive Network Analysis - Texas Instruments) is a SPICE-based electrical circuit
simulator that provides DC, transient, and frequency domain analysis. It has an extensive post-processing
capability and virtual instruments that allow users to select input waveforms and probe circuit nodes voltages
and waveforms.
TINA-TI installation requires approximately 500MB. Installation is straight-forward and it can be uninstalled
easily, if you wish. You use thus link for downloading TINA TI.

Getting Started:
Once you download the TINA TI Simulator and open it, you should get the following display:

Fig. 1: Home window on opening TINA TI

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 Fig. 2: Circuit Components toolbox
You can see the various circuit elements on top. It provides you with various circuit components for DC,
transient, and frequency domain analysis. Take time to go through them and get familiarized, before starting
with your simulation.

Components:
Below you can find the main components we will be using. Starting from the Operational Amplifier (Not
Ideal), DC & AC power supplies, voltmeter, resistors and ground pins.

Fig. 3: Major electrical components

The parameters of each component can be changed by clicking on them. Get familiar with the same.

Fig. 4: Parameters for resistor component in TINA TI

Now assuming that you have gone through the components, we will focus on the toolbar. Here you can see
the options for the circuit Analysis.
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 Fig. 5: Circuit Analysis toolset options

You can use DC Analysis, AC Analysis or Transient Analysis based on the requirements. We will be using
transient analysis.

Fig. 6: Transient analysis options

Usually, we take the start time and end time to be 0 s and 1 s respectively.
We perform circuit analysis to calculate the operating point. You may also use initial conditions or zero
initial values if you want to tinker.

Setting up the simulation for an Inverting Op-Amp

Fig. 7 shows the circuit for an inverting Op-Amp.

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 Fig. 7: Circuit for an Inverting Op-Amp
For simplicity we are considering an inverting Op-Amp circuit with an Amplitude gain of 10.
Make the circuit connections as shown, make sure all connections are proper.
Then click on Analysis > transient analysis. Set start time to 0s, end time to 1s and on calculate operating
point. Clicking OK, you should get the output like this:

Fig. 8: Output plot for the simulation

To get a clear view of the above waveform follow the given steps:
1. Click on the zoom option from the toolbar.
2. Now, select a small area from the obtained graph.
3. Finally, you will end up with the graph shown in Fig. 9.

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 Fig. 9: Zoomed in plot of output waveform

Fig. 10: Cursors for measurements

Now using the cursors infer the analysis plot. You can try to find the amplitude of input and output signal,
time period and from that the frequency. Fig 10 shows the details. Tweak the gains by changing resistances
R1 and R2 and note down your results in the table shown below. You may change the amplitude of the input
voltage and note down the results.

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 Table 1: Results for parameter variations for the inverting Op-amp circuit

S.No R1 R2 Vin Vout V1 V2

1. +15V -15V

2. +15V -15V

3. +15V -15V

4. +15V -15V

5. +15V -15V

6. +15V -15V

Additional Learning:
Once you have successfully completed simulating the circuit, try to tweak the DC power supply (lower it
to 5V). What do you observe? What do you think about the result that you get? You can ask about this to the
TAs present.
You can also try to change the waveforms shapes and adjust their amplitudes and frequencies and note down
your results.
Similarly, build a Non-Inverting Op-Amp Circuit.
Things to Try: In the feedback path, replace the resistance with
a) Capacitance
b) Diode
Analyse the circuit, simulate and observe how the output waveform looks.

Testing on Breadboard:
The circuit needs to be assembled on breadboard for testing.
Steps for breadboard connection:
1. Fig.11 shows the breadboard connection for the inverting amplifier circuit.
2. The IC pinout has also been provided for reference, the pin numbers are with respect to the notch.
3. The feedback path resistance R2 should be a potentiometer as shown – this will provide variable
voltage gain.
4. Make sure that the DC power supply is switched OFF before the connections are made.
5. Fig.13 shows how you short the connections from DC power supply to get +V and -V DC bias
voltages (usually we set them to 12-15 V.) Here you short the -ve of CH1, Common ground and
+ve of CH2. The common ground is connected to the ground of the breadboard.
6. Make sure that the current knobs of the corresponding channels are set to their maximum
positions.
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Fig.11: Inverting Amplifier circuit Breadboard Connection and 741 IC pinout

Potentiometer

741CN

Op-Amp
IC

Fig.12: Zoomed in view of the circuit components

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Fig.13: DC Power Supply – The outputs of the channels are shorted to obtain the desired ±12 or ±15 V

Fig.14: Sine wave input and output waveforms for inverting amplifier

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 Fig.15: Square wave input and output waveforms for inverting amplifier

Fig.16: Triangular wave input and output waveforms for inverting amplifier

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 7. Once the connections are made get them verified by the TA, only then switch ON the power
supply.
8. After checking the probes (proper compensation), set the output of the function generator to a 2V (pk-
pk) sine wave with 100 Hz frequency. Connect the output of the function generator to the input of the
Op-amp circuit. Observe the same on Channel 1 of the DSO.
9. Connect the output and ground through another probe and observe the waveform on Channel 2.
10. Vary the potentiometer knob using a screw driver and observe the variation in the magnitude of the
output voltage waveform. A sample snapshot of the result is shown in Fig. 14.
11. You may change the waveshape to square, triangle etc and vary the frequency as well. Note down
your observations carefully. Sample snapshots of the results are shown in Figs. 15 and 16.
12. On similar lines you may check the functioning of a non-inverting amplifier.

In the next experiment, you would design a printed circuit board (PCB) for the same circuit,
solder the components and test out the circuit for the same waveforms.

References:
[1] Microelectronic Circuits, 8th Edition, ISBN10: 0198062257 | ISBN13: 978-0198062257, Adel S. Sedra/
Kenneth C. Smith, Oxford University Press.
[2] NPTEL course: Basic Electronics, Prof. Mahesh Patil, IIT Bombay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoDoW5kykkw&list=PLZ21v6nC1eHEZXCSu64yV2E2bVayFJjem
[3] Getting Started with TINA-TI: A Quick Start Guide (Rev. A):
https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/sbou052a/sbou052a.pdf?ts=1698236204189&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252F
www.bing.com%252F#:~:text=This%20quick-
start%20user's%20guide,or%20number%20of%20device%20limitations.
[4] https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/analogwire/posts/what-is-an-op-amp
[5] 741 Datasheet:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm741.pdf?ts=1698222555742&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.
ti.com%252Fproduct%252FLM741

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