Triode Linear Saw-Tooth-Current Oscillator

It is shown that a triode may be used for generating a linear saw-tooth current when coupled to a suitably designed transformer. The triode is operated on a hitherto unused portion of the E
p
/I
p
characteristics, notably the positive-grid region where the E
p
/I
p
characteristic is a straight line of slope R = E
p
/I
p
. While the oyer-all efficiency of the oscillator is low, it is shown to be inherently more efficient than conventional scanning systems operating in the negative-grid region. Improved operating conditions and circuit efficiency may be obtained by the use of an inverted diode. The losses in a typical triode-scanning oscillator are analyzed and individually computed for a given design. Attention to these individual circuit losses should enable designs to be made of considerably higher efficiency.