Low Side (Ls); Output Device Emulation Protection (Odep) - Crown Com-Tech CT-1610 Service Manual

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loads to the power supply to protect output devices
from dangerous reverse voltage levels. An output ter-
minating circuit blocks RF on output lines from enter-
ing the amplifier through the amp's output connectors.

5.4.2 Low Side (LS)

The Low Side (LS) operates quite differently from the
High Side. The power supply bridge rectifier is not
ground referenced, nor is the secondary of the main
transformer. In other words, the high voltage power
supply floats with respect to ground, but ±Vcc remain
constant with respect to each other. This allows the
power supply to deliver +Vcc and -Vcc from the same
bridge rectifier and filter as a total difference in poten-
tial, regardless of their voltages with respect to ground.
The LS uses inverted feedback from the HS output to
control the ground reference for the rails (±Vcc). Both
LS quadrants are arranged in a three-deep Darlington
and are biased AB+B in the same manner as the HS.
When the amplifier output swings positive, the audio
is fed to an op-amp stage where it is inverted. This
inverted signal is delivered directly to the bases of the
positive (NPN) and negative (PNP) LS predrivers. The
negative drive forces the LS PNP devices on (NPN
off). As the PNP devices conduct, Vce of the PNP
Darlington drops. With LS device emitters tied to
ground, -Vcc is pulled toward ground reference. Since
the power supply is not ground referenced (and the
total voltage from +Vcc to -Vcc is constant) +Vcc is
forced higher above ground potential. This continues
until, at the positive amplifier output peak, -Vcc = 0V
and +Vcc equals the total power supply potential with
a positive polarity. If, for example, the power supply
produced a total of 70V from rail to rail (±35VDC mea-
sured from ground with no signal), the amplifier out-
put would reach a positive peak of +70V.
Conversely, during a negative swing of the HS output
where HS PNP devices conduct, the op-amp would
output a positive voltage forcing LS NPN devices to
conduct. This would result in +Vcc swinging toward
ground potential and -Vcc swinging further from ground
potential. At the negative amplifier output peak, +Vcc
= 0V and -Vcc equals the total power supply potential
with a negative polarity. Using the same example as
above, a 70V supply would allow a negative output
peak of -70V. In summary, a power supply which pro-
duces a total of 70VDC rail to rail (or ±35VDC stati-
cally) is capable of producing 140V peak-to-peak at
the amplifier output when the grounded bridge topol-
ogy is used. The voltages used in this example are
relatively close to the voltages of the PB-1/460CSL.
5-4
Com-Tech 810 and 1610 Amplifier Service Manual
The total effect is to deliver a peak to peak voltage to
the speaker load which is twice the voltage produced
by the power supply. Benefits include full utilization of
the power supply (it conducts current during both
halves of the output signal; conventional designs re-
quire two power supplies per channel, one positive
and one negative), and never exposing any output
device to more than half of the peak to peak output
voltage (which does occur in conventional designs).
Low side bias is established by a diode string which
also shunts built up charges on the output devices.
Bias is adjustable via potentiometer. Flyback diodes
perform the same function as the HS flybacks. The
output of the LS is tied directly to chassis ground via
ground strap.
5.5 Output Device Emulation Protection
( ODEP )
To further protect the output stages, a specially devel-
oped ODEP circuit is used. It produces a complex
analog output signal. This signal is proportional to the
always changing safe-operating-area margin of the
output transistors. The ODEP signal controls the Volt-
age Translator stage by removing drive that may ex-
ceed the safe-operating-area of the output stage.
ODEP senses output current by measuring the voltage
dropped across LS emitter resistors. LS NPN current
(negative amplifier output) and +Vcc are sensed, then
multiplied to obtain a signal proportional to output
power. Positive and negative ODEP voltages are ad-
justable via two potentiometers. Across ± ODEP is a
thermal sense (current source). The thermal sense
causes the differential between + ODEP and – ODEP to
decrease as heatsink temperature increases. An in-
crease in positive output voltage and current into a
load will result in – ODEP voltage dropping; an increase
in negative output voltage and current will cause + ODEP
voltage to drop. A complex RC network between the
± ODEP circuitry is used to simulate the thermal barri-
ers between the interior of the output device die (im-
measurable by normal means) and the time delay from
heat generation at the die until heat dissipates to the
thermal sensor. The combined effects of thermal his-
tory and instantaneous dynamic power level result in
an accurate simulation of the actual thermal condition
of the output transistors.
Rev. 0