An improved low-noise amplifier design for the CAERENet instrument — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Thomas Carr
Katherin Hilson
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Sarah Terrill

An improved low-noise amplifier design for the CAERENet instrument

Name: Michael Brusich
Major: Physics
Hometown: Mokena, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: SURE
Funding: SURE, WSGC

Abstract

In order to understand how and why lightning occurs it is important to measure the effects of lightning on Earth’s electric field. Such measurements can be made with electric field mills. The overall goal of this program is to design and build electric field mills to deploy to local schools as an educational outreach program and large-scale data collection network. My specific goal was to improve the prototype instrument amplifier I designed in the summer of 2013 to improve the dynamic range and reduce noise and interference. By using the circuit simulation program LTSpice and running tests on the prototype, I found problems with component values, grounding, and power supply noise. After addressing these issues, I used the circuit design program EAGLE to plan a two-layer printed circuit board (PCB) to replace our existing hand-wired breadboard. The new PCB was fabricated, assembled, and integrated with a Parallax Propeller micro-controller as a data acquisition system. The resulting setup performs much better than the previous design and positions the program to start deploying instruments in summer 2015.

Submit date: March 12, 2015, 7:30 p.m.