In an LC oscillator circuit, the filter is a tuned circuit consisting of an inductor (L) and capacitor (C) connected together." US Air Force Training Film TVK 30-536 Originally a public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_oscillator Wikipedia license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. Oscillators convert direct current (DC) from a power supply to an alternating current signal. They are widely used in many electronic devices. Common examples of signals generated by oscillators include signals broadcast by radio and television transmitters, clock signals that regulate computers and quartz clocks, and the sounds produced by electronic beepers and video games. Oscillators are often characterized by the frequency of their output signal: A low-frequency oscillator (LFO) is an electronic oscillator that generates a frequency below ≈20 Hz. This term is typically used in the field of audio synthesizers, to distinguish it from an audio frequency oscillator. An audio oscillator produces frequencies in the audio range, about 16 Hz to 20 kHz. An RF oscillator produces signals in the radio frequency (RF) range of about 100 kHz to 100 GHz. Oscillators designed to produce a high-power AC output from a DC supply are usually called inverters. There are two main types of electronic oscillator: the linear or harmonic oscillator and the nonlinear or relaxation oscillator... Harmonic oscillator The harmonic, or linear, oscillator produces a sinusoidal output. There are two types: Feedback oscillator The most common form of linear oscillator is an electronic amplifier such as a transistor or op amp connected in a feedback loop with its output fed back into its input through a frequency selective electronic filter to provide positive feedback. When the power supply to the amplifier is first switched on, electronic noise in the circuit provides a signal to get oscillations started. The noise travels around the loop and is amplified and filtered until very quickly it becomes a sine wave at a single frequency. Feedback oscillator circuits can be classified according to the type of frequency selective filter they use in the feedback loop: In an RC oscillator circuit, the filter is a network of resistors and capacitors. RC oscillators are mostly used to generate lower frequencies, for example in the audio range. Common types of RC oscillator circuits are the phase shift oscillator and the Wien bridge oscillator. In an LC oscillator circuit, the filter is a tuned circuit (often called a tank circuit; the tuned circuit is a resonator) consisting of an inductor (L) and capacitor (C) connected together. Charge flows back and forth between the capacitor's plates through the inductor, so the tuned circuit can store electrical energy oscillating at its resonant frequency. There are small losses in the tank circuit, but the amplifier compensates for those losses and supplies the power for the output signal. LC oscillators are often used at radio frequencies, when a tunable frequency source is necessary, such as in signal generators, tunable radio transmitters and the local oscillators in radio receivers. Typical LC oscillator circuits are the Hartley, Colpitts and Clapp circuits. In a crystal oscillator circuit the filter is a piezoelectric crystal (commonly a quartz crystal). The crystal mechanically vibrates as a resonator, and its frequency of vibration determines the oscillation frequency. Crystals have very high Q-factor and also better temperature stability than tuned circuits, so crystal oscillators have much better frequency stability than LC or RC oscillators. Crystal oscillators are the most common type of linear oscillator, used to stabilize the frequency of most radio transmitters, and to generate the clock signal in computers and quartz clocks. Crystal oscillators often use the same circuits as LC oscillators, with the crystal replacing the tuned circuit; the Pierce oscillator circuit is also commonly used. Quartz crystals are generally limited to frequencies of 30 MHz or below. Other types of resonator, dielectric resonators and surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, are used to control higher frequency oscillators, up into the microwave range...

Principles of Electromagnetism (Silent) 1927 DeVry School Films Inc., Carpenter-Goldman Laboratories Before the connection between magnetism and electricity was discovered, electrostatic generators were invented that used electrostatic principles. These generated very high voltages and low currents. They operated by using moving electrically charged belts, plates and disks to carry charge to a high potential electrode... In 1827, Hungarian Anyos Jedlik started experimenting with electromagnetic rotating devices which he called electromagnetic self-rotors. In the prototype of the single-pole electric starter (finished between 1852 and 1854) both the stationary and the revolving parts were electromagnetic. He formulated the concept of the dynamo at least 6 years before Siemens and Wheatstone but didn't patent it as he thought he wasn't the first to realize this. In essence the concept is that instead of permanent magnets, two electromagnets opposite to each other induce the magnetic field around the rotor. It was also the discovery of the principle of self-excitation... In the years of 1831--1832, Michael Faraday discovered the operating principle of electromagnetic generators. The principle, later called Faraday's law, is that an electromotive force is generated in an electrical conductor that encircles a varying magnetic flux. He also built the first electromagnetic generator, called the Faraday disk, a type of homopolar generator, using a copper disc rotating between the poles of a horseshoe magnet. It produced a small DC voltage. This design was inefficient due to self-cancelling counterflows of current in regions not under the influence of the magnetic field... The dynamo was the first electrical generator capable of delivering power for industry. The dynamo uses electromagnetic principles to convert mechanical rotation into pulsed DC through the use of a commutator. The first dynamo was built by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832. Through a series of accidental discoveries, the dynamo became the source of many later inventions, including the DC electric motor, the AC alternator, the AC synchronous motor, and the rotary converter. A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings which turn within that field. On small machines the constant magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets; larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils. Large power generation dynamos are now rarely seen due to the now nearly universal use of alternating current for power distribution and solid state electronic AC to DC power conversion. But before the principles of AC were discovered, very large direct-current dynamos were the only means of power generation and distribution. Now power generation dynamos are mostly a curiosity... Without a commutator, a dynamo becomes an alternator, which is a synchronous singly fed generator. When used to feed an electric power grid, an alternator must always operate at a constant speed that is precisely synchronized to the electrical frequency of the power grid. A DC generator can operate at any speed within mechanical limits, but always outputs direct current.