Analog Basics: Integrator (publ. 2025-01-08)

I am trying to familiarize myself with the basics of analog computing, i.e., setting up calculations or models with analog components, and the associated mathematics. For starters, here is an integrator I wired up, based on page 52 of the venerable 62-5032 RadioShack notebook by Mims:

741 integrator on breadboard

When I tested it, I was getting a lot of spike noise on the step changes. So I added a simple RC network onto the output, with a 100 ohm resistor and another 0.1 nF capacitor. This cleaned up the signal nicely. Here is a screenshot of the signals:

oscilloscope screenshot

The input signal is on top, and the integration result is on the bottom.

This system from The Analog Thing looks interesting, though unfortunately I don't have the money right now to get a kit:

The Analog Thing

Copyright

This work © 2025 by Christopher Howard is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.

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