Bipolar Junction Transistor Beta Tester

 

 

Above — Disappointed with the transistor beta testers in our common, low-cost digital multimeters, we did the logical thing; designed and built our own. This collaborative project was more an experiment with BJTs than anything else. It's about as simple a beta measurement device as you can make and still get good results. Preventing damage to our parts inventory underpins this design — the 100 Ω emitter resistor plus ~ 10 microamps of base bias keeps the IC low to help avoid smoke since most new small signal transistors have a beta of 100-400.

Ensure the correct polarity for PNP versus NPN transistors. The voltage divider targets 5 volts using a standard ~12 volt supply; I just used whatever resistors were handy and ended up with the 6K8 — 3K3 pair. VCC should be regulated. Perform the measurements with a single multimeter allowing time for stabilization.

To use: Set the potentiometer so that the voltage drop across the 10K resistor is 100 mV. Then move your DMM leads to the 100 Ω resistor and measure the beta. This device measures beta, the static gain at DC.

Measuring beta is a bit inexact since beta is affected by so many variables as follows:

1. Beta tends to be low at low operating currents and rises and plateaus for medium currents and then falls at higher currents.
2. Beta tends to increase with temperature.
3. Beta is affected by the voltage between the collector and emitter -- this is a weak effect except when the voltage is very small.
4. The beta can vary as the battery depletes in DMM beta testers.