Lets take a hypothetical device, like specifically a PRS10, but could be any time/freq device like a PLL or an amplifier or all of these.
Isolating power supplies with some dexterity can greatly improve noise control, and less peformance related, can help us protect very very expensive circuits from their less bourgeois support ICs. Many of us may choose to implement them as modular devices for easy relocation or replacement. Main question: if I want to isolate the quiet and noisy power supplies, or just supply them differently, can they share a common return? The basic answer has to be yes. Eventually everything has to get back to ground, and the Earth itself is a fair equalizer of all things on it. I can clearly join analog and digital back at the input supply. But if I had them isolated, do those iso grounds have to stay with their iso supplies? Take the PRS10 - it has two cables for Vin - power and signal supplies - but only one return cable. Can i isolate, via transformers couplers what have you the two supplies yet return the common ground to one or the other? The signals handle themselves - they each have a ground wire of their own, or does that handle it ? Are each of those opportunities for a loop? I know it'd work with just keeping separate DVcc and AVcc supplies that join at some point, and then that return can join at the star ground like everyone else. If you are designing the module, you can handle the isolation inside and just have one input supply and return then isolate new supplies internally and eliminate the second cable. Or two in vcc, two out gnd. Those all make sense. I think the single return option on the PRS10 is what's hanging me up here. Does isolation offer any real further benefit than AVxx and DVxx that is even worth pursuing outside the extreme use cases? Lots of words. Thanks. NS _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
