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1

The attached screenshot is from a schematic in a datasheet. I know that the flat-topped arrow is a diode, but I don't know what the pair of looped circles are. Can anyone help me out? If there's a good online symbol reference, please share the link!

unknown symbol

Thanks!

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4 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

I believe that would be a diode (the triangle and horizontal line) in series with a current source (the two circles).

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up vote 8 down vote

The two circles are DC Current power Source

http://electricalwhat.com/power-source/dc-current/

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It can also be used for an AC constant current source. The SPICE simulator I use has both DC and AC current sources using that symbol. – Leon Heller May 17 '10 at 14:47
2  
@LeonHeller: Isn't "AC constant current" a contradictio in terminis? If it's AC it can't be constant. I've never seen AC current source IRL either. – Federico Russo May 7 '12 at 15:29
@FedericoRusso An AC constant current source marked \$I\angle\theta \$ usually means that the current in the direction of the arrow is a phasor of magnitude \$I\$ and phase \$\theta\$, that is, the current is \$I\cos(\omega t + \theta)\$, regardless of the impedance into which the current is flowing. It does not mean that the current has constant value for all time as in a DC current source, but rather that the amplitude and phase (and of course the frequency) of the sinusoidal current flowing through the device is independent of the impedance to which it is connected. – Dilip Sarwate Jun 12 '12 at 16:14
up vote 5 down vote

A diode in series with a constant current source.

There was a symbol guide published by the ARRL at http://www.arrl.org/qst/qs4hd.pdf but that link appears to be broken :(

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up vote 4 down vote

Like jluciani says it's a constant current source, and therefore DC. The proper symbol has an arrow next to it or inside it to indicate the current direction.

enter image description here

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