I need help designing a circuit that outputs Signal A high when AC sine wave is positive and Signal B high when the sine wave is negative. It's part of a larger project that cycles power in a transformer.
I have the below circuit working but it's not accurate enough. Signal A and B don't start/stop exactly at the zero-cross of the input sine wave. Any help appreciated!
Op-amp precision rectifiers are the likely turn-to solution. Here's an example circuit: -
When the input is positive, the op-amp is prevented from creating an inverted (negative) output by D1 but, when the input is negative, the natural situation is for a positive output to be produced and, of course, D1 allows this. D2 prevents output saturation of the op-amp when the input is positive i.e. keeps it in the linear region.
The circuit produces a positive half wave rectified output.
If the diodes are reversed then you get a half-wave rectified output when the input is positive and 0 volts when the input is negative. You can then add another inverting stage after this so that you get the polarity you require.
So, two precision op-amp circuits are needed and both are fed from \$V_{IN}\$. If you need to have a decent square wave output, add comparators to both output channels.
Thank you for the tips. I eventually got a 4N25 opto to work with two outputs, one positive sine high and one negative sine high. The Duty cycle is not quite 50% but when voltage gets up close to 110v it's about 52% and 48%. That's the only area still needing some tweaks.
Here is the circuit (v 4) and the scope shots. The resistor feeding the Opto is a 2k.
Version 4 circuit Positive Sine High Negative Sine High
