BPV11 Phototransistor pinouts and sample circuit

Am 06.12.2014 um 04:48 schrieb Jeff Johnson:

I am using a BPV11 photo-transistor to sense ambient light.

 

I cannot find a data sheet with pinouts or a sample circuit. I have used

other photo diodes and LDRs before.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

 

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This can usually be found in the data sheets of the manufacturers...

Vishay for example.

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Mit freundlichen Grüßen / With best regards

Joern Paschedag

Jeff Johnson wrote:

I am using a BPV11 photo-transistor to sense ambient light.

 

I cannot find a data sheet with pinouts or a sample circuit. I have used

other photo diodes and LDRs before.

 

Page 4 has the pinout:

http://www.vishay.com/docs/81504/bpv11.pdf

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Thanks Joern (Joerg).

I have had a good session with the wash cloth getting rid of that egg on my face:-).

The data sheet was the first place I went (I am good at reading the manual) and I read through it many times. I even got on the web and found many copies of the same Vishay data sheet scanning it each time but probably with less attention to what I was looking for. I was just getting frustrated seeing only the one data sheet and still I could not find the pinouts.

When I saw the reference to "page 4" I figured, maybe, I missed it after all.

And there it was. Plain as day.

I can only say in my defense that I "assumed" it would be on the first page (with the photo) or maybe second page. After that I almost certainly rushed through the "technical stuff" of graphs and specs and my brain didn't find what it "knew" wasn't there:-(.

Thanks again for taking the time to help out an old (73) techo still very active with microprocessor (PIC) projects.

And, I had also assumed (incorrectly) that the middle pin would be the base pin as it is mostly not provided with photo transistors. When I plodded along trying each combination of two pins until I got a light response I found the correct pinouts and successfully incorporated the BPV11 into my project.

A very grateful,

Jeff Johnson

And apologies to the CadSoft Eagle folks for posting this question in the wrong place.

I am a long time Element14 customer but using the forum for the first time.

Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson wrote:

Thanks Joern (Joerg).

 

I have had a good session with the wash cloth getting rid of that egg on

my face:-).

 

Happens to all of us.

The data sheet was the first place I went (I am good at reading the

manual) and I read through it many times. I even got on the web and

found many copies of the same Vishay data sheet scanning it each time

but probably with less attention to what I was looking for. I was just

getting frustrated seeing only the one data sheet and still I could not

find the pinouts.

 

When I saw the reference to "page 4" I figured, maybe, I missed it after

all.

 

And there it was. Plain as day.

 

I can only say in my defense that I "assumed" it would be on the first

page (with the photo) or maybe second page. After that I almost

certainly rushed through the "technical stuff" of graphs and specs and

my brain didn't find what it "knew" wasn't there:-(.

 

Like when I ask my wife whether she'd seen my glasses. "Yes, dear, on

your nose"

Thanks again for taking the time to help out an old (73) techo still

very active with microprocessor (PIC) projects.

 

That ain't old. I have worked with engineers who were seriously into

their 80's.

And, I had also assumed (incorrectly) that the middle pin would be the

base pin as it is mostly not provided with photo transistors. When I

plodded along trying each combination of two pins until I got a light

response I found the correct pinouts and successfully incorporated the

BPV11 into my project.

 

That's the real engineering spirit, to keep on plodding regardless of

whether you have enough information or not. And real men don't need no

maps anyhow ...

I usually do not leave a base unconnected if it's piped out. You can use

it for many things. If you place a resistor from base to emitter (tens

to hundreds of kOhm) this reduces the sensitivity but increases speed.

If you decide to leave it unconnected it might be best to snip it off in

order to avoid EMI.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Hi Joerg,

Thanks for the kind words. It helps to know that I am not alone.

I did snip off the base lead but will keep in mind the base/emitter resistor as I have enough sensitivity but nice to know it increases the speed. I want to experiment with sensing ambient light levels during the down time of the pulse width modulated drive. That is, read the ambient when the LED light source is "off".

Jeff

Jeff Johnson wrote:

Hi Joerg,

 

Thanks for the kind words. It helps to know that I am not alone.

 

I did snip off the base lead but will keep in mind the base/emitter

resistor as I have enough sensitivity but nice to know it increases the

speed. I want to experiment with sensing ambient light levels during the

down time of the pulse width modulated drive. That is, read the ambient

when the LED light source is "off".

 

Depending on your PWM frequency and max duty cycle a resistor could come

in handy here. The scope would show you how quickly it drops down to the

ambient level. Vishay has a brief app notes about the effect:

http://www.vishay.com/docs/83590/fastswit.pdf

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Ah, glad to see someone older than me still playing in this stuff.  I come

from the "grid bias and filament transformer" era (I'm 64) and still

remember when "integrated" was the brief era of the compactron tubes.  The

advantage to this new fangled stuff is 5 volts (or 3.3v) doesn't bite

anything like the old 300v plate voltages !!  People just laugh when they

see my microprocessor controlled heater for the hummingbird feeders (so

they don't freeze when we get the cold snap here in the Seattle area).

mikey

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