[sdiy] Ring Modulators with Zener Rings.

[rsdio at audiobanshee.com]

This is just a hunch, but if you're sending square waves into your Ring Modulator, then I'd expect that the different diode types would have little or no effect. Non-square waves would probably be necessary to start seeing different wave shapes come out of the RM circuit, and in that case the lower threshold and faster switching of the Schottky type could produce different results from a non-Schottky diode.

Keep in mind that Zener diodes are not Schottky diodes (and certainly not Germanium). Zener diodes only differ in that they allow reverse current to flow (usually at a much higher voltage threshold), and I doubt that the typical RM circuit would even produce the possibility of reverse currents (unless the reverse voltages were over the threshold). Of course, I'm saying this without actually checking through a wide variety of RM topologies.

Have you tried literal Schottky diodes yet?

Brian


On Apr 20, 2016, at 4:39 PM, <alfred.pear at gmail.com> wrote:
> I was just experimenting with Ken Stone's "Active Ring Modulator" design, substituting different groups of diodes (still matching them, more or less, by hand)... 
> I'm curious what sorts of results people get with different diodes. The design suggests germanium or schottky - I'm not sure what the advantage of one over the other is. 
> 
> I also experimented with some 5.1 zener diodes and it didn't seem that different from a non-zener..any ideas?