How to Test Transistors and FETs

To test transistors and FETs, we use the Tektronix 571 Curve Tracer.

Setting up the Curve Tracer

First thing you need to do is determine which pin your emitter, collector, and base are if you are testing a transistor, or if you are testing a FET which pins are gate, source and drain. You then insert the component you are testing into the proper slot on the curve tracer making sure each pin is going in its designated location. Once the component is properly inserted into the Curve Tracer there is a cover you can slide over the device, just in case because the components can get very hot during testing.

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Getting the Settings Right

Once you have properly inserted the component you are testing, you can turn on the Curve Tracer. Once booted up, the curve tracer will come up with a menu.

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The first step on the menu is to tell the machine which type of device you are testing. For a transistor you have to know if it is PNP or NPN, and for a FET you have to know if it is an N-FET or P-FET. If you do not know this information you can easily find it by looking up the components data sheet. After you choose which device you have the menu may change a little. The options for a transistor are slightly different than those for a FET.

Starting with the transistor, the first two settings are the voltage from collector to emitter max and the max current you want to send to the collector. These values you can find on your components datasheet. To be safe, you can generally set the maximums a little less than what the datasheet maximum is and still get great results. Next is the step up in the current you are supplying to the base and the amount of steps you want. The best method is to start at 200 microAmps and test it and if you don't get any results go up to the next highest and so on (unless of course you reach the maximum base current the device can handle which can be found on the datasheet). The steps setting can be set at 10 unless you are working with a really high current step and you are worried about reaching the maximum current the base of your device can handle. For Rload that can either be set at .25 or 10, too much resistance will cause no results to appear. P max is something that again can be calculated through values on the datasheet, for most smaller transistors use 2 Watts. Once all of these settings are inputted you are ready to test.

Now for the FET, the process is very similar, but some of the settings are a little different. For the FET