Why are hand-wound coils so common if commercial inductors are available? [duplicate]











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  • Why do we have to hand wind toroids?

    2 answers




In most schematics of ham radio receivers and transmitters the inductor is mostly given specifically as the number of turns around some certain toroidal ferrite ring (for example). This corresponds to a certain inductance, which more often than not is just a standard value, say 220uH. These exist also as "lumped element" components, like the ones in the picture:



enter image description here



It seems a precise inductance is quite difficult to achieve (with homemade coils) and measure, whereas with store-bought inductors this problem is largely gone.



Why are hand-wound inductors so common?



Is it just a nostalgia thing? Do they tolerate more power? Why don't we need to do this with capacitors as well?










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marked as duplicate by Marcus Müller, Community Nov 26 at 11:06


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.















  • Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:02












  • @MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
    – ahemmetter
    Nov 26 at 11:05










  • hope it's really helpful :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:07















up vote
4
down vote

favorite













This question already has an answer here:




  • Why do we have to hand wind toroids?

    2 answers




In most schematics of ham radio receivers and transmitters the inductor is mostly given specifically as the number of turns around some certain toroidal ferrite ring (for example). This corresponds to a certain inductance, which more often than not is just a standard value, say 220uH. These exist also as "lumped element" components, like the ones in the picture:



enter image description here



It seems a precise inductance is quite difficult to achieve (with homemade coils) and measure, whereas with store-bought inductors this problem is largely gone.



Why are hand-wound inductors so common?



Is it just a nostalgia thing? Do they tolerate more power? Why don't we need to do this with capacitors as well?










share|improve this question













marked as duplicate by Marcus Müller, Community Nov 26 at 11:06


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.















  • Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:02












  • @MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
    – ahemmetter
    Nov 26 at 11:05










  • hope it's really helpful :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:07













up vote
4
down vote

favorite









up vote
4
down vote

favorite












This question already has an answer here:




  • Why do we have to hand wind toroids?

    2 answers




In most schematics of ham radio receivers and transmitters the inductor is mostly given specifically as the number of turns around some certain toroidal ferrite ring (for example). This corresponds to a certain inductance, which more often than not is just a standard value, say 220uH. These exist also as "lumped element" components, like the ones in the picture:



enter image description here



It seems a precise inductance is quite difficult to achieve (with homemade coils) and measure, whereas with store-bought inductors this problem is largely gone.



Why are hand-wound inductors so common?



Is it just a nostalgia thing? Do they tolerate more power? Why don't we need to do this with capacitors as well?










share|improve this question














This question already has an answer here:




  • Why do we have to hand wind toroids?

    2 answers




In most schematics of ham radio receivers and transmitters the inductor is mostly given specifically as the number of turns around some certain toroidal ferrite ring (for example). This corresponds to a certain inductance, which more often than not is just a standard value, say 220uH. These exist also as "lumped element" components, like the ones in the picture:



enter image description here



It seems a precise inductance is quite difficult to achieve (with homemade coils) and measure, whereas with store-bought inductors this problem is largely gone.



Why are hand-wound inductors so common?



Is it just a nostalgia thing? Do they tolerate more power? Why don't we need to do this with capacitors as well?





This question already has an answer here:




  • Why do we have to hand wind toroids?

    2 answers








inductor






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share|improve this question










asked Nov 25 at 20:24









ahemmetter

326212




326212




marked as duplicate by Marcus Müller, Community Nov 26 at 11:06


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.






marked as duplicate by Marcus Müller, Community Nov 26 at 11:06


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.














  • Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:02












  • @MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
    – ahemmetter
    Nov 26 at 11:05










  • hope it's really helpful :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:07


















  • Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:02












  • @MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
    – ahemmetter
    Nov 26 at 11:05










  • hope it's really helpful :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:07
















Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:02






Why are hand-wound inductors so common? I addressed this in my answer, linked above, but the short of it is: because it's the only component (or at least the only "interesting" one) that a private person can halfway decently produce themselves. And a lot of this hobby is about doing things yourself (not about doing things optimally or cheaply).
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:02














@MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
– ahemmetter
Nov 26 at 11:05




@MarcusMüller Oh! That actually seems to answer the question. I'll close my question as a duplicate then. Thanks!
– ahemmetter
Nov 26 at 11:05












hope it's really helpful :)
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:07




hope it's really helpful :)
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:07










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
2
down vote













There is also the matter of how much current the device needs to carry. A hand-wound coil made from a few turns of relatively heavy copper (compared to the off-the-shelf devices shown in the question) will pass a lot more current than a tiny pre-bought inductor. The ones in the picture look like 1/4W or so, but you could easily put 5W into a small hand-wound coil with the same inductance.



A hand-wound coil would also have a known (or at least calculated) Q, for which the circuit was designed.






share|improve this answer





















  • Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:01






  • 1




    Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
    – Scott Earle
    Nov 26 at 13:31


















up vote
1
down vote













Speaking only for myself... I have found air-wound coils to be relatively easy to make and tolerant of misuse. In the several instances I would have preferred to buy an inductor, I found it difficult to find something appropriate.



So --for me-- it is mostly ignorance.






share|improve this answer





















  • This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 10:59


















2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
2
down vote













There is also the matter of how much current the device needs to carry. A hand-wound coil made from a few turns of relatively heavy copper (compared to the off-the-shelf devices shown in the question) will pass a lot more current than a tiny pre-bought inductor. The ones in the picture look like 1/4W or so, but you could easily put 5W into a small hand-wound coil with the same inductance.



A hand-wound coil would also have a known (or at least calculated) Q, for which the circuit was designed.






share|improve this answer





















  • Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:01






  • 1




    Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
    – Scott Earle
    Nov 26 at 13:31















up vote
2
down vote













There is also the matter of how much current the device needs to carry. A hand-wound coil made from a few turns of relatively heavy copper (compared to the off-the-shelf devices shown in the question) will pass a lot more current than a tiny pre-bought inductor. The ones in the picture look like 1/4W or so, but you could easily put 5W into a small hand-wound coil with the same inductance.



A hand-wound coil would also have a known (or at least calculated) Q, for which the circuit was designed.






share|improve this answer





















  • Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:01






  • 1




    Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
    – Scott Earle
    Nov 26 at 13:31













up vote
2
down vote










up vote
2
down vote









There is also the matter of how much current the device needs to carry. A hand-wound coil made from a few turns of relatively heavy copper (compared to the off-the-shelf devices shown in the question) will pass a lot more current than a tiny pre-bought inductor. The ones in the picture look like 1/4W or so, but you could easily put 5W into a small hand-wound coil with the same inductance.



A hand-wound coil would also have a known (or at least calculated) Q, for which the circuit was designed.






share|improve this answer












There is also the matter of how much current the device needs to carry. A hand-wound coil made from a few turns of relatively heavy copper (compared to the off-the-shelf devices shown in the question) will pass a lot more current than a tiny pre-bought inductor. The ones in the picture look like 1/4W or so, but you could easily put 5W into a small hand-wound coil with the same inductance.



A hand-wound coil would also have a known (or at least calculated) Q, for which the circuit was designed.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Nov 26 at 0:32









Scott Earle

1,9491721




1,9491721












  • Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:01






  • 1




    Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
    – Scott Earle
    Nov 26 at 13:31


















  • Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 11:01






  • 1




    Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
    – Scott Earle
    Nov 26 at 13:31
















Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:01




Well, if you buy inductors, you actually get a datasheet that specifies Q (or the values necessary to calculate it) … based on the measurements and models of the manufacturer which, I'm pretty certain are a tad more exact than the rules you generally find applied in self-winding guides :)
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 11:01




1




1




Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
– Scott Earle
Nov 26 at 13:31




Oh for sure, but if you’re making a project based on someone else’s circuit that was designed for specific hand-wound coils, their characteristics were built into the design. Also, many turns of thin wire (looking at that picture again) make for a very low Q generally
– Scott Earle
Nov 26 at 13:31










up vote
1
down vote













Speaking only for myself... I have found air-wound coils to be relatively easy to make and tolerant of misuse. In the several instances I would have preferred to buy an inductor, I found it difficult to find something appropriate.



So --for me-- it is mostly ignorance.






share|improve this answer





















  • This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 10:59















up vote
1
down vote













Speaking only for myself... I have found air-wound coils to be relatively easy to make and tolerant of misuse. In the several instances I would have preferred to buy an inductor, I found it difficult to find something appropriate.



So --for me-- it is mostly ignorance.






share|improve this answer





















  • This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 10:59













up vote
1
down vote










up vote
1
down vote









Speaking only for myself... I have found air-wound coils to be relatively easy to make and tolerant of misuse. In the several instances I would have preferred to buy an inductor, I found it difficult to find something appropriate.



So --for me-- it is mostly ignorance.






share|improve this answer












Speaking only for myself... I have found air-wound coils to be relatively easy to make and tolerant of misuse. In the several instances I would have preferred to buy an inductor, I found it difficult to find something appropriate.



So --for me-- it is mostly ignorance.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Nov 25 at 20:38









Chris K8NVH

395112




395112












  • This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 10:59


















  • This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
    – Marcus Müller
    Nov 26 at 10:59
















This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 10:59




This very nicely reflects what I alleged in a prior answer to a very similar to equivalent question asked a while ago: ham.stackexchange.com/questions/10506/…
– Marcus Müller
Nov 26 at 10:59



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