Bipolar operation.
The L-17D can be run as a bipolar amplifier provided that sufficient current is given to emitter follower output transistors. They are NPN's and are normally run with about 1 ma standing current to save power, and as a result they have very little drive power when going negative.

To run them with negative going outputs it is necessary to add resistors from the outputs of A1,A2,A3 and the output amplifier to VEE. Adding 1K resistors to VEE from each of these outputs should suffice for all of the amplifiers except A1 where you should use a 500Ω resistor. However, do not try and drive a low impedance load with either A1 or the output amplifier if you are using negative going outputs!

There are other consequences that need to be borne in mind.

1. A1 and A2 have internal temperature independent cutoffs to facilitate recovery net design. These amplifiers will not have this feature if run in the bipolar mode. There are also built in limiters for positive pulses and to get good recovery time from A2 and A3 it will be necessary to put in limiters between A1 and A2 as well as A2 and A3. Limit the inputs to A2 and A3 to .3V by using a low capacitance Schottky and a resistor.
2. Avoid overdriving A1 if possible because it may not recover cleanly if overdriven in the negative direction. In addition you could cause reverse bias problems for the emitter base junctions in some transistors. This will degrade the transistors over time.
3. Do not overdrive the output amplifier or you will reverse bias the output transistor emitter base junctions unless you use reverse biased diodes for protection as mentioned earlier.