Recommendations please: electronics books

ohenry · « **on:** 19 Jul 2004, 05:51 pm »

I've successfully built a few amp and preamp DIY kits without being electrocuted or starting a fire and I'm wanting to learn more regarding reading circuitry schematics and having a reference for electronic terms, etc. (the simple stuff) It would be nice for me to understand more about "why" things are done, not just "how" they are done. Building kits for me is analogous to pronouncing words without knowing their meanings.

Also, I'm particularly interested in books that offer tube amplifier designs for novice and intermediate constructors.

Any good ideas from the experienced among us (other than quit while you're ahead)?

Gordy · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Jul 2004, 01:48 am »

I will most certainly second that, Ohenry. Being a (very) rank newbie, even the seemingly endless multitude of cap types and the why's and when's of bypassing still eludes me! Though I am getting better at asking questions and or for help, it would be wonderful to go through an entire day without feeling the need to. Of course night school isn't totally out of the question....

Thanks for raising the question

Gordy

Occam · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 Jul 2004, 02:55 am »

Ohenry,

For tube electronics specifically, I'd suggest -
http://www.tubecad.com/
a wealth of information on tube circuity, with rational, comprehensible explanations.

a general electronics site with much excellence in 'Audio'
http://www.epanorama.net/index.php

and the only book I'd suggest that I'm specifically experienced with is John Linsey Hood's 'The Art of Audio Electronics' covering both sand and hollow state audio electronics.

And the definative 'load line' approach to tube audio amplifier design was done by the legendary Norman H. Crowhust in his 'Audio Classroom', March 1957 Audiocraft. Luckily, it was republished by 'Glass Audio' in its final issues before its demise. You can download parts 1-5 here -
http://www.audioxpress.com/resource/audioclass/index.htm
Note that the last parts of the series were published in the sucessor magazine, AudioXpress, and they'd expect you to buy those back issues...
AudioXpress offers a wealth of other things, books, software, back isssues of Glass Audo....

And the definative source for all things circuitry is Horowitz and Hill, 'The Art of Electronics', which I'll note quite proudly, my youngest son, 19, has 'borrowed' my copy...

cmscott6 · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 Jul 2004, 02:01 pm »

I can really sympathize with you folks. One thing I do is head to the main branch of our library. Especially with tube projects: they still have the old amplifier books from the 20's through the 60's. (Though increasingly people are checking the old tube books out and not returning them

Bastards! Now a bunch are non-circulating reference books...)

For newer books I checked out a whole armload to find one that I wanted to have around all the time.

One book that I keep checking out (because I seem to be schematically challenged in power supplies

) is "Practical Power Supply Circuits" by John Potter Shields. It was written in 1967, so it has sections on both tube and semiconductor rectification. It's written pretty simply and has lots of diagrams. Don't know if it's still in print - prob'ly not...

Good Luck!

Chris

nareshn · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Dec 2005, 07:20 am »

art of electronics - lab manual - horowitz and hill-cambrige publications.
electronic design -david bell - prentice hall
from electrons to opmaps -thomas fredrikson

JoshK · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 Dec 2005, 05:14 pm »

I am going down the same road for tube design myself. About a year ago I picked up a couple of basic electronics books because I didn't know what a diode was, etc. These gave me a general sense and overview. However, I haven't gotten as far into them to learn why topologies work as they do.

Occam gave you some good references, I have a couple others bookmarked at work that I'll forward. One was an online tutorial on tube electronics that was most excellent, very down to earth and easy to read. I just recently read it and it starts with how a tube works up through the differences between cathode follower, anode follower, SRPP, etc. It explains how they work, their advantages and disadvantages, etc. This is exactly what you need to know when you are starting out.

I love working with tube electronics because they tend to be a little more transparent to understand. This might partly be because the technology has been around almost a century and is well understand and studied.

avahifi · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 Dec 2005, 06:34 pm »

I would recommend a book called "The Fundamentals of Transistors".

It is a programmed learning book that starts with the basic N and P interface and how a diod works, progressing into transistor function, and finally with a complete transistor radio circuit.

It is an easy to use and learn book and will teach you more than you would think about basic electrical design that applies to vacuum tubes too.

It is out of print but a web search will likely find you a copy.

Frank Van Alstine

srayle · « **Reply #7 on:** 4 Dec 2005, 07:53 pm »

Took a look at some of these references...they look good for what they are, but some of us non-engineer types would actually welcome a COMIC BOOK style guide that really walks you through the absolute basics of this stuff...or a "Guide for Idiots" type of thing...

nareshn · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Dec 2005, 05:53 am »

http://www.bcae1.com

Thought the website has a wealth of info on Car Audio - it has a very good intro on basics of electronics.

meby · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Dec 2005, 01:54 pm »

That is a very cool page

I like the graphics very easy to learn the basic from

JoshK · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 Dec 2005, 02:23 pm »

Some online references to tube electronics

http://www.tpub.com/content/neets/14178/

This one is great, tubes for newbies,
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/audio/t_bas.htm

Gordy · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 Dec 2005, 02:53 pm »

Here's a real classic on basic care and feeding... http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/MostVacuumTubes.pdf

audioferret · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Dec 2005, 06:25 am »

Two "paper" sources I use constantly to improve my understanding...

TAB ELECTRONICS GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRONICS Second Edition by G. Randy Slone. McGraw Hill Plublishing.

HOW ELECTRONIC THINGS WORK...AND WHAT TO DO WHEN THEY DON'T Second Edition. by Bob Goodman. McGraw Hill Publishing.

Both of these volumes are put out by TAB electronics and are available on the shelf of your local bookstore under "engineering". They are excellent beginner's survey books and are very easy to understand. I particularly like the format and layout, but you might not.

I recommend you visit the library or your local bookstore to look through as many books as you can. Some will have differnet areas of emphasis and may or may not be conducive to your learning style. Choose the one that is most comfortable for you.

nareshn · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Dec 2005, 10:22 am »

Fundamentals of Electronics (3rd ed)by E.Norman Lurch
-Plenty of Examples!
Electronic Principles- Malvino
-All time popular book with excellent explanation

nareshn · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Dec 2005, 04:55 pm »

David Bell - Electronic Devices and Circuits (4 Edition- Prentice Hall Publications)
- Chapter 18 - About 50 pages on Audio Amplifiers.

nareshn · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 Dec 2005, 12:34 pm »

Practical Transistor Design and Analysis - Gerald .E .Williams.
If anybody has come across books written by this author -pls let me know.

Ron Stewart · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 Jan 2006, 06:11 pm »

Quote from: srayle

Took a look at some of these references...they look good for what they are, but some of us non-engineer types would actually welcome a COMIC BOOK style guide that really walks you through the absolute basics of this stuff...or a "Guide for Idiots" type of thing...

Along these lines, I highly recommend the book: There Are No Electrons: Electronics for Earthlings, by Kenn Amdahl.

It's very cleverly written, part fiction, part non-fiction. In the book, the author/narrator meets Mike, a "Greenie" who claims that electrons are a fiction, and who tells the "true" story about what happens inside those wires and components. The author and his friend are kidnapped by a magician from the future and forced to teach him how to interpret the strange drawing (schematics) that will help him fix his broken time machine and return to his own time.

I realize that sounds very silly (and parts of the book are--it's not for the humor-impaired), but the book's structure allows the author to explain things three times, in three different ways, to reinforce the material.

First, the author gives the traditional explanations ("voltage is like water pressure") to Mike. Then Mike scoffs at that, and gives the Greenie version of the topic. Then the author explains the material again to the magician. The book also has asides which give visual/storybook analogies for common topics.

For example, resistance is compared to a herd of angry buffalo crossing a canyon over a narrow bridge. Adding another bridge lets more buffalo cross in a given amount of time. (Adding resistance in parallel reduces the overall resistance.)

Voltage is compared to a "need to party". All the female Greenies at one end of a wire crank up their boom boxes. The male Greenies on the other end hear the music and have a desire to meet the females. Current is compared to the males actually getting in their cars and moving toward the music.

The book is full of similar word pictures. By the time you finish it, you'll know something about voltage, current, resistance, capacitance, inductance, diodes, transistors, etc. You'll know why caps and inductors are used in crossovers. You won't be able to design your own amp or preamp. You will have a basic qualitative understanding of the basics that will make it easier to read a real electronics book.

I'm not doing the book justice here. I think it's a brilliant book, and I urge you to check it out. Amazon has an excerpt, and the book is cheap (about $10), short (about 200 pages), and easy to read.

Ron

nareshn · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Oct 2013, 02:04 pm »

Great stuff…cool explanations.

Practical Electronics for Inventors, Third Edition [ASIN: 0071771336]