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Text book recommendation

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boylesg

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I am finding it very difficult to find a source of consistent info on transistors and using them on the web. The info I am finding is rather disjointed and sometimes seemingly inconsistent.

Therefore I think a text book would be an better way to learn the bascis of semi conductor circuit building.

I have found the "Short Circuits" basic projects informative and understand fairly easily their explanations of how the circuits work. But unfortunately they don't go as far as explaining how they came up with the resistance and capacitance values etc.

So can any of you recommend a suitable text book from your university electrical engineering days?

I want to learn the basic electronic building blocks and how to vary them and therefore design my own simple circuits based upon them.

I suspect you would learn that sort of thing in second year electrical engineering, based upon my experience with university medical science.

So a text book at that level might be approporiate for me.
 

This online resource has a lot of good clear information: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_1.html
This has much more and detailed information: **broken link removed**

Do you have any examples of the inconsistent info you've been finding?

I have noticed from your posts that you have a web page reading limit of about 25% of the page, and that's on top of maybe a 50% chance of actually clicking the link in the first place, so that could be part of the issue! :)

I cannot recommend any hard books but I'm sure someone else will.

BTW if you do not know about it check out the circuit simulator at https://www.falstad.com/circuit/ while the models are fairly basic, it still produces results relatively close to spice and it gives you an animated view of what is happening in your circuits. It is very easy to play with transistors (and op amps) that way.

Hope that helps.
 

Heya boylesg - time and time again I find myself recommending the same two books... You can't go past:

* The (annual) "ARRL handbook" [https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Handboo...qid=1343091845&sr=8-1&keywords=arrl+handbook]
* The "Art of Electronics", by Horowitz and Hill [https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electron...343091941&sr=1-1&keywords=art+of+electronics]

Both are extremely accessible (particularly to the non-mathematically inclined) and have sufficient practical information to lead you into building useful stuff right away (and learning as you go). While they're not academically rigorous (though the Art of Electronics is better in this regard), I've found they complement the more traditional text books well by providing motivation and intuitive insight to otherwise (possibly) dry and tedious aspects such as negative feedback, amplifier noise etc.

The Art of Electronics is getting a little dated as evidenced by the IC's they discuss - in all other aspects it's excellent. The ARRL Handbook has been produced annually since... ~1930?... but any edition post ~1995 will probably suit your needs since there's significant repetition between editions.

Happy reading! (and building :)
 

The info I am finding is rather disjointed and sometimes seemingly inconsistent.



But unfortunately they don't go as far as explaining how they came up with the resistance and capacitance values etc.

I believe an entire book could be written about constructing a common-emitter amplifier. It would include an explanation concerning every facet of its operation, with the aim of optimizing it as an audio amp (for example).

It would state the function of every component, in the base network, the collector leg, the emitter leg.

It would give reasons why you want a certain amount of current flow in which wire. Effects of overmuch current flow. Or too little.

Why you need to find the good operating point for the transistor, and what you should adjust to achieve it?

How to deal with thermal runaway?

How to get more power out of it without overloading it?

Greater sensitivity? Less sensitivity?

What frequency response does it give? What if you want to change it?

What optional components could be added, or what biasing arrangements, etc.

When would you use a PNP rather than an NPN? How do you configure the volume control?

A sidebar would explain what circumstances make it a good idea to consider a common-collector design, or common base.

Etc.

I know it would fill a book. It really does get that involved... a little bitty transistor amplifier. The concepts touched on are vital in any number of applications.

But it would be one book that tells how to make just one circuit, amid many books that are out there. Including textbooks.

Anyway my book ought not read like a textbook. It should have a quality known as 'accessibility.'

A textbook needs to be hard to understand, because people involved in the process prefer it that way. If it looks easy to read, then we tend to say "'I can grasp that on my own, why do I need a $35 textbook?"

A textbook doesn't have accessibility.

I believe you're looking for articles that have accessibility.

Such as...

-------------

Books/articles by Forrest Mims.

He doesn't cover transistors in just one place, but here and there. His books are chockfull of working circuits.

His Engineer's Notebook had a project which allowed me to make my own 6-digit frequency counter cheap.

-----------------

This fellow likes to use discrete devices (transistors) because it leads to better understanding as compared to the 'modern way' of using IC's. He has some unique insights to offer.

Look at the articles marked 'PA' or PM (which are public access).

http://www.4qdtec.com/

------------------

This large collection of transistor circuits is only the first half of the list.

http://talkingelectronics.com/projects/200TrCcts/200TrCcts.html

---------------

Learning by doing is the best way. An assortment of components is a start.

One of the best things someone ever gave me was Radio Shack's biggest Electronics Lab. It has a breadboard (an invaluable component in itself). Its book of 300 projects (with schematics and layout illustrations) is just as good as a textbook.

-------------------

A free way to learn is with a simulator.

I like the animated simulator at www.falstad.com/circuit.
 
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    jasonc2

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+1 on The Art of Electronics, Horowitz and Hill. Excellent book, great coverage, and written from a very practical standpoint.

Student Manual for The Art of Electronics by Hayes and Horowitz is a very good lab manual, although you'd need some equipment to perform the exercises prescribed. Again, it's very practical and has good coverage, plus it's entertaining.
 

This online resource has a lot of good clear information: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_1.html
This has much more and detailed information: **broken link removed**

Do you have any examples of the inconsistent info you've been finding?

I specifically typed 'seemingly' inconsistent. To be fair it is probably my very patchy knowledge of electronics that makes the different styles of circuits and explanations etc seem inconsistent to me.

That was why I asked for recomendations for a single site or text book that starts from the beginning and goes through all the basics. One author and one teaching style that goes from start to finish will make it a lot easier for me to learn than jumping about to different sites and different authors.

Thankyou very much for these websites anyway.
 

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