Looking for information on transistor based designs

[iandy4]

Hi Everybody,
If anyone has some good reading about transistors, I'd love some links.  I've been messing around with opamps for a while now and I've been looking to learn about transistors (in audio applications) and tubes which I hear are quite similar.  Thanks!

[R.G.]

Read this as a very quick, brief intro.
http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/How_It_Works/hiw.htm

[CynicalMan]

If you're interested in the math, get this ($1 used!):
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Semiconductor-Circuit-Approximations-Introduction-Transistors-and-Integrated-Circuits-Albert-Paul-/28764?_dmpt=US_Texbook_Education&_pcategid=100847&_pcatid=4&_refkw=semiconductor+circuit+approximations&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A5283&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#

[iandy4]

Thanks guys!

[R.G.]

Post questions as needed.

[PRR]

> get this ($1 used!): Semiconductor Circuit Approximations... -- Malvino

Buck cheaper (shipped) on ABE.com. Appears to be a glut on the market.
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/0070398984/

> looking to learn about transistors

I do not know your level of experience, so this may not apply:

IMHO, the #1 learning mistake is going into active devices (transistors, tubes, etc) BEFORE the student has COMPLETELY digested basic voltage-current-resistance problems.

9 volts, 10K, what is the current? (Almost 1mA)
About half of 9 volts, 10K, what is the current? (Almost a half mA)
We need 0.01mA from 7V, what resistor? (680K unless precision is needed)

If I were to teach "transistors", the course would start with hundreds of such V-I-R problems. Should be able to do 100 in under 10 minutes.

How do you win a ballgame or war? Thousands of push-ups, chin-ups, rope-climbs before you do much with a ball or a gun. Then hundreds of mock-games or paper targets. Only when you have the BASICS down PAT, do you go to the field.

Similar thought in a review on Amazon:

"...you must have a good working knowledge of DC electrical principles before starting with this text."
http://www.amazon.com/Semiconductor-Circuit-Approximations-Introduction-Transistors/dp/0070398984

[Electron Tornado]

Anyone have any thoughts on "Transistor Circuit Design with Experiments" by Delton T. Horn?

http://www.amazon.com/Transistor-Circuit-Design-Experiments-Delton/dp/0830618759/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_12/176-9727657-3533719

[iandy4]

@R.G. I'm sure I'll have plenty to ask in the coming days.

@Paul. Thanks for your input.  So far I've just been building already existing circuits and just trying to learn how to modify them to my taste but it is getting to the point where I feel like it's time to get a solid understanding of what is actually happening so I can get into design.  I appreciate you accounting for me being a beginner and it's time I get around to memorizing Ohm's law and actually using it.  You and R.G.'s posts on several of the threads I've started have been super helpful and I really appreciate it.

[R.G.]

Have I ever mentioned that I like your approach?

"I want to do X, so I'd better go do the learning to let me understand it."

Smart guy. That'll do nothing for you - except let you be successful at it. 

Good for you. Ask away!

[PRR]

> any thoughts on

Avoid ALL books published by "TAB" unless you get specific knowledgable recomendation.

They were the tech publisher of last resort. Pay was pathetic. Editing often did more harm than good.

[R.G.]

> any thoughts on
Avoid ALL books published by "TAB" unless you get specific knowledgable recomendation.
They were the tech publisher of last resort. Pay was pathetic. Editing often did more harm than good.

And they won't respect you in the morning.

[iandy4]

Have I ever mentioned that I like your approach?

"I want to do X, so I'd better go do the learning to let me understand it."

Smart guy. That'll do nothing for you - except let you be successful at it. 

Good for you. Ask away!

Thanks R.G. that's really nice to hear!

[iandy4]

TAB shall be avoided!

[PRR]

> get this ($1 used!): Semiconductor Circuit Approximations... -- Malvino

Got it. Good book. Well worth a buck (originally $40!!), and $4 shipping. Would be a fine deal at $10-$20.

You MUST first digest your basic DC (battery, resistor) circuits. "Transistor" circuits are 4/5ths resistors, and of course a battery.

Misses greatness. Starts a little high for some readers. Does not go far enough for others. Has some senseless baggage: begins switch-transistor theory with an expression using Rb (base resistance), but Rb is never cited in datasheets and not easily knowable. Good theory, but not useful for "approximation".

There's also the chapter-head snippets about great men.... good stuff, but has no relation to the chapter, some are dubious accuracy. Belongs in another book.

When buying $1 tech-books, scan the store's other books for likely books. Book shipping is much cheaper five at a time.

I also got these interesting items:

Intutive IC Electronics Frederiksen, National Semi, 1982
Good basic semiconductor information. Originally basic training for Nat Semi support staff.

Electronic Troubleshooting Philco Technical Inst, 1966
Strange and possibly rare. Text for one of those training courses you sit in class for 100+ hours. EXCELLENT indoctrination into the thought process of troubleshooting: Determine Symptoms, Localize Trouble, Isolate, Specific Trouble. Then it has several examples (audio amp, power supply, etc) where you are told the symptoms and given three possible next-steps. You pick one, it tells you to turn to another page to check your choice (the part-answers are scattered randomly so you can't cheat). Good training but annoying.

[CynicalMan]

> get this ($1 used!): Semiconductor Circuit Approximations... -- Malvino

Got it. Good book. Well worth a buck (originally $40!!), and $4 shipping. Would be a fine deal at $10-$20.

You MUST first digest your basic DC (battery, resistor) circuits. "Transistor" circuits are 4/5ths resistors, and of course a battery.

Misses greatness. Starts a little high for some readers. Does not go far enough for others. Has some senseless baggage: begins switch-transistor theory with an expression using Rb (base resistance), but Rb is never cited in datasheets and not easily knowable. Good theory, but not useful for "approximation".

There's also the chapter-head snippets about great men.... good stuff, but has no relation to the chapter, some are dubious accuracy. Belongs in another book.

Got it for $2 at a garage sale, and I agree with all that. It was just the book that made transistors "click" for me. The transistor models aren't extremely accurate, but they're almost as accurate as we need in audio. Finding a book that didn't overcomplicate transistors really helped me to learn how they worked.

[phector2004]

For our purposes (i.e. the non EE's here), is there any point in learning how transistors work? I'm talking about the P and N stuff they tried/failed at teaching us in high school physics 

It makes sense to learn how something like a transformer works, seeing how you can make new windings...

[iandy4]

> get this ($1 used!): Semiconductor Circuit Approximations... -- Malvino

Got it. Good book. Well worth a buck (originally $40!!), and $4 shipping. Would be a fine deal at $10-$20.

You MUST first digest your basic DC (battery, resistor) circuits. "Transistor" circuits are 4/5ths resistors, and of course a battery.

Misses greatness. Starts a little high for some readers. Does not go far enough for others. Has some senseless baggage: begins switch-transistor theory with an expression using Rb (base resistance), but Rb is never cited in datasheets and not easily knowable. Good theory, but not useful for "approximation".

There's also the chapter-head snippets about great men.... good stuff, but has no relation to the chapter, some are dubious accuracy. Belongs in another book.

When buying $1 tech-books, scan the store's other books for likely books. Book shipping is much cheaper five at a time.

I also got these interesting items:

Intutive IC Electronics Frederiksen, National Semi, 1982
Good basic semiconductor information. Originally basic training for Nat Semi support staff.

Electronic Troubleshooting Philco Technical Inst, 1966
Strange and possibly rare. Text for one of those training courses you sit in class for 100+ hours. EXCELLENT indoctrination into the thought process of troubleshooting: Determine Symptoms, Localize Trouble, Isolate, Specific Trouble. Then it has several examples (audio amp, power supply, etc) where you are told the symptoms and given three possible next-steps. You pick one, it tells you to turn to another page to check your choice (the part-answers are scattered randomly so you can't cheat). Good training but annoying.

Thanks for the suggestions Paul.  I just got the two books you mentioned for a good deal on ebay as well as Semiconductor Circuit Approximations.  In the meantime I've been practicing Ohms Law equations.

[iandy4]

For our purposes (i.e. the non EE's here), is there any point in learning how transistors work? I'm talking about the P and N stuff they tried/failed at teaching us in high school physics 

It makes sense to learn how something like a transformer works, seeing how you can make new windings...

You may be right.  I'm just curious.

[R.G.]

For our purposes (i.e. the non EE's here), is there any point in learning how transistors work? I'm talking about the P and N stuff they tried/failed at teaching us in high school physics
It makes sense to learn how something like a transformer works, seeing how you can make new windings...

You may be right.  I'm just curious.

It makes a lot of sense to know at a gross level why the Ns and Ps are set up that way, and what the implications are for simple tests and operations.

For instance, with an NPN, it is really useful to know that one of the junctions has to be reverse biased and the other forward biased for it to amplify. That lets you know that with a meter, the collector voltage needs to be higher than the base (to get that junction reverse biased; the N side is higher than the P side) and the emitter needs to be lower than the base (the P side is higher than the N side). And if that's not true, it's not amplifying.

With a JFET, the gate junction has to be reverse biased for it to work, so the gate of an N-channel must be P type, and furthermore, must be more negative than either drain or source for it to work right.

This is just simple stuff, like which direction the battery/voltage is turned. No subtlety hidden in that, and very useful.

[stringsthings]

For our purposes (i.e. the non EE's here), is there any point in learning how transistors work? I'm talking about the P and N stuff ....

it depends on what your purposes are ... if your goal is to put together one or two circuits, then perhaps not ... OTOH, if your goal is to understand the whys and hows of any particular NPN/PNP transistor-based circuit, then you may find the learning process interesting and rewarding ...

IMO, you are over-simplifying the purposes of those here who do not happen to be electrical engineers ... for example, what about the EET's?  they have to have a good working knowledge of BJT circuits ... that knowledge will help them troubleshoot a circuit ...

... and don't forget that a little NPN/PNP trivia can be a real hit at your next college party ! ...  

( the chicks won't be able to resist you !  )