[sdiy] some disturbing things i've read recently

[David Halliday]

You may want to spend some $$$ and time reading into some basic electronic
theory.
It will not be digested in one sitting, it will take many trips back to the
books over a couple month period but the investment in time is very very
well worth it.

Best books for me have been:
The Art of Electronics by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521370957/o/qid=992073915/sr=2-1/ref
=aps_sr_b_1_1/002-3837578-4980815

about $70US and absolutely worth every penny.  You will use this book for
years.

Next would be Robert Pease's
Troubleshooting Analog Circuits
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750694998/qid=992074087/sr=1-1/ref=s
c_b_1/002-3837578-4980815

These are expensive but you can certainly check them out in your local
library ( most libraries have inter-library loan systems so you can get
books that are otherwise not available in your own branch ), you can also go
to a local college and see if they have an engineering library.


This will take some effort on your part but it is not difficult - we are
talking basic arithmetic, no calculus or anything complex (unless you really
*want* to) :->


As for your questions:

#1) - ICs have problems with long leads for several reasons - the signal
levels and the degrees of amplification are such that you can get signals
coupling ( much like a transformer ) between traces.  Also, they can be very
sensitive to power supply issues - when a logic circuit or timer triggers,
it can send a spike of current back through the power supply leads.  Also,
some ICs work fine waaaay up above audio ranges and you could have a circuit
oscillating away at these frequencies, screwing up the *expected* operation
of your circuit and this oscillation would be totally inaudible.


#2) - DAC - Digital to Analog Converter - these take a digital "word" of any
size and convert it to a corresponding analog voltage.


What are you building?



-> -----Original Message-----
-> From: owner-synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
-> [mailto:owner-synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl]On Behalf Of Gavin Russom
-> Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2001 12:33 AM
-> To: synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl
-> Subject: [sdiy] some disturbing things i've read recently
->
->
-> well I'm moving along on my modular but I've recently run
-> across a couple of
-> technical "facts" that have alarmed me because i'd never
-> heard anything
-> about any of them and am not prepared
-> 1. An IC will not work properly or at all if the power leads
-> are too long, a
-> possible solution for this is to put a .1 uF capacitor
-> across the power
-> leads (I imagine this is a filtering cap to suck off any
-> transients that
-> would be coming through the power lead?) Any body ever run into this
-> phenomenon?
-> 2. What is a system DAC? I've looked through all my books
-> and can't find
-> anything about it.
-> thanks
-> MYSTIC
->