[sdiy] Norton & OTA book

[Tim Parkhurst]

In other words, "an interesting book, but proceed with caution." Thanks for
the heads up :-)

Tim Servo
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Stinchcombe [mailto:tim102 at tstinchcombe.freeserve.co.uk]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 1:53 PM
> To: 'Tim Parkhurst'; synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> Subject: RE: [sdiy] Norton & OTA book
> 
> > In searching for more info on the LM3900, I came across a
> > book that looks
> > interesting: "49 Easy Electronic Projects for
> > Transconductance & Norton Op Amps" by Delton Horn.
> >
> > The table o' contents looks promising (Norton and OTA info,
> > applications like VCOs and VCAs). It looks to be out of
> > print, but Amazon shows half a dozen used copies with prices
> > ranging from $5 to $20US. I've just ordered one, so I'll know
> > in about a week if there's anything interesting in it. Has
> > anyone else seen this book?
> 
> Just got me a copy of this book (it was cheap, and it might contain some
> ideas). It looks like it has really been thrown together. Here are a few
> things I spotted before I stopped looking too hard:
> 
> "The conventional operational amplifier has two voltage inputs and a
current
> output." (Intro, p xi).
> 
> "In most practical circuits, positive feedback is used to reduce the gain
to
> a significantly lower level." (In section 'How an Op Amp works', p4).
> 
> Fig 1-2, p5 shows the standard inverting op amp set-up, but no expression
> for the transfer function is given.
> Page 6 gives the gain equation for the non-inverting set-up, but no
circuit
> is shown.
> Fig 1-5, p7 is the standard differencing set-up: the equation is given,
but
> unfortunately the resistors are not labelled in the figure.
> 
> Fig 2-7, p22, a "block diagram" of the CA3080 is just a repeat of the
> equivalent schematic given in Fig 2-2, p17.
> 
> OK, so he does say that some prior knowledge of electronics is assumed,
but
> I'm now primed into expecting the odd error or two in some of the circuits
> as well.
> 
> Most of the circuits involve only 1 or 2 ICs and a handful of external
> components. I was drawn to the "random music maker" (p100), which turned
out
> to be "the most complex circuit in this book". This consists of a '567 PLL
> being used for its VCO; a 3080 used as a S&H; and a '555 to clock the S&H.
> The VCO output is sampled and used to control its own frequency, thus
giving
> a random frequency depending on the exact moment of sampling. That may
give
> you an idea of the level that it is pitched at (pun entirely intentional).
> 
> Still, as I said before, it may contain some ideas.
> 
> Tim
> __________________________________________________________
> Tim Stinchcombe
> 
> Cheltenham, Glos, UK
> email: tim102 at tstinchcombe.freeserve.co.uk




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