[sdiy] beginner book?

[R. D. Davis]

Quothe James C, from writings of Mon, Jul 05, 2004 at 07:32:47PM +0000:
> Can you guys give me some essential books in helping me start off with 
> synth design? I need something straight from the beginning. Help me get on 
> my feet with an introduction to understanding and designing circuits.

Since electronics, like math, isn't a spectator sport, get a VOM or
VTVM (the cheapest of either will do for now), a cheap 2nd-hand
oscilloscope, a cheaop soldering iron, 60/40 solder, a
variable-voltage power-supply, a strip or three of spring-loaded
perfboard, some wires, some 2N3904/2N3906, or similar transistors,
some diodes, a couple of op-amps, hook-up wire, any type of small
power transformer, an assortment of resistors (e.g., 100-ohm, 470-ohm,
1K, 4.7K, 10K, 22K, 47K, 68K, 100K and 1M should do---get several
pieces of each), an assortment of capacitors (.001 uF, .01 uF, .1uF
ceramic or whatever---matters not for now, and several values
in-between, and the same for some larger electrolytic capacitors
ranging from 1uF to 1,000 uF), then start reading a couple of books on
DC and AC circuit analysis (e.g., the Tocci book), then experiment
along the way.  Wind a few of your own inductors with some magnet
wire.  Next, find a couple of books on solid-state circuitry and
experiment with a few simple single-transistor circuits for
common-collector, common-emitter and common-base amplifiers, then some
oscillators.  After that, pick up a copy of a book entitled "Solid
State Pulse Circuits" (I forget the author's name at the moment) and
start experimenting with op-amps.

There are also some good sites on the 'net for learning about
electronic circuits, but you still need to acquire some real books.

By then, you should have a basic grasp on simple circuitry and be
familiar with some types of waveforms and how they're produced.  

Start connecting oscillators to amplifiers and see what you hear.
Then, if you really want to have some fun, start learning about 
vacuum-tube circuitry. :-)   

Alternatively, you can also try a Radio Shack 100-in-1 (or something
like that, if they still make them) kit.  All I can say is read and
then experiment, experiment and experiment... and you might also find
it helpful to have a good RPN calculator to use (although I don't
think that HP is making real calculators anymore and the used ones,
like a simple 11C are not inexpensive).

Best of luck! 

-- 
Copyright (C) 2004 R.D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: an
All Rights Reserved            unnatural belief that we're above Nature & her
www.rddavis.org 410-744-4900    other creatures, using dogma to justify such
Uncle Fester for President!      beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.