[sdiy] 4069 VCO to get started? My answer

[Scott Gravenhorst]

I built a kit, for two reasons.  I wanted to have a musical instrument at the
end and I wanted to learn.  Building a kit is not just solder in the parts. 
It often involves trouble shooting and fixing goofups.  A kit is a
known-going-to-work item, so it's rare that it ends up in the dustbin.  I
learned a large amount of useful concepts, such as summing node virtual
grounds and current summing, current sources, why VCOs (CCOs really) must be
linear to be musical, how a VCF works, etc. all from building a FatMan kit. 
Modifying it at one point caused me to blow it up and I had to fix it, again
increasing my understanding of the circuits involved.  The kit itself contains
some good "how it works" text.  When I just want to relax and play some music,
I've got a real musical instrument.  (two now).  

So while building things from scratch is good, it can often lead to some
frustration that you can avoid with a kit.

And now, I build add-on circuits for my synths, most are my own designs now.

You have a major advantage in having an Oscope.  Build a kit and then once
it's working, (or before!) look at the circuit while it's operating using that
oscope.  You will learn.  And if what you see doesn't make sense, come here
and ask questions.  That is exactly the way I did it and thanks to the
wonderful people on this list, I learned real usable things that now allow me
to design much of my own stuff.  Something that I could not have done otherwise.


Nicolai Czempin <nicolai.czempin at alcatel.de> wrote:
>Pat Kammerer wrote:
>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Nicolai Czempin <nicolai.czempin at alcatel.de>
>>Subject: [sdiy] 4069 VCO to get started? My answer
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>>>Take any introductory electronics book, and they
>>>will start, with the basic components, with both CMOS and digital issues
>>>being found in the late chapters if at all.
>>>    
>>>
>>
>>This may be a mistake.  Some Mimms books start with CMOS/TTL and then move
>>on to linear/analog.  Even the 555 is "digital", and it's very basic in many
>>books.
>>
>>  
>>
>Okay, perhaps you're right. I should probably get a "Mimms book". All 
>the other ones I have (all German, except for Horowitz/Hill) start with 
>Resistors, Diodes and Capacitors, move on to Transistors, and very late 
>if at all (possible in the second volume) do they cover digital.
>In any case, I prefer it this way. I want to really understand what's 
>going on, even if it takes a bit longer (my guess is that it would be 
>much easier for me to work my way down from microcontrollers to gates, 
>and then further...)
>
>mfg Nicolai
>

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-- Scott Gravenhorst | LegoManiac / Lego Trains / RIS 1.5
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