[sdiy] Becoming better at understanding difficult analog schematics

[David G Dixon]

I hear you, Paulo!  I have a very hard time reading some schematics.  One
good example are Buchla schematics, which I find almost impossible to
decipher.
 
When I draw a schematic, I try to have the signals moving from left to
right.  I'm also a very systematic person when I do technical things, so,
for example, all of my opamps are drawn with the positive input pin on the
bottom and the inverting input on the top.  I draw my schematics in
Multisim, and opamps are always oriented the opposite way in that program,
so I have to go in and flip them all.  I space things out in a very uniform
way.  Common circuit blocks are always drawn in a similar way in my
schematics.  Hence, I can generally tell what's going on at a glance, even
when I haven't looked at a schematic for many years.
 
It's the same with PCB layouts -- I can follow the signals and see what
everything is doing very easily, because I lay them out very systematically.
 
This is probably one of the reasons why I have avoided cloning other
people's circuits -- I can't stand looking at their schematics.  I also
don't like building other people's PCBs.

  _____  

From: Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org] On Behalf Of Paulo
Constantino via Synth-diy
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2024 4:42 PM
To: SDIY List
Subject: [sdiy] Becoming better at understanding difficult analog schematics


[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]	
Hi all,

I wanted to ask a question that has been on my mind lately.

I consider myself a beginner in electronics.
I know all the fundamental stuff, or how can I express it... I understand
the landscape of electronics from a high point of view.

However what gets me constantly is this...
When I look at analog electronics schematics, specially big ones, they don't
make sense to me, or at least not within the first few minutes of looking at
them. I find that most schematics are highly "non-linear". By that I mean
that there are feedback loops everywhere, many times from places in the
schematics that are far away from each other.

Schematics that are more linear flowing are easier for me because I can see
the "blocks" and how they connect to each other. But many schematics are so
non-linear and I find that difficult to understand.

How to become better at this? If you are an experienced electronics
engineer, can you yourself understand these "non-linear" schematics by just
looking at them if you have not seen that type of circuit before?

Thank you very much for reading this and responding if you can.

Paulo
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