Analog Circuit Design - vol 1-3 by Jim Williams

[SoulFetish]

I happened upon a set of books entitled "Analog Circuit Design" which contains three volumes of application notes written (mostly) by a dude named Jim Williams who worked for Linear Technologies. I didn't really know anything about these books, but I want to broaden by knowledge and understanding of analog design and testing, so I like to pick up reference to have around. The thing that intrigued me actually was the title of the second volume "Analog Circuit Design - Immersion in the Black Art of Analog Design", which is a captivating name for a collection of application notes (pretty clever). Anyways, I just started going through the 1st book last night, and I was blown away by how much I'm enjoying it so far. It contains so much practical information and is presented in an accessible and conversational style. The strength of this book really seems to be in the examples showing how fundamental analog circuit design goes far beyond schematic design. If you haven't had the chance to at least take a look through these books, I recommend them. I'm already learning a lot. Before yesterday, I had no idea there were piezo transformers used in high voltage applications. That's pretty fascinating

[Enzo]

I am glad you have discovered Williams. Actually he is quite well known in the industry.

I highly recommend writings by Bob Pease then at National Semi. In particular his Troubleshooting Analog Circuits. I have read that book many times, and every timer I learn new things. pease has written extensively on analog circuits, and is always accessible reading.

[Jazz P Bass]

Here is a collection of Bob Pease's best: https://www.ti.com/ww/en/bobpease/as...al-com_rap.pdf

A word of caution: the file is 134 pages long.

[nickb]

And the horrible irony:

"Another sad loss for the analog-design community, and the engineering world as a whole: Bob Pease, analog circuit-design expert, was killed in a car crash Saturday (June 18,2011), after leaving a private service for Jim Williams, who passed away a week before."

[Pdavis68]

This reminded me of years ago buying a couple of copies of the Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits by Rudolf Graf. There are multiple volumes and I had two of them. They're just collections of circuits and include a handful of pedal circuits. Kinda wish I still had those. Might look for some used copies...

[Jazz P Bass]

My favorite pic of Mr. Pease:

[Jazz P Bass]

This reminded me of years ago buying a couple of copies of the Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits by Rudolf Graf. There are multiple volumes and I had two of them. They're just collections of circuits and include a handful of pedal circuits. Kinda wish I still had those. Might look for some used copies...

Here is his bibliography.

https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL22...Rudolf_F._Graf

[Tooboob]

There was a one-day trade show thing that National did a few years ago. They were serving drinks, and Bob got up on stage slobbering drunk. They had to escort him off. I hope he didn't drive his VW home. He was a true wizard.

National tech writers used to release fake product specifications on April 1. My favorite was the "Confusion Compounder With No Comprehension." One of the applications was as a fishing lure. The specs were valid "except on Fridays, when we drink beer." Another was the BD1 Battery Discharger. "Do to the extreme efficiency of the BD1, a current limiting resistor may be required."

They used to sell a high performance buffer hybrid in a can for about $60. The part name was "Damn Fast Buffer" (they already had a "Fast Buffer"). Deep in the spec, there was a dual-log plot of frequency vs. Hz, and the circuit notes were titled "Achtung". It lived in a huge paperback that had all of National's linear parts.

Back in the olden days, before the Internet, if you were designing computers, reps would bring you full sets of databooks from National, TI, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Mostek, Molex, Amp, and a few other vendors. They'd fill a large bookcase. If what you wanted wasn't in there, you had to describe what you needed to a few sales reps, and they'd show up in a day or two with datasheets that were their interpretation of what you asked for. Lots of fun, and lots of free lunches if the company you worked for was big enough.

[Enzo]

yep, I have a bunch of those old books, I still use them. Not as much as my poor falling apart RCA tube manual of course.

[J M Fahey]

There was a one-day trade show thing that National did a few years ago. They were serving drinks, and Bob got up on stage slobbering drunk. They had to escort him off. I hope he didn't drive his VW home. He was a true wizard.

Just quoting from memory, he was driving his VW and it was found in a roadside ditch, with him dead at the wheel.