AoE 3rd Edition coming soon? A question for Winfield

[Jonathan Kirwan]

While you're waiting for the 3rd edition of AoE, Rick Carter's DSP book has
plenty on this topic... it's also an Amazon.Com best seller for good reason.

For reasons I don't understand, I'm having trouble using his name to
find it at Amazon. Do you have the title handy?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[Joel Kolstad]

For reasons I don't understand, I'm having trouble using his name to
find it at Amazon. Do you have the title handy?

Probably because I got it wrong; sorry about that. I meant... Rich Lyons
(pretty far cry from Rick Carter), and his book here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/01...ref=sr_1_1/104-8721954-0998331?_encoding=UTF8

---Joel

 

[phaeton]

I'm sorry, but no. We're only about 1/3 through the project,
but we intend to pick up the pace. The 3rd-edition listings
seem to have come from the ISBN number that was assigned for
the project, and perhaps a leak from a project database at
C.U.G., we haven't been able to get a definitive answer.

Ahh.. I see. So probably still a couple of years at least then, right?
I understand that technical texts take some time to do.

Yes. Huge portions of the 2nd edition will disappear, to slightly
shorten the book, and to make room for new material. For example, most
of the last third of the book is at risk. Selected portions from the
deleted chapters will be moved into advanced "X-chapters" following
each conventional chapter, but much good material will be lost. BTW,
lots of good stuff in the first edition didn't make it into the 2nd
edition.

It's probably been suggested already, but why not make it 2 volumes? Just
too much work for mortal men to do? I'm curious what the 'page count' is
relevant of. Is this a publisher/editor requirement, bookbinder
requirement, or time-and-materials requirement?

Smattering? The student manual will be updated.

Excellent! Will that be out at the same time as the book is released, or
sometime after?

Thanks for the replies and straight answers, Win. Your other post in this
topic regarding the intended audience of the book confirms that it is the
book for me :-D I'll be picking up the 2nd Edition here soon, to tide me
over until the 3rd comes out.

I appreciate your taking the time.

-Phaeton

 

[Fred Bloggs]

I'm an engineer, so I never look for application circuits; I design
circuits.

You're wasting your time then, or have no clue about how optimal
applications arise, but if you think you can just jump in there and
immediately produce anything remotely approaching a "good" technique, on
the first or even 10th iteration, you're wearing blinders. And most of
your so-called designs are some ugly electronics anyway.

 

[John Larkin]

You're wasting your time then, or have no clue about how optimal
applications arise, but if you think you can just jump in there and
immediately produce anything remotely approaching a "good" technique, on
the first or even 10th iteration, you're wearing blinders.

A lot of application circuits and reference designs are plain silly.
Their real value is that that's where many of the gotchas about the
parts get hidden; when you see three power schottky diodes on a DAC
application drawing (for real!) alarms should go off.

And most of
your so-called designs are some ugly electronics anyway.

OK, show us something beautiful that you've designed lately.

John

 

[David L. Jones]

I never find an application circuit in that thing when I'm looking for one.

I'm an engineer, so I never look for application circuits; I design
circuits. What I look for in a book like AoE [1] is ideas, tricks,
lore, and new perspectives.

John

[1] And there are few like AoE. Jim Williams' two books on analog
circuit design, and Phil Hobbs' one on EO systems, come to mind. Can
anyone recommend more?

The Analog Devices "Practical Analog Design Techniques" book by Walt
Kester, Walt Jung et.al is very good. They have other ones for signal
conditioning and other stuf too.
Often given out free at AD technical seminars, but you can buy them.

A quick search bought up a downloadable version of the Designers Guide
to Instrumentation Amps:
http://www.analog.com/en/content/0,2886,759%5F777%5F43643,00.html
The others might be downloadable somewhere too...

Dave

 

[Fred Bloggs]

A lot of application circuits and reference designs are plain silly.
Their real value is that that's where many of the gotchas about the
parts get hidden; when you see three power schottky diodes on a DAC
application drawing (for real!) alarms should go off.

That statement really goes to the essence of your severe affliction with
narcissism which refuses to acknowledge other-than-self. You apparently
think you own electronics and everything else is a mere feeble shortfall
of your capabilities.

OK, show us something beautiful that you've designed lately.

John

Your work is woeful: guess and characterize.

 

[John Larkin]

That statement really goes to the essence of your severe affliction with
narcissism which refuses to acknowledge other-than-self.

When other-than-self designs a chip with ghastly SCR latchup problems,
I certainly am interested.

You apparently
think you own electronics and everything else is a mere feeble shortfall
of your capabilities.

I asked *you* to show us a design. C'mon Fred, show us something.

We had a bunch of meetings about the looks of our new line of VME
modules. VME is an aesthetic challenge to start... a pcb with a tall
skinny metal front panel. Most VME modules are coyote ugly, plain
aluminum panels with black silkscreened lettering in random fonts.

http://www.gefanuc.com/en/documents/vmivme7807_cutsheet_gfa610.pdf

http://www.naii.com/products/viewProduct.aspx?productID=94

http://www.xycomvme.com/pdf/datasheets/ds-74212-001.pdf



We decided to spring for custom polycarb stick-on overlays, which is
not as expensive as they used to be thanks to laser machining (the
steel-rule dies used to cost well over a grand apiece.) We did a bunch
of mockups to decide on colors and stuff, and tested a lot of
right-angle surfmount led's and hole sizes and polycarb frostiness to
get the backlight thing right. One of our customers asked for a "user"
led that he could control, so all the modules have that now, a really
nice rich amber color; he can load a 16-bit blink pattern register to
flash all sorts of ways.

We also anodized a lot of covers in different colors before we settled
on the right ones.

http://www.highlandtechnology.com/DSS/V470DS.html

http://www.highlandtechnology.com/DSS/V450DS.html

All our future modules will use this uniform design/color/font scheme.
My VP of operations has an architecture degree and she used to publish
an architectural design magazine, which is why this worked out well.
Most engineers shouldn't be allowed to dress themselves, much less
plan product aesthetics.

The pcb layout itself is beautiful, all the layers of it, but that was
done to please nobody but ourselves.

I guess it doesn't appeal to you. Can't please everybody.



C'mon Fred, show us something.

John

 

[Fred Bloggs]

When other-than-self designs a chip with ghastly SCR latchup problems,
I certainly am interested.




I asked *you* to show us a design. C'mon Fred, show us something.



We had a bunch of meetings about the looks of our new line of VME
modules. VME is an aesthetic challenge to start... a pcb with a tall
skinny metal front panel. Most VME modules are coyote ugly, plain
aluminum panels with black silkscreened lettering in random fonts.

http://www.gefanuc.com/en/documents/vmivme7807_cutsheet_gfa610.pdf

http://www.naii.com/products/viewProduct.aspx?productID=94

http://www.xycomvme.com/pdf/datasheets/ds-74212-001.pdf



We decided to spring for custom polycarb stick-on overlays, which is
not as expensive as they used to be thanks to laser machining (the
steel-rule dies used to cost well over a grand apiece.) We did a bunch
of mockups to decide on colors and stuff, and tested a lot of
right-angle surfmount led's and hole sizes and polycarb frostiness to
get the backlight thing right. One of our customers asked for a "user"
led that he could control, so all the modules have that now, a really
nice rich amber color; he can load a 16-bit blink pattern register to
flash all sorts of ways.

We also anodized a lot of covers in different colors before we settled
on the right ones.

http://www.highlandtechnology.com/DSS/V470DS.html

http://www.highlandtechnology.com/DSS/V450DS.html

All our future modules will use this uniform design/color/font scheme.
My VP of operations has an architecture degree and she used to publish
an architectural design magazine, which is why this worked out well.
Most engineers shouldn't be allowed to dress themselves, much less
plan product aesthetics.

The pcb layout itself is beautiful, all the layers of it, but that was
done to please nobody but ourselves.

I guess it doesn't appeal to you. Can't please everybody.

OMG!!!!!! That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO boring- which is not to say you don't
have to pursue your job, but damned that is mind-numbing boring

C'mon Fred, show us something.

John

I don't sweat the small stuff anymore, still in the research stages of
my next whatever.

 

[John Larkin]

OMG!!!!!! That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO boring- which is not to say you don't
have to pursue your job, but damned that is mind-numbing boring

Designing stuff like this isn't boring to me. We actually had a lot of
fun doing these two modules - a whole lot of give-and-take ragging,
lots of silly dead-ends, savage whiteboard battles, lots of hard
tradeoffs - and the specs are awesome. If that ain't your thing, OK,
but we enjoy doing stuff like this and enjoy spending the money they
generate.

Look at the a/d module specs; they're just numbers, but extreme
numbers.

I have actually reached the point in life where I can and do turn down
(or delegate!) work that threatens to be boring.

Craftsmanship can be absorbing in its own right. A master glassblower
or a great chef can spend a lifetime perfecting his art without being
bored by it. Electronics is even better, since it changes more and
keeps getting better.

John

 

[Fred Bloggs]

Designing stuff like this isn't boring to me. We actually had a lot of
fun doing these two modules - a whole lot of give-and-take ragging,
lots of silly dead-ends, savage whiteboard battles, lots of hard
tradeoffs - and the specs are awesome. If that ain't your thing, OK,
but we enjoy doing stuff like this and enjoy spending the money they
generate.

Look at the a/d module specs; they're just numbers, but extreme
numbers.

I have actually reached the point in life where I can and do turn down
(or delegate!) work that threatens to be boring.

Craftsmanship can be absorbing in its own right. A master glassblower
or a great chef can spend a lifetime perfecting his art without being
bored by it. Electronics is even better, since it changes more and
keeps getting better.

John

You're way too much of a "thing" oriented person- difficult to imagine
how anyone could get excited about that.

 

[mc]

All our future modules will use this uniform design/color/font scheme.

OMG!!!!!! That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO boring- which is not to say you don't have
to pursue your job, but damned that is mind-numbing boring

But I understand, and it's not boring to me. I married a graphic
designer... I suppose I have some graphic design in my blood by now myself.

 

[Charlie Edmondson]

I never find an application circuit in that thing when I'm looking for one.

I have kept it near at hand, and not because I need to design circuits.

Had one of my rare calls about a design that wasn't simulating and
meeting specs. Looked at his circuit, asked what he needed to do, and
then grabbed AoE. In a few moments, was looking at instrumentation amp
configurations, and at his design, and realized why he was not getting
very far. Suggested a configuration out of the book, showed him how it
would help meet his needs, and soon had a happy designer back on his way...

Charlie