4 ms·

The Input Tube [pdf]

3 points by ramenbytes 2y ago

ramenbytes 2y ago
About a year ago I submitted the book this is from, and a user, @fuzzfactor, offered to provide more relevant info on the linked section if desired (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34299135 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34299135). I saw that comment after the reply window closed, so I'm submitting just that section to hopefully catch their attention and generate some discussion on it.
ofalkaed 2y ago
I am not a fan of how this book is structured for the amp stuff, opens up with an analogy to JFETs for the "solid state experts," really should start out with how tubes work and build off of that instead of something many would not get. But it does cover everything you need, just does it in a sort of roundabout way that is not great for learning. Part one of the less popular and much more brief third edition of the Radiotron Designers Handbook [0] is probably my favorite writeup but is very dense and covers a good deal of stuff in those ~80 pages. Aiken Amps White Papers [1] is pretty good and the first amplifier I designed (and built) was completely done through those pages, still have that amp and have sold it twice and bought it back twice. The Valve Wizard's writeup on common cathode gain stages [2] is also quite good and I would have bought his books based off it if I had not found them right when I was leaving this stuff behind. 0. https://archive.org/details/radiotrondesigne00unse/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/radiotrondesigne00unse/mode/2up 1. https://aikenamps.com/index.php/white-papers https://aikenamps.com/index.php/white-papers 2. https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Common_Gain_Stage.pdf https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Common_Gain_Stage.pdf
- ramenbytes 2y ago
  > Part one of the less popular and much more brief third edition of the Radiotron Designers Handbook [0] is probably my favorite writeup but is very dense and covers a good deal of stuff in those ~80 pages. I'll have to check out the RDH section. So far I've been working through "Theory and Application of Electron Tubes" by Reich, which as a physics person I've quite enjoyed. I'm guessing the RDH section is a compact summary of the stuff in Reich's book. > Aiken Amps White Papers [1] is pretty good and the first amplifier I designed (and built) was completely done through those pages, still have that amp and have sold it twice and bought it back twice. I'd already stumbled across his stuff before, but didn't realize there was a nice organized listing of everything, so thanks for that. Looks like he has a useful bibliography too, from which I just found several interesting reads: https://aikenamps.com/index.php/a-bibliography-of-must-have-tube-electronics-books https://aikenamps.com/index.php/a-bibliography-of-must-have-... Aside, another bibliography I've found useful (complete with PDFs): http://www.tubebooks.org/ http://www.tubebooks.org/
  - ofalkaed 2y ago
    Radiotron is the big book by RCA, 4th edition is the bible of tube design and ~1500 pages, but the vast bulk of it is not very applicable to audio frequency amplifiers and it goes into transmitters and receivers and so on. Part one of the 3rd edition is audio frequency amplifiers and would be better described as concise than a summary, it gives you most everything but skewed towards practical application. From what I remember RDH3 and Reich cover about the same stuff overall, but it has probably been a decade since I looks at RDH3 and even longer since I last looked at Reich. RDH3 was written at a time when there was an exploding new market and it targets people who were looking to exploit that market so avoids a lot of the digressions which are interesting but academic when it comes to designing amplifiers. Howard Tremaine's books are quite good and it looks like Aiken left off his Passive Audio Network Design, which was probably sensible but it can not be beat if you want to really understand the stuff in the guitar and better understand the stuff between the tubes which are often passive audio networks. But it might be a bit too in depth for most, I really enjoy passive design and probably have a blind spot here.
    - ramenbytes 2y ago
      > Part one of the 3rd edition is audio frequency amplifiers and would be better described as concise than a summary, it gives you most everything but skewed towards practical application. Ah, I see, good to know. > Howard Tremaine's books are quite good and it looks like Aiken left off his Passive Audio Network Design, which was probably sensible but it can not be beat if you want to really understand the stuff in the guitar and better understand the stuff between the tubes which are often passive audio networks. But it might be a bit too in depth for most, I really enjoy passive design and probably have a blind spot here. I haven't heard of his stuff yet, I'll have to look into them, thanks! No worries about it being too in-depth, I'm usually more concerned with things not going in-depth enough! I get practicality and conciseness being a concern and all, but I like knowing the why's behind the what's. Note for those who are as confused as I initially was: Passive Audio Network Design is by Howard Tremaine, not Aiken. Edit: Just scooped up the only copy of Passive Audio Network Design I could find. Should be here by Monday!

3 points by ramenbytes 2y ago

About a year ago I submitted the book this is from, and a user, @fuzzfactor, offered to provide more relevant info on the linked section if desired (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34299135 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34299135). I saw that comment after the reply window closed, so I'm submitting just that section to hopefully catch their attention and generate some discussion on it.

ofalkaed 2y ago

I am not a fan of how this book is structured for the amp stuff, opens up with an analogy to JFETs for the "solid state experts," really should start out with how tubes work and build off of that instead of something many would not get. But it does cover everything you need, just does it in a sort of roundabout way that is not great for learning. Part one of the less popular and much more brief third edition of the Radiotron Designers Handbook [0] is probably my favorite writeup but is very dense and covers a good deal of stuff in those ~80 pages. Aiken Amps White Papers [1] is pretty good and the first amplifier I designed (and built) was completely done through those pages, still have that amp and have sold it twice and bought it back twice. The Valve Wizard's writeup on common cathode gain stages [2] is also quite good and I would have bought his books based off it if I had not found them right when I was leaving this stuff behind. 0. https://archive.org/details/radiotrondesigne00unse/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/radiotrondesigne00unse/mode/2up 1. https://aikenamps.com/index.php/white-papers https://aikenamps.com/index.php/white-papers 2. https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Common_Gain_Stage.pdf https://www.valvewizard.co.uk/Common_Gain_Stage.pdf

ramenbytes 2y ago
> Part one of the less popular and much more brief third edition of the Radiotron Designers Handbook [0] is probably my favorite writeup but is very dense and covers a good deal of stuff in those ~80 pages. I'll have to check out the RDH section. So far I've been working through "Theory and Application of Electron Tubes" by Reich, which as a physics person I've quite enjoyed. I'm guessing the RDH section is a compact summary of the stuff in Reich's book. > Aiken Amps White Papers [1] is pretty good and the first amplifier I designed (and built) was completely done through those pages, still have that amp and have sold it twice and bought it back twice. I'd already stumbled across his stuff before, but didn't realize there was a nice organized listing of everything, so thanks for that. Looks like he has a useful bibliography too, from which I just found several interesting reads: https://aikenamps.com/index.php/a-bibliography-of-must-have-tube-electronics-books https://aikenamps.com/index.php/a-bibliography-of-must-have-... Aside, another bibliography I've found useful (complete with PDFs): http://www.tubebooks.org/ http://www.tubebooks.org/
- ofalkaed 2y ago
  Radiotron is the big book by RCA, 4th edition is the bible of tube design and ~1500 pages, but the vast bulk of it is not very applicable to audio frequency amplifiers and it goes into transmitters and receivers and so on. Part one of the 3rd edition is audio frequency amplifiers and would be better described as concise than a summary, it gives you most everything but skewed towards practical application. From what I remember RDH3 and Reich cover about the same stuff overall, but it has probably been a decade since I looks at RDH3 and even longer since I last looked at Reich. RDH3 was written at a time when there was an exploding new market and it targets people who were looking to exploit that market so avoids a lot of the digressions which are interesting but academic when it comes to designing amplifiers. Howard Tremaine's books are quite good and it looks like Aiken left off his Passive Audio Network Design, which was probably sensible but it can not be beat if you want to really understand the stuff in the guitar and better understand the stuff between the tubes which are often passive audio networks. But it might be a bit too in depth for most, I really enjoy passive design and probably have a blind spot here.
  - ramenbytes 2y ago
    > Part one of the 3rd edition is audio frequency amplifiers and would be better described as concise than a summary, it gives you most everything but skewed towards practical application. Ah, I see, good to know. > Howard Tremaine's books are quite good and it looks like Aiken left off his Passive Audio Network Design, which was probably sensible but it can not be beat if you want to really understand the stuff in the guitar and better understand the stuff between the tubes which are often passive audio networks. But it might be a bit too in depth for most, I really enjoy passive design and probably have a blind spot here. I haven't heard of his stuff yet, I'll have to look into them, thanks! No worries about it being too in-depth, I'm usually more concerned with things not going in-depth enough! I get practicality and conciseness being a concern and all, but I like knowing the why's behind the what's. Note for those who are as confused as I initially was: Passive Audio Network Design is by Howard Tremaine, not Aiken. Edit: Just scooped up the only copy of Passive Audio Network Design I could find. Should be here by Monday!