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Old 30th Mar 2021, 4:13 am   #1
Radio Wrangler
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Default Circuit cookbooks

Back in the 1970s, a chap by the name of John Markus produced afew hefty tomes of collected circuits, many thousands in each book with relatively little explanation. One title I remember was "Sourcebook of electronic circuits" They were produced to good standards as far as the printing went, but they were scrapbooks as far as the content went.

I wonder if these are available online anywhere?

Markus was one of the editors of a US-based electronics magazine - the sort you had to have a suitable job title and address, then you got a free subscription as well as a bingo card service. Days before the internet, Eh?

It's just that someone was asking about circuits for low power voltage regulators for grid bias, and one of these books would have given him several leads.

The circuits were, let's say, not entirely the best. Some were good, but all were starting points. You needed some knowledge or guidance to sort the wheat from the chaff. But they would be helpful to people geting going and needing inspiration.

They mixed valve and transistor stuff.

David
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 6:36 am   #2
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

There's a copy on the Wayback Archive but it's on that stupid 1 hour borrow shenanigans https://archive.org/details/sourcebo...0mark/mode/2up

There's a few electronics encyclopedia's on the World Radio History site, but with all the recent reshuffling, a lot of the links are dead and the search function has become somewhat mediocre and convoluted lately.
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 7:59 am   #3
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

I have a copy of that book in PDF, I got it from the archive site before they started the borrow business. It's 64.5Mb big so don't know how it can be shared, whether it infringes any rules.

Dave
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 9:28 am   #4
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Bought one of those when I started work in 1971.

Collection of circuit suggested ideas from the electronic magazines, so never was much in the way of description.

It was published in 1968, hence the mix of valve and transistor.

Several on ABE but all but one seems to be in the USA.
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 10:17 am   #5
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

If I’m looking for a particular type of circuit I just search via google and look at the images. Usually get dozens to look at and an choose one or more to experiment with. This pulls out diagrams and photos from within articles and makes it easier to find what you want.
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 10:43 am   #6
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Managed to find three volumes:-

'Sourcebook of Electronic Circuits': https://b-ok.cc/book/5288657/2a7016

'Electronic Circuits Manual': https://b-ok.cc/book/5278565/4af1c2

'Modern Electronic Circuits Reference Manual': https://b-ok.cc/book/3514162/afe0b0

Cheers
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 12:31 pm   #7
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

THose are they.

A massive high density collection of inspiration, but watch out for rogues in them.

Third one download doesn't seem to work

David
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 12:57 pm   #8
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
THose are they.

A massive high density collection of inspiration, but watch out for rogues in them.

Third one download doesn't seem to work

David
I managed to download it, however it paused at 14.4 sec for 15-20 seconds, then resumed.
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 1:57 pm   #9
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Rather odd - I downloaded the pdf via that webpage earlier today, but now it's showing a hashing error in the button link...

An alternative download:-

http://dl.electrical4u.ir/links/Mark...ical4u.ir].pdf

Cheers
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 2:27 pm   #10
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Arrow Re: Circuit cookbooks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
It's just that someone was asking about circuits for low power voltage regulators for grid bias, and one of these books would have given him several leads.
David
'Twas I: guilty as charged, your honour. I made a new entry to that thread only just now in which I outlined my new plan.

Al. / Skywave.
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 7:12 pm   #11
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

From what I can find, John Markus edited four collections of circuits:
Sourcebook of Electronic Circuits, 1968
Electronic Circuits Manual, 1971
Guidebook of Electronic Circuits, 1974
Modern Electronic Circuits Reference Manual, 1980

The Essential Circuits Reference Guide, by John Markus and Charles Weston, was published in 1988. Some searching suggests that this book may have been a selection by Weston of Markus's earlier work. Markus had died in 1982. Whatever it actually contains, it runs to over 500 pages.

While on the subject of Markus, at one time he worked for the US magazine "Electronics" He also compiled these books with Vin Zeluff:
Electronics for Engineers, 1945
Handbook Industrial Electronic Circuits, 1948
Electronics Manual for Radio Engineers, 1949
Electronics for Communication Engineers, 1952
Handbook of Industrial Electronic Control Circuits, 1956
They provide a fascinating snapshot of where things were just after WW2.

There were also the collections of circuits compiled by Rudolf Graf and published in 7 volumes under the title "Encyclopedia of Electronic Circuits". The years were: vol. 1 - 1985, vol. 2 - 1988, vol. 3 - 1991, vol. 4 - 1994, vol. 5 - 1995, vol. 6 - 1996, vol. 7 - 1999. I recall seeing one or more volumes on the shelf at a local library several years ago. I don't know how the content changed from volume to volume, ie was it entirely fresh material, or merely an update of the previous material? Hopefully somebody might know these works. In the meantime, caveat emptor.

73 John
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 7:52 pm   #12
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

That's an offball thread of ciruit-suggestions I've not come across before but maybe need to explore...

My #1 70s/80s go-to swamp of circuit-goodness was always Steve Ciarcia's Circuit-Cellar in 'Byte' magazine.

See here:

https://circuitcellar.com/how-it-all-began/

Steve had a wonderful way of explaining to us analog-types just how digital-stuff worked - with actual examples!
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 8:24 pm   #13
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

I think Markus just hoovered up every small circuit he saw and stuffed his books with them. I don't think he was selective in any way.

These things are very much 'caveat emptor' There are bad circuits in there which Horowitz and Hill would have been proud of for their black museum pages, and there are some very good ideas. Anyone getting going in electronics can learn a lot in these pages.

David
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 8:57 pm   #14
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Hi David, how about the various H&H Art of Electronics and their good and bad circuits, plus I think one of the volumes has some micropower stuff in there.
Should be good for inspiration

Ed
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Old 30th Mar 2021, 9:52 pm   #15
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

At a very basic level and that's why I call them the ladybird books of electronics, the babani paperbacks of which many were R A Penfolds work have been of great use to me.
I got a lot of my op amp experience via the audio preamp and filter book and with a bit of extra knowledge about PSU and decoupling etc it has become a very useful resource.
and certainly increased my respect for the maligned op amp.

I recently laid hands on a download of his Shortwave receiver book, and it looks like a lot of bedtime reading.

I also use the Mullard Audio amplifier book as a reference when fiddling with valves.

Andy.
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Old 31st Mar 2021, 12:20 pm   #16
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

A book which doesn't seemto me to have got the recognition it deserves is "The Circuit Designer's Companion", originally by Tim Williams but now in its third edition by Peter Willson.

This book is very much a compendium of design experience and good practice - all that is lacking on some too theoretical electronics courses.

On the subject of "Cookbooks", Don Lancaster's TTL and CMOS cookbooks wer a useful introduction to their subjects in their time.

During the 1980s,I lent my copy of the CMOS Cookbook to a colleague who was impressed enough to want his own copy. Being pre-internet, he went to a large, well-known bookshop in Aberdeen's main street, Union Street and asked if they had a copy or could get one. The answer was entirely negative.

A couple of months later, the same shop advertised a closing-down sale. Another colleague and I went bargain hunting and my workmate kindly thought he would check out the cookery section on behalf of his wife. There was the CMOS Cookbook! I wonder why they had to close?

PMM
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Old 31st Mar 2021, 8:17 pm   #17
John KC0G
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

A 4th edition was published in 2017. According to the Elsevier web site, the page count went from 450+ to 490+.
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Old 31st Mar 2021, 8:54 pm   #18
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Default Re: Circuit cookbooks

Horowitz and Hill have included an interesting selection of circuits, some their own, some traditional, some culled from manufacturer's apps notes, but they printed it all with good guidance on what each was for and what its limitations were. Markus' books give no guidance whatsoever. They are just dumps of circuits irrespective of merits or problems. Some gems some, er, other substances.

H&H's 'Bad circuits' are hilarious. There is a lot to learn from them. A thoroughly excellent book on general electronics with a practical design bent.

Natsemi did some rather useful books of collected applications circuits

Linear Technology's applications notes are legendary

Helge O Granberg in Motorola applications notes laid the foundations of today's transistorised transmitters

David
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