Op Amps for Everyone - The Repeater Builder's Technical ...

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Everyone interested in analog electronics should find some value in this book, and an effort
has been made to make the material understandable to the relative novice while not
too boring for the practicing engineer. Special effort has been taken to ensure that each
chapter can stand alone for the reader with the proper background. Of course, this causes
redundancy that some people might find boring, but it’s worth the price to enable the satisfaction
of a diversified audience.
Start at Chapter 1 if you are a novice, and read through until completion of Chapter 9. After
Chapter 9 is completed, the reader can jump to any chapter and be confident that they
are prepared for the material. More experienced people such as electronic technicians,
digital engineers, and non-electronic engineers can start at Chapter 3 and read through
Chapter 9. Senior electronic technicians, electronic engineers, and fledgling analog engineers
can start anywhere they feel comfortable and read through Chapter 9. Experienced
analog engineers should jump to the subject that interests them. Analog gurus should
send their additions, corrections, and complaints to me, and if they see something that
looks familiar, they should feel complimented that others appreciate their contributions.
Chapter 1 is a history and story chapter. It is not required reading for anyone, but it defines
the op amp’s place in the world of analog electronics. Chapter 2 reviews some basic physics
and develops the fundamental circuit equations that are used throughout the book.
Similar equations have been developed in other books, but the presentation here emphasizes
material required for speedy op amp design. The ideal op amp equations are developed
in Chapter 3, and this chapter enables the reader to rapidly compute op amp transfer
equations including ac response. The emphasis on single power supply systems forces
the designer to bias circuits when the inputs are referenced to ground, and Chapter 4
gives a detailed procedure that quickly yields a working solution every time.
Op amps can’t exist without feedback, and feedback has inherent stability problems,
so feedback and stability are covered in Chapter 5. Chapters 6 and 7 develop the voltage
feedback op amp equations, and they teach the concept of relative stability and compensation
of potentially unstable op amps. Chapter 8 develops the current feedback op
amp equations and discusses current feedback stability. Chapter 9 compares current
feedback and voltage feedback op amps. The meat of this book is Chapters 12, 13, and
14 where the reader is shown how design the converter to transducer/actuator interface
with the aid of op amps.
The remaining chapters give support material for Chapters 12, 13, and 14. Chapter 18
was a late addition. Portable applications are expanding rapidly and they emphasize the
need for low-voltage/low-power design techniques. Chapter 18 defines some parameters
in a new way so they lend themselves to low voltage design, and it takes the reader
through several low voltage designs.
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