Lab Manual for Electronics, 1st edition

The emphasis is first on understanding the characteristics of basic circuits including resistors, capacitors, diodes, and bipolar and field effect transistors. The students then use this understanding to construct more complex circuits such as power supplies, differential amplifiers, tuned circuit amplifiers, a transistor curve tracer, and a digital voltmeter. In addition, students are exposed to special topics of current interest, such as the propagation and detection of signals through fiber optics, the use of Van der Pauw patterns for precise linewidth measurements, and high gain amplifiers based on active loads.

• Application of basic principles to create useful instruments.

  • At the end of the first semester the student builds a transistor curve tracer, and at the end of the second semester a digital voltmeter. This is a very strong lesson that “black boxes” are not to be feared, that one can not only understand but actually build what is in them, instilling a high level of confidence.

• Organized as a series of labs, of increasing difficulty and complexity, each of which can be completed in two hours.

  • Simplifies course logistics.

• Some fairly sophisticated material included.

  • Gives students an advantage when encountering similar devices later in their careers.

• PSpice assignments.

  • The student gains familiarity with PSpice and uses it to compliment experimental results.

• Review Questions—Nontrivial questions are scattered throughout the laboratory experiments, and are to be addressed in the laboratory report.

  • Forces the students to think about what they are doing, and not to simply “take data,” and they encourage the student to try related experiments rather than to just follow the steps.