Table Of Content
The Forrest Mims
Engineer’s Notebook
Forrest M. Mims, Il]
‘Technology Publishing
Eagle Rock, Virginia
Copyright 1992, “986, 1882, 1979 by Fort ML Mims
‘Aibights reserved urier the Lite States Copyright Ac of 1978,
ISBN: 1-878707-03-5
Library of Congress Catalog Gard Number:
91-7457
Printed in tha Uno Stats of America
NOTE: Na citi ir this book istered! cr uke in any e-suopart
system. or in any appicrtion whch lis or preaery may be sian to
inury tig your regponeslky wo detoraine fuse, manutaciue, oF eal
‘of any device ioarparating ane or ore ec in this Bonk ininges on
iy patents, copyrights, or cto ight.
High Tex: is arigistered rarenrk of High Tax PLU cations Ino
HighText
publications ine.
2.0, Box 1489
Solana Beach, GA 92075
CONTENTS
Foreword
Ievoduction
‘About the Auinor
Parts Sources.
FEVIEWING THE BASICS
OIGITAL INTEGRAIED CIRCUIFS
MOS*CMOS Integrated Circus
Gate Packages
RAMs (merry chips)
Sequetilal Logic
Combinational Logic
Timabase
Nols Ganeralor
TILLS (tegrated Clout
Gate Packages
Combinational Logic
Saquentlal Loge
LINGAR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
‘Vonage Regulators
Operational Amis
LED Flasher Chip
LED Dounat Drivers
CD Clock Maule
Tinare
Phase-Lockad Loops
Pushbutton Tone Moxa
‘Votage/Dela Conversion
‘uo Amott
‘Sound Elects Chips
Cptolelators
Index of integrated Circus
Inox of iret Appsctions
FOREWORD
1s areal shame that tho millions who have read Forest's ances,
column, and books over the years have never had tha chance to gel to
‘ow him personaly. Ive been tucky enougi te be abe to call him my
Wend for eoveralyeate. Ths book is special fo me bacause he lst
‘ecsion of this book was tha reason wit met and got io kro Foes.
‘iat met Fomastin 1678. | cant recal the exact dae, bul hwas a
Toaisomoly not miz-sumsmer day n Fert Wort, Tesas. [was working at
ado Shacks nallonal headquarters In ther tehical publcatons
dopanmont. My bosa, Dave Gunzel, nad spearheaded an efi or
Forrest o generate a book at C applications cccuts that were sia to
Frest's actual working laboratory notebooks, Forest waa carouly
prepeing each page by hand on traneperenl Mylar ees using a ie
{ip pen. monitored his progress eagany, and one day Dave fold me
ha Forract Mirus would ba arriving the folowing week wih the lac of
bis Nytr originals
‘wou! (was going to realy meet Forest Mimal | ado' seen a photo
‘of Foreal before, nr had Dave tokd mo much about naw fe oaked oF
acted, (In retrogpec, | now realize thal was deiberate on Dave's par
the wanted me t0"décover" Font on my own.) Thad my own rental
picture of Forest, though. Obviously, a erlousfetiow, Anyona who
‘came up wil all thoge electronic outs coukint have much time for
(aughter, Probably sharply focused and rot iterestegin anything other
than electrons. An older geriiaman,cartany, wih a wile beard and 3
fondness for jaciets wih elbow patches. A pipe and sligit Germanic.
‘accort were also bkety. Ho woukl probably think was really stupa
‘ot have anol pattonae wth me.
‘The Bg Gay quickly arved, Forest was due in thst aternoon. hac
carefuty rehearsed my walcoring epeech: “Helo, Mr. Mls. Is
Cerin good to see you. Would you Ike an ashay fot your pipe?"
‘was alone in the technical publetions ofthat ateragon wien
someone 1 dnt racogniza stuck nis head ino the office doorway. He
1926 wearing normal business ala, sled easly, spoke witha sight
“Texas accent, and wae locking for Gave Gunzal. On brother, | hough,
nejner new omployos who's oe! in Tandy Cantar Doss this guy
‘now that Forrest Mims iz golng 19 show up this afernoan anc | dom
have any ti fe waste on fim??? | muméled someling about Dave
bbsng gone fora faw minutos and thal we ware expacting a visitor later
tha allornaan.
“Tha etarger eeoraed apologetic. He cstv wand to waste any of my
time of Dave's we were expecting Someone inporan Ne SSK; Na jue)
‘needed a tad toa pouple of malters quickly andl wouti' Bother us
any furor. He approached my desk and extended his andl toward io.
“Hi he asi, ‘Tm Fora Mims: you must ba Hany.
| dort recall my reply, but! think h was ine unrietakable sound of
seft-mertfcaion
arrest had work to-do and wondered if could help. He aged to
pray tho Nplar sheets with protacva coating nafore luring thom
‘vero us for pining, We commandeered a vacant area ofthe Ih
new Tandy Cenist, spread aut the Mylar sheets, and sport he next
couple of hours empying aerosol cans of caarlaequor while Gscussing
‘he'state ofthe uriveree.
“That aftemoon, | discovered what remarkably unprotenious guy
Forrest fs. Here was one quy who had eared the nh to a massive
‘990, yot he was staighfrward, down to Earth, and almost skeptical of
hig echievernente. Cur convereation ranged from electronica We lasers to
polos ta Texas hislory to computers ta ragin to... wel, you rams
i thas incredible how many subjects Forest vas intrested In, and
how insatiable ts curosiy was about everyting inthe natural word,
By the one of tat afternoon, | fet asi had known Forrest for years
'Albt has happened since then. | evertuady lek Texas to become a
bk eaitor in Now York and, a ew years afer thet, movedta Calforia
where | bacanie a founecing partner in HighTaxt Pubisations, Through
ut, Forest tomainad a valued tard! and fstad oormdart The ldall-
‘tIc9 and insight tal aro apparent in nis cuts axtonde fa mary 01M
4roas, anche has a wi and sence of kony thal aro dalicious. Whila we
‘ont gat fa spend much ime physical in cach other's company, 1S
Fara week whe we dor’ Rave a least two or irae lanai tolephena
conversations. As tachnolegy has advanced, so have ou modes of
inlgraetion; we often axchange a couple ol faxes per day on variut
subject.
‘We ho ta that the book we worked on back on that hot suramer
altemcon in 1878 would ao onto eel over 750,000 coples Ins varioue
dons, Some ofthe pages we worked an back in 1979 appear in is
book, atestmory to the enduring qualiy and ‘ckevance of Forrest's
‘work, For readers auch ae yoUrsef, thls book vl be a valuable retr-
ance te comampoeary, real-woed IC applications, For me I brings Back
tol good memoriae. Ard, no, Forrest doesn smoke a pipe, eS
‘waar jackets wi elbow patches, and doesnt have a boar
amy L. Hats
INTRODUCTION
‘Sine my stuaant cays at Texas A&M Uniarsty have kopt a series of
Ieboraory nalatooks, fh ese notebooks | record data about expat
moni, measuremeris, and new ideas, Also included are many electronic
‘eeu aiagrams. Dave Gunze|, fornory tie drectr of ecnelcal publea-
Hons at lado Shack, took an terest in ry notebooks Inthe mic-4870s
and suggested that Fadio Shack might semeday went lo publish a book
Of eleconic creutls based an their Rang-arwrn formal. Several yenrs
tater, Radio Shack asstaned me to produce Enainesr's Hoiebonl 2 126-
page book of elactrare oicuits. Tha hack soon became a Radio Shack
Dastsaler. As new imegrated ckouis were aided o Rao Shacks
product doe and otners were dropped, | revised the book as nacessary
‘ale, ado Shack authorized me fo do an edition af he Book for
MoGrave- Hi,
“This revised eon for HighText Fubloations represents tha best and
‘mos! inioreuing Greats rom a previous eaters,
“The inlogratad cial described in is back cornain among the nos!
poplar aver inecuosd, Most ol thom are rectly available trom Rac
‘Shack, oletronie pare supper, and mail-order daers. Magazines
Such as Radio-clecronics cary a om mal- order IC caters. A tow of
the chips are speciale and nding saurces tor them maybe mere
‘taut, Four athe devices—Mo CEX-4000, 850240, POIN-I61, and
$80-1024—may be avatablo only rom dealer In sump ate discaie-
tied ICs. However, the overwhelming majorly of chips desorzed in this
book ara readily avalabe from many diferent sources, in tac, prices tor
Some of me move common devices have fallen sustartly since the fist
‘dion of ths book. Some are avalabls today for penries!
Most of Ihe part nambers given for the integrated circuits in this book.
are generic, and various manotacturers may a3 acetonal ltrs or
rufebars or avon use a completely diferent umber. For exemple, the
4011 Isa quad of CMOS NAND gates. An "A" eilix (40114) meane tis
chip can eparate tom ato 12 Volt eupply AB" sufi (40118) means
‘he chip can oparate from a 3-o 18-voh supely. The high-voltage version
he chip by forthe mast common, National Semiconductor adds a CD
Pict ts verlons of the 40118 {CD401 18), whale Motoraka ads an
‘IGT pri (C1401 118). Nevoshless, both chips are functionally
‘ortcal
or aadiional réommation about chip idantticaion and specications,
‘no ha data books published by the various Inlagratad Creult manulactut-
cs Thape beaks ae avatable drecly am manufacturers of integrated
‘suis nat fom inayat suppty companies hat represent inograted
‘eu manuactutets. They are also avaiale rom ome malborder
‘skedraniet pars dealers.
Forest M. Mims I
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Forest Mins has been an slectonics nabbyist since bulalng 2 on
tube aio kit athe age of 11. Flowing gracvalion rom Taxaa A&M
University in 1986 and serve as a phefoinaligence office in Vielnarn,
fe worked for thveo years wan high-powered lagers, sol state Inet:
‘mentation, and Wained monkeys wid tho Al Forca Waapone Laboratory
in Now Mexico. Sinoa becoming a fubtine wter In 1970, has waton
Several undrad magazine aricwe and scholarly papers. His aricles|
and columns have appeared in vaually every sigmiicam slectronics
magazine, mebding Popular Electronics, ladto-Electronic, and Modern
Eleavonics. Hi aries on other seiertiic tics have sppoared ins
‘wig range of ether publication, intuding National Geographic Word,
Soince Digest. Highights for Chisten, ane Sciontte American. His
‘exitosal epbols have included an assignment am ine Natanst
Enquiterto evaluate the tensity ot eavesdropping on Howard Hughes
by laser (twas possible, but Fortes dectned to take pan) and geting
topped by Scion American ae their The Amateur Scien olurt
‘ist because he acted to the magazine's editors that he waa bor
‘gain Chnlan. His book see lta inte rions, and is Key the
og widely 0d elecronice rier i the world
arrests currenly busy ag ha founding adtr of Scionce PROBE! a
ew magazine simed a1 amatout selena. In i sie, Forest i
‘eraalingthe gor of magazine that ho wichos had been vase in his
youth while acquiarg a new understanding ol tha stations ot bag
fn eater Ho stl Keens Up a hele pace et electronics and science
‘exparimeraation sng wring.
Forest and his wita Minic have thee chien, and they cureily
live nthe Texae countryside near San Antonio, They ate ative in
‘church aetvdes, ard Fonest fs @ Baplst deacon. He has his alice and
lscironics lab in an old restored farmhouse acer to his hore
PARTS SOURCES
“The chips and relaled componanis (raisons, capaciors, ic)
sed inthis took are avalable Irom a vara of sources chiding
lecronica stores (such as Dacx Sm laconic In Australia and Oa
Feld stores In New Zealand), anvartses in slectonice magazines, are
ingudtial electonies supplies. Some chips—such as he SN7GA77N,
'SN7648BN, and SAD-10244—arp abil “Yarer” andl you may nave To lok
for them at companiss epecialiing in suppus and <isconlinuad dovicus.
Manufacturers of iiograted cous publish ‘dala shoete” giving
{ha bare-bones specticatons fora chip and appicalons notes” tna give
~addilonal rformation, nckidng clrull schemas using the chip. These
‘canbe obiained by conlacing the natinat hoadguarters of tho chip
‘manvlacturer ortheirneatest sales ofc,
“The manufacturer ot an INeqrated coulis ientied bya prflc
{infront ot tne actual past rumiver, Far axample, "L781" and "CTT"
‘would both indicate the device was the comet 741 operational arpior
fund on pages 89 1 96 of his book, However, he "LM" would Indleate
Ie device was marulacturad by National Semiconductor while the "MC"
‘would denote a device manutacured by Motarols. Here are some
common prfizes ane manufacauters
AD. Analog Dovloos Mi Mteubishi
‘am Advanced Mero Davicas MB Fultsu
2c Sony MC Motorola
GA RCA now Haris) Mal Motorola
CD RCA now Hams) NE. Signetics
Cx Sony PM Hreciion Monoliives
OM National Sambonaucter = TTostiba
F Faenic (now TL_Texas instruments
National Someoneiuciog TMS Toxas Instumants
FSS Ferran XR. Exar
HA Hare NPR NEG
HA. Hilachi
HD. tachi
HG Hitachi
HE Haris
IR Shap
KA. Semoung
LF National Semiconauctor
LA. National Semseondictor
LU Linear Technology
REVIEWING ThE BASICS
INTRODUCTION
vean T use 2 0-22 gP capacitor
instead of a 0.01 pY unite”
"Is it okay to substitute @
12,000 ohn resistor for =
15,000 ohm unit?"
This sention will tackle these
common quevtions and many othece.
Manter then, aad you Will be
well erevared to tackle the
Circuits in this book.
RESISTORS
Revixcora Limit tho Slow of
elestrical current. A resistor
has a resistance (R) of 1 ohn
aba current (2) of 1 ampore
flows through it when a poven=
thal aifterence (E} of 1 volt
is placed across it. 7 olher
word
wor re Eon) Baan
T
These kandy formulas form obm's
lax. Nemorize thom. You will
ase’ then often.
Resistors ara identified by a
coler coder
to
100
1,000
19/000
100,000
1,008,000
10,000,090
200,aan,000
none)
A fourth eplor band may be pre~
sent. Tt specifies the tolerance
of the resistor. Cold is ¢ 58
and silver is + 10%. Wo Lourth
bund aeans + 208.
Since ao resistor hae a perfect
tolerzace, it's often okay to sub-
stitute realstors, Por example,
i€}s alnost alvays okay to use a
1. resistor in place of a 2K
wait. Just try to stay within
1-203 of the specified value.
What does K mean? It's short for
2/009. 20K means 24 x 1,000 or
26,000 ohms. 'e short for meg-
ont ur 1,000,000 ohms. ‘Therofore
2 2.2¥ resistor han a zesistance
oF 2,209,000 okns.
Resistors «biel resist lets of
currest aust ke able to dissipare
the heat that's produced. Always
use resistors wath the epecified
power rating. so powar rating
specified? Ther it's vevatly okay
9 use 1/4 or 1/2 wate units.
Almost every electronic circuit
uses resistors. Here are three
gf the most inportant app! ications
for resistors:
1, Limit currert to Lens, transis~
tors, speakers, ete.
2, Voltage division. For instance:
the voltage at ? is
Ix K2. 1 meane Lhe
eurrene through J] and
2. $0.1 = 10/ (RL + Re)
or 0,005 amperes.
Therefore, ? = (9.005)
x (1000) ox & volts.
Mote that the total
resistance sf RT and
2 is simply Rl + 72.
Tats rule provides &
bandy trick for making
cuslom resistances.
