"Design of Vacuum Tube Amplifiers" Download

randyc · #1 04-20-2010, 04:04 PM

OK, I just don't have the strength to keep on reading and editing this thing. My wife estimates about 350 hours are in it so far and it feels like 350 weeks to me.

Here is the download link for the latest (still incomplete) version of "Design of Vacuum Tube Amplifiers" book. You must be patient during the download - the book is over three hundred pages long and contains MANY illustrations, graphs, schematics and photographs. It's going to take a while to complete !

https://acrobat.com/#d=jRFkKal0BV6s3qRSbDdt-A

You may have to cut and paste these addresses into your browsers window but I checked and both will download without problems.

To make full use of some of the chapters and design procedures, you may want to download this Excel Workbook, containing a number of spreadsheets useful for amplifier signal chain analysis, output stage design, power supply design and hum/ripple decoupling design.

http://www.webfilehost.com/?mode=viewupload&id=3329807

On this site you must wait 30 seconds and stare at their ads before you can click here to download

DISCLAIMER: I assume no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of this material or the use to which it may be put. The material discusses designs of electronic equipment in which hazardous high voltages are used. It is your responsibility to make yourself familiar with these hazards should you attempt to duplicate any of the information contained in this material.

cheers - enjoy, if such a word is appropriate for the subject material.

Scrybe · #2 04-20-2010, 04:37 PM

thanks for posting these randy, awesome resources. appreciated.

krusty · #3 04-20-2010, 07:05 PM

What a fantastic and well-written piece of work! Thank you. I will be spending a lot of time reading it while at work on night shifts later this week (nothing much else to do in the control room of a nuclear station that is shut down for maintenance).

SamBooka · #4 04-21-2010, 08:50 AM

Randy.. do you mind if I post your link in the tele forums? I know a couple of guys who would be very interested in this. (I read a previous draft and was very impressed as well).

Drew

randyc · #5 04-21-2010, 10:56 AM

no problem as long as you copy the above disclaimer and note that the work isn't finished.

Will Chen · #6 04-26-2010, 02:47 PM

Just downloaded and skimming. Absolutely great! Thanks so much. This should be stickied. Mind if I post a link over at my site?

randyc · #7 04-26-2010, 03:20 PM

No problem at all, Will, just duplicate the disclaimer so the ambulance chasers will lose interest.

goshawk · #8 04-26-2010, 04:33 PM

Let me add my thanks. Great stuff. An enormous amount of work, I'm sure, and looks like a real labor of love.

vjf · #9 05-05-2010, 05:06 PM

randyc this is excellent stuff! Thank you for making this available.

I tried to download the Excel Workbook but I got a message that said it has been downloaded the maximum times allowed. Is there another way for me to get this?

randyc · #10 05-05-2010, 06:25 PM

I got the same message when I tried to download - the site apparently is not living up to expectation. Try this link:

Free File Hosting, mp3 file hosting, Host, Online Storage for Music, Videos, and Documents

If the problem persists, PM me with an e-mail address that can accept attachments and I'll e-mail the workbook (it's less than 200KB).

vjf · #11 05-05-2010, 08:06 PM

That worked...thanks!

Looking forward to reading your book. I'm particularly interested in the chapter on the thought process and calculations used when designing an amp.

It will be cool to use an existing design like a Fender 5E3 Deluxe or a Marshall JTM45 and see if they follow some of the thought process and design parameters that you discuss.

I've built a Mission 5E3 kit and I'm thinking about a Metro JTM45 kit next.

I was hoping that your book and spreadsheet tool can show me if it's theoretically possible to modify/design a JTM45 circuit that is lower in power/volume but still retain the same tone.

randyc · #12 05-05-2010, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vjf

..I was hoping that your book and spreadsheet tool can show me if it's theoretically possible to modify/design a JTM45 circuit that is lower in power/volume but still retain the same tone.

It's fairly simple to make modifications that do exactly what you desire. You'll need to read the chapters that deal with screen grid biasing to get a clear understanding of how to do this.

Once you have a basic understanding of the HUGE effect that the screen grids can have on overall performance, you can use the power amplifier spreadsheet to predict the desired output power level (as well as selecting the appropriate output transformer). There is a large selection of output transformers and power supply transformers (with price) on the same spreadsheet.

In the process you will probably find that you can use a lighter (and less expensive) power supply transformer. At the back of the Excel workbook, you'll find common amplifier components, distributors and pricing information. If you delete the quantities indicated in blue text, you can then select the individual parts by typing in the desired quantities and the total cost will be shown.

If I were going to do what you propose I'd also use different tubes (less expensive than the pair of 6L6s - or the European equivalents). The book discusses this as well. So what you'd end up with is the JTM complete front end, tone controls all the way up to and including the phase splitter with a custom output stage and transformer.

Good luck, it will be a fun project - but not inexpensive

vjf · #13 05-06-2010, 08:13 AM

Randyc, thanks for the tips on how to get started with the JTM45 mod and best of luck with finishing the book.

V

abracadabra · #14 05-07-2010, 04:46 AM

- downloaded.

thanks for posting this up randy. very generous.

randyc · #15 05-07-2010, 03:50 PM

You're most welcome. I've been working on the thing for the past couple of days, correcting spelling and grammar errors ... if I feel ambitious I may get around to completing the unfinished two chapters.

Frankly, there's residual information enough for ten more chapters easily - maybe more. But at some point the discussion simply goes beyond my desired readership (I may have already passed that point) and passes into the technical realm.

(Oddly, at the time I was acquiring an education, vacuum tubes were no longer in curricula. It's interesting how much esoteric detritus one casually acquires over a lifetime - some of it actually useful !)

SamBooka · #16 05-11-2010, 09:41 PM

Randy, when you do updates is the link in the first post still valid?

randyc · #17 05-11-2010, 10:59 PM

Drew,

The Adobe website doesn't allow me to keep the original linkage when I make revisions so I've been starting a new thread each time that significant changes have been made.

Incidentally, there must be a few here that occasionally crack open a high-voltage chassis besides you and me. Any suggestions for additions or expansions of existing chapters?

cheers,
Randy

SamBooka · #18 05-12-2010, 08:40 AM

Yeah... but at my advanced age I forget what (it came to me the other day). Let me think about it.

SamBooka · #19 05-12-2010, 08:59 AM

Ok.. it was the EM/RF shielding thing that I was thinking about before.

A blurb on proper shielding would be good. The importance of good lead dress..keeping parasitics to a minimum.. running your filament wires away from hot leads.. keep the earlier gain stages away from the power supply... OT and PT at 90deg from each other.

EDIT: Hit save too soon. Just a couple of pages but anyone who does the math and crunches the numbers correctly will wondery why their ratsnest of an amp squeals and spits and hums..

My 2c

randyc · #20 05-12-2010, 10:50 AM

Great suggestions !

Canis guitarus · #21 07-03-2010, 06:03 AM

Hey just came across your book. My sincere thanks, it is a real gift.

lucroels · #22 07-03-2010, 08:24 AM

Hi,
Just downloaded your book. Great worki
Thank you!
luc

randyc · #23 07-03-2010, 01:39 PM

Here is the link to download the spreadsheets mentioned in the vacuum tube book:

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Here is the latest link to download the book:

https://acrobat.com/#d=UjgTcfpvfqvboIiQLKn5rQ

To those that sent me PM's with questions, I can't provide references for most of the material, I simply can't recall since these are details accumulated over fifty years. (Probably most of the information came from "The Amateur Radio Operator's Handbook" - the versions published in the late 1950's that I used to study as a teenager.)

Some of the approximations dealing with the output power stage can be found in "RCA Receiving Tube Manual, RC-30" which has been widely reprinted and can be ordered from "Antique Electronics". (That organization is also a rich source for NOS vacuum tubes at reasonable prices, incidentally.)

I have no affiliation with the company.

Cheers,
RandyC

randyc · #24 07-30-2010, 09:52 PM

Dang, just got another e-mail noting that the file host site had reached the "allowable download limit" - this has happened about five times !!! The site is seemingly unreliable ... suggestions regarding another (free) file host will be welcome.

I just uploaded the spreadsheets that accompany the book again and here's the link:

Free File Hosting, mp3 file hosting, Host, Online Storage for Music, Videos, and Documents

Sorry about inconvenience,
Randy

martin manning · #25 11-07-2010, 04:02 PM

Hi, first post, nice to be here.

I'm interested in getting a copy of the Excel file that goes with "Design of Vacuum Tube Amplifiers". The link above is not working; apparently over the download limit again. RandyC, or anyone else who has a one, could you e-mail a copy to me?

Thanks,

Martin Manning

stevow · #26 12-15-2010, 11:10 AM

Hello,

I am also encountering the "download limit" error when trying to download the spreadsheet files.

any resolution?

Regards,

randyc · #27 12-23-2010, 11:31 PM

Try these - first is the latest book revision, second is the spreadsheet workbook:

https://acrobat.com/#d=4V0KMuxAaMet6mwFQOfhiA
Free File Hosting, mp3 file hosting, Host, Online Storage for Music, Videos, and Documents

DutchMarco · #28 01-24-2011, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randyc

Try these - first is the latest book revision, second is the spreadsheet workbook:

https://acrobat.com/#d=4V0KMuxAaMet6mwFQOfhiA
Free File Hosting, mp3 file hosting, Host, Online Storage for Music, Videos, and Documents

Hi,

I stumbled upon thisdocument (and site) via the htt[://www.ax84.com/bbs tube gutar amplifier forum, I've succesfully managed to download the pdf, but not the spreadsheet, the site webfilehost does not show me a link to the file. alterntives would be hotfile or rapidshare (or any such site), or you could upoad it to my ftp-site and I'll host it on my webserver for you, if you'd like. No traffic limitations on my site (it's in my own home and uses my private ADSL-connection , hence if there are enormously many downloads, I'll notice it in my available bandwith, but how big could one simple .xls-file be?) I believe the forum lets you send me e-mails, but if it doesn't: here's my address: rpost01.o5@gmail.com (that's zero one dot Oh five)
Thanks in advance!

stephen_w_keller · #29 01-24-2011, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randyc

Dang, just got another e-mail noting that the file host site had reached the "allowable download limit" - this has happened about five times !!! The site is seemingly unreliable ... suggestions regarding another (free) file host will be welcome.

I'd be happy to host these files on my site: Thermionic Info.

I don't provide an automatic upload capability, so you'd have to communicate updates to me via email. The upside is folks won't run into goofy download limits or account requirements.

Stph

lucroels · #30 01-24-2011, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephen_w_keller

I'd be happy to host these files on my site: Thermionic Info.

Stph

That would be nice (if Randy agrees).
I did put the excel-file in my DropBox and passed the link to it a couple of times, but having it at Thermionic would be so much easier for everybody.

Luc (aka lucroels @ AX84)