Usually targeted at audio applications, these circuit blocks find homes in all types of designs. Here’s a quick study of their operation and properties. Two of the most often used amplifier building ...

The circuit in Figure 1 sinks a constant current (ICE3) through Q3’s collector and emitter. This design is balanced so changes in Q3’s base-emitter voltage (VBE) don’t affect the current sink’s ...

Sometimes I wish FETs had become practical before bipolar transistors. A FET is a lot more like a tube and amplifies voltages. Bipolar transistors amplify current and that makes them a bit harder to ...

Immediately, I learned that the common base configuration gain was 6db lower than the common emitter. This blew my mind. Then I started checking input resistance and was shocked at how low it measured ...