amplifier builders guide, hugo gernsback, 1947, 64 pages
from the editors of radiocraft, this practical guide concentrates on the design and construction of audio amplifiers. two parts: the first on amplifier theory and design, the second giving six practical designs to build. talks about phase splitters, feedback, and tone controls, things not addressed in most textbooks.
32mb pdf file
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audels radiomans guide, edwin p. anderson, 1945, 880 pages
an odd book, about 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" and a whopping 880 pages, "covering theory, construction, and servicing including television electronics". it covers everything from sounds waves through basic electronics, pa systems (including a little info on a we theatre amp), transmitters, car and aircraft radio, troubleshooting - you name it, it's in here. not a college text, this looks like it could be a handbook for the radio technician or advanced hobbyist of the 1940's. lots of good vintage info!
41mb pdf file
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basic radio - the essentials of electron tubes and their circuits, j. barton hoag, 1942, 379 pages
another college-level electronics text, this one is "designed for the student with only a limited background in physics and mathematics". covers the basics of ac and dc circuits and radio propagation, then vacuum tubes and circuits that use them. has some information not found on other texts, like high-frequency and microwave radio, transmission line theory, and dc amplifiers. another good text!
15mb pdf file
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basic theory and applications of electron tubes, departments of the army and air force, 1952, 215 pages
this is an excellent, relatively modern (1952) text on vacuum tubes. very practical, not too much math, and it has some very nice illustrations. very specific to tubes, discusses how they work, how they're built, and circuits.
17mb pdf file
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the cathode-ray tube at work, john f. rider, 1935, 336 pages
not obvious until you realize this book pre-dates television, this is really a book about the oscilloscope (called an "oscillograph" back then). talks about how crt's work, how an oscilloscope works, and how to use an oscilloscope to troubleshoot circuits like amplifiers, and to adjust radio transmitters and receivers.
17mb pdf file
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coyne electrical and radio trouble shooting manual, coyne electrical school, 1946, 612 pages
this funky old book is far from an engineering text - rather, it's a bible for the mr. fixit of the 1940's. light on theory with lots of diagrams, covers electrical wiring, ac and dc motors and generators, refrigeration, automotive electricity, and radio troubleshooting and repair. not particularly well formatted or printed, it's a lot of thrown-together info. this is not a great book for tube design, but could be useful for the old radio diagrams, or if you have a 1940's ford v8 with ignition problems.... the best part to me is the electrical dictionary at the end (available to download by itself).
41mb pdf file
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electron-tube circuits, samuel seely, 1950, 530 pages
another college-level textbook on vacuum tubes. covers tube theory, tuned and un-tuned amplifiers, oscillators, and power supplies. some nice details about tube-based voltage regulator circuits, and sections on electronic computing circuits, relaxation oscillators and sweep circuits you won't find in the other texts.
22mb pdf file
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electronic amplifier circuits, joseph petit and malcolm mcwhorter, 1961, 325 pages
as you might guess from the title, this textbook is all about the theory and design of amplifiers. while mostly containing tube circuits it does include some information on those new-fangled transistor things. plenty if math in this one, it concentrates on wide band (e.g., video) amplifiers.
13mb pdf file
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magnetic recording - wire and tape, m. l. quartermaine, 1952, 72 pages
an interesting book about the construction of tape and wire recorders. includes theory and construction details, schematics of record/playback electronics, even info on how to make your own tape heads! thanks to paul reid for the contributed scan!
11mb pdf file
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principles of electricity applied to telephone and telegraph work, a t &t, 1953, 354 pages
this book is "a training course text prepared for employees of the long lines department american telephone and telegraph company". "principles" is a bit of a misnomer - though this book does start out with fundamentals, it quickly dives off into ac circuits, vacuum tubes and amplifiers, and details of telephony. it includes lots of details about telephone and carrier systems, the way they were in the 1950's. good details about things like how audio transformers work, and the correct way to string telephone wires on a pole!
38mb pdf file
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principles of electron tubes, herbert reich, 1941, 398 pages
essentially an abridged version of reich's "theory and applications of electron tubes" (below), this is a college-level text on vacuum tubes. it doesn't have so much math in it to be hard to understand; though it presents plenty of equations, it also shows graphical solutions that the diy'er could use. one of the best books i know of to learn enough about how tubes really work to be able to design with them.
18mb pdf file
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radio amateur's handbook, american radio relay league, 1936, 536 pages
the venerable arrl handbook, 1936 edition. many of us learned all about tubes from this book (ok, in my case, one about 30 years later than this one). practical information on electronic fundamentals and tube circuits, and lots of ham projects - transmitters, receivers, antennas. cool catalog section at the end.
55mb pdf file
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new - the radio handbook, william orr (editor), 15th edition 1959, 810 (!) pages
this is sort of an arrl handbook on steroids. very complete, covering basic theory though practical construction of mostly ham radio equipment, though much applies to any vintage electronic project. has some transistor and semiconductor info but 90% vacuum tube, even a circuit for a tube-based vhf walke-talkie! there are even sections on "high-fidelity techniques" and "electronic computers"! even includes a math section and info on how to set up your workshop (i like the "workshop-in-a-closet"!)
61mb pdf file
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radio engineering principles, henri lauer and harry brown, 2nd edition 1928, 310 pages
here's a book that pre-dates the invention of the pentode... talks about radio theory and propagation, antennas, and telegraphy, then has chapters on the use of the "three-electrode vacuum tube". talks about how a triode works, and how to use it in amplifier and oscillator circuits and in a radio receiver.
13mb pdf file
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radiotron designer's handbook, third edition, p. langford smith, 1941, 352 pages
the quintessential vacuum tube design handbook,. this is the older, and smaller, third edition... at least i didn't have to pay $150 for a book to cut up and scan! covers all the essential of tube electronics design, including the basics, tube theory, load lines, amplifier design, etc.
16mb pdf file
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reference data for radio engineers, federal telephone and radio, 1946, 335 pages
this great book is, well, a reference book for engineers! it contains tons of useful data on vacuum-tube circuits, components, power supplies, acoustics, waveforms, radio propagation, and lots of other things. also includes a lot of mathematical info and tables - even a graphical way to do an fft! the way we did it before the days of pspice and silicon...
9.4mb pdf file
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theory and applications of electron tubes, herbert reich, 2nd edition 1941, 716 pages
if there's one book that will bust my website's bandwidth limits, this may be it. 716 pages of vacuum tube theory, this may be the best book about vacuum tubes. detailed, complete with plenty of math and drawings. covers how tubes work and how to design circuits around them, with chapters on class a/ab1 and ab2/b amplifier design, power supplies, and more!
37mb pdf file
