When asked, our long-time and current viewers ardently reject us curating a blog or video feed of other peoples' content. Data shows that people are getting bored, or even annoyed with carefully curated, non first-person content -- even on heavy weight platforms such as Tiktok and YouTube.
After considering these thoughts, does a list of books we actually own and love to read offer value & feel acceptable or relatable to you? In a time when reportedly AI companies seem to be buying and destructively scanning rare, older books to teach their LLMs -- old book collecting almost feels urgent.
The best analog electronics books were written when analog-domain ruled electronic design and commerce. Many books lie out of print and are rare & expensive.
You begin by collecting 1 book --- and then remain vigalent to find your next book lurking in some future - often surprising - location. Hopefully at low cost.
1 thing -- unlike scientific papers, many textbooks, or perhaps service manuals, amateur radio and hobby electronics publications are generally not peer-reviewed.
Sadly,even if a book was peer-reviewed, errors may creep in at any stage; for example, reprints by a new publisher may contain entirely new errors in text or schematics/figures.
Is analog electronics dead?
No. Much of analog was good-- and remains good. In many individuals, including young people, analog devices conjour strong feelings and may trigger or convey real emotional experiences. While digital is also great -- digital gear may seem just too convenient, too easy, too fast, and too shallow for some hobbyists.
The original spirit of home built electronics was often tied to cost-containment and 'make-do'. So let us re-use, re-purpose, etc. -- that uncontrolled, exploitive consumerism is a Roman empire.
We encourage people to rediscover the beauty, joy and relevance of analog electronics -- it might be up your alley! Old books are 1 way to learn about analog electronics.
These listed books are books we own & humbly suggest for you to consider. We don't recommend most of our books as they are perhaps too niche. For example, we have 5 math-laden books on PLL design. While we enjoy reading them -- nobody (not even us) makes scratch PLL devices anymore.
Warning -- some of these titles may suffer from sentiment saturation. If a book interests you, please look it up with your favorite search engine. Perhaps an out-of-print book might even be scanned to pdf online? Look around to see. Of course, there is something satisfying about holding a paper copy of a book said at least 1 booklover. Web page linked in the main menu.
Musical Inspiration
band: mary in the junkyard album: role model hermit
Our favorite CD of 2026 (thus far). Strong musicianship and musicality. Great story telling. Fresh sound with strings (viola, cello). See them perform on the KEXP Youtube channel.
Best to you! Enjoy yourself.