Reading or Experiencing? Gaining Electronic Know-How from the PC / Home

There can be no doubt that education can be strenuous and time consuming, and often also expensive. But what about the possible of using a PC in order to make learning more effective? A number of simple education programs have been available for quite some time, e.g. for school mathematics, foreign languages, typewriting, etc. Commercially available PC encyclopedias such as Microsoft Encarta have a similar goal. Now the advance of PC technology - with CDROM, sound card, 32-Bit Windows and good software - is about to make textbooks on electronics an anachronism. Let´s take a guided tour along with the authors through the first English language version of the popular European electronic-encyclopedia ELEKTA.

It should be mentioned beforehand that no program can absolutely reduce the time required for learning or teach you while you sleep. Often it is the case that information must be reflected on and allowed to sink in over time. With respect to the hardware be aware that it isn’t much fun to try and use this type of modern software with a small 14-inch monitor and standard 640x480 resolution. And unlike a book, at this point in time it isn’t practical to take a PC everywhere. Despite these "drawbacks," ELEKTA has the distinct advantage that you can immediately apply what you have learned, and have fun doing it, learning is not everything (figure 1)!

Figure 1 : ELEKTA features also an interactive math program and sound examples

ELEKTA is an established product in Europe - the preceding version ELEKTA 2.0 received praise in its reviews [1,2]. The heart of ELEKTA Professional is an encyclopedia on electronics with now over 1000 pages. A number of step-by-step tutorials are integrated into the program as well. As far as utilization is concerned, who isn’t familiar with these types of situations: 1) A formula has been derived and although the derivation appears clear enough, the application remains somewhat of a mystery, or 2) A topic seems to make sense while the professor is lecturing, but thinking about it an hour later results in a number of questions. A discussion with other students fortunately shows that you are not alone. Good books of course provide example calculations or graphics, and at college you have labs and tutorials, but the critical step to a real world problem - in hardware or software - is difficult. A PC encyclopedia is not state of the art if it is only a copy of a book. If that is the case, it quite often can be less helpful than the original. Fortunately, ELEKTA offers a great degree of interactivity: In most cases, a programmable formula plotter is made available rather than a simple fixed graph. Circuits are not only explained, they can be designed and simulated immediately. Helpful tools such as specialized calculators - including graphical output - are available for most topics. Not only the basics are covered, but also more specific topics. Data sheet examples and electronic data books (e.g. for analog and digital ICs from Texas-Instruments) are also presented.

A standard PC with MS Windows 95/NT4 or higher is required for ELEKTA Professional. The program is not only for beginners or students, but also for experienced professionals. This is the source of the high hard disk space requirement (about 90 MBytes). This is a reflection of the fact that real-life design situations are not solved as easily as like simple textbook problems. They include real circuits with all their non-ideal elements. The large number of covered topics, the features and the flexibility are the key points if the software is to be applicable to actual practice. In order to bridge the gap between basics and specific knowledge, it is very important that the user can easily locate the information needed. Searching in ELEKTA is very effective because there are two search functions (one for over 2500 key words and another for full text search), also many hyper text links are included (figure 2). This is similar to the World Wide Web, but much faster and better sorted. The 50 page user handbook provides additional support.

Figure 2 : The encyclopedia as the command center

Workhorse

There is evidence throughout ELEKTA that it e conceived for operating on a computer and not as a printed book: there are high quality images - a missing zoom function would be nice to have at times - and a large number of interactive components. The latter is quantified by the over 35 additional executable programs. These special integrated tools perform many calculations which would be wearisome and difficult to perform by hand. By using the tools, time can be saved and the focus set on circuit design. By evaluating alternatives faster, the enhanced design process will often result in better solutions. Even more important: The development process is not only faster, it allows more insight!
All basics such as Ohms Law, voltage dividers, transformers, RC and LC elements, op-amps and transistor circuits, etc. are covered. Similar programs have been known since the good old DOS days, but ELEKTA ‘s tools feature true Windows functionality. This includes copying to the clipboard, printing, graphics, bitmap export, initialization files etc. and many more covering more difficult topics. Some highlights are e.g. the programs for designing active filters, for transforming two-ports, for noise calculations and for synthesizing matching networks. It will take some time to even have a quick look at all the supplementary tools. They are easy to find though, either by the Tool menu or context related to the matching chapters of the encyclopedia. One example is ESTATIK, which calculates ideal plate capacitors. But ESTATIK also allows for non-ideal capacitors in a typical IC technology, accounting for their stray capacitances and series resistance. There is even a feature for "playing" : ESTATIK also performs electrostatic field calculations of point or line charges, resulting in some nice plots (figure 3).

Figure 3 : Fun factor : Accurate field calculation with ESTATIK

Total Simulation

It is a pretty obvious step to examine basic electronic circuits using a simulator, but it is also very effective. The user can alter the circuits or can apply other signals and instantly see the response. ELEKTA uses the PSpice Design Center and APLAC (evaluation versions V8.0 and V7.3). Both are well-known, user-friendly and extremely powerful (analyses of all kind, pcb layout, many post-processing features, etc.). Over 200 examples are available. APLAC is used on special topics like optimization, mathematics, RF or system simulation. The evaluation version of a program called SSPICE is also included. It performs symbolic linear circuit simulation for circuits up to ten nodes and eliminates many hand calculations. Also worth mentioning: ELEKTA offers the possibility to create your own SPICE models for circuit simulation based on data sheet values. This function is especially useful for bipolar transistors (figure 4). In addition to the examples and modeling background, there are also helpful hints (on convergence problems, scattering parameters, etc.) and some tutorials (simulation for beginners, create your own simulators using Pascal, etc.). The many additional tools allows the creation of complete circuits. Both routine daily electronic work and the solving of difficult problems will be easier using ELEKTA.

Figure 4 : Circuit simulation including modeling (here PSpice and MBJT)

Summary

With over 1000 equivalent book pages in the encyclopedia portion ELEKTA Professional ($99 from Noble Publishing, for further information and to download example tools see http://www.noblepub.de) is comparable to many text books in quality and size. It offers an array of additional features which make this knowledge-based system exciting for both beginners, hobbyists, students and professionals. It can undoubtedbly be a valuable tool in daily electronic work.

[1] „Elektronikers Helferlein", ct´ 6/1998, p. 284ff
[2] „Elektronik-Wissen: Zwei Mausklicks zum Know-How", Funk 3/1999, p. 48ff

ELEKTA Tools

Along with the encyclopedia and circuit simulation portions, the over 35 additional tools form the backbone of ELEKTA Professional. There are many applications for all programs in routine electrical engineering work, and many of the tools have additional features not found in other programs. Here a more detailed look at two of them: DBRECHNE is quite simple and performs decibel calculations and the powerful ANPASS which synthesizes matching networks. Like most of the tools each has its own topic, but there is not always a sharp separation and often there are links between them. This reflects that in typical real-world problems the topics often overlap.

DBRECHNE lets you convert between voltages, currents, and levels (and vice versa), which is often necessary in AF and RF systems. The tools start up with the values of preceding session (because they are stored in an INI file) and they can be modified by directly entering the input edit fields or by sweeping a parameter using the spin buttons. As a related topic DBRECHNE also calculates the power efficiency of amplifiers. Thus questions such as "How much is PAE reduced by introducing a 0.5dB insertion loss at the output or by having a 0.1V voltage drop in the supply?" can be adressed. Also available are links to other related tools, e.g. for calculating voltage dividers or matching networks.

ANPASS allows the design of a multitude of matching networks. The user has only to determine the load and generator impedance, and parameters like frequency and bandwidth and the circuit will be synthesized via analytical formulas and internal optimization by pressing the OK button. A graphical output for the frequency response is also available, and related topics such as resistive damping sections or calculating the optimum load impedance of power amps are included.

Figure 1 : DBRECHNE

Figure 2 : 2nd page of DBRECHNE and link to ANPASS

Overview of the ELEKTA Tools

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Copyright © 2000 Stephan Weber. All rights reserved.
Version: May 23, 2000.