Mims Circuit Scrapbook V.II (Paperback)

~ Forrest Mims (Author) "With the availability of literally hundreds of different kinds of integrated circuits, it's common to design even the simplest circuit around one or more ICs..." (more)
Key Phrases: window intrusion alarm, event failure alarm, trimmer resistors, Radio Shack, General Electric, Color Computer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here's a real hands-on book for the tinkerer, filled with all sorts of interesting and useful circuits."
--Popular Communications

"If you do any kind of real-world interface or embedded systems work, don't miss this one."
--PC Techniques -- Review

Review

"Here's a real hands-on book for the tinkerer, filled with all sorts of interesting and useful circuits."
--Popular Communications

"If you do any kind of real-world interface or embedded systems work, don't miss this one."
--PC Techniques

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Newnes; Volume II edition (September 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878707493
• ISBN-13: 978-1878707499
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #690,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little book, October 19, 2001

By	paul (Santa Barbara, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forrest Mims Circuit Scrapbook, Vol 1 (Paperback)

Forrest Mims is surely the master for explaning things to the average electronics hobbyist. His hand-sketched drawings and list of interesting applications are a delight to view. I highly recommend this book. However, there are a number of things within it that are simply outdated. For example, I couldn't find one circuit that used a single microcontroller. There are also some obselete projects, such as stop watches that use numerous old logic IC's. In such cases, microcontrollers would be a better approach. Aside from this fact, there is a lot that can be learned from this book.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Errors, Omissions and Typos, January 19, 2005

By	P. Berman "pmb2" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Forrest Mims Circuit Scrapbook, Vol 1 (Paperback)

I purchased this book based on others previously written by Mr. Mimms. My old collection consisted of his 1980 edition of the Engineer's Notebook series and the Integrated Circuit Projects mini books previously available from Radio Shack. There always seems to be some overlap with his books. I was attempting to update my library since I had not been involved in circuit building for a while. I DO regret purchasing this book. As the title implies, this book should have remained his scrapbook. It contains typos, incomplete info and contradictions with his other published books while using some of the same IC's and circuits. As a result, some circuits don't work properly or not at all. One such example on page 129, the schematic of the general purpose amplifier. He has pin 1 of the 741 op amp as the output to the 386 chip. It should be pin 6 on the 741 chip (output). I attempted the circuit with his pinout and it would never work. Pin 1 is the offset null. Pin 6 is the output of the op amp. Other books of his state the 741 can use a single polarity power supply for non voice purposes and yet this same circuit uses such. He states the same circuit can be used with several type microphones or sensors etc. If used with a condenser mike it cannot be used without additonal parts.

5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't get any better than this, December 1, 2008

By	Van W. Wolverton "hen3ry" (Alberton MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought my first Forrest Mims book a few decades ago because it was readable, accurate, and fairly priced (we usually have to pick any two, but hot all three). After a long hiatus, I'm trying to kick-start my electronics knowledge and skills, and there's no better place to go than his works. To get the most out of this book you should have a basic understanding of electronics and get your hands dirty building some of the circuits on a breadboard. If you meet those minimal requirements, you can't go wrong buying this book.