I just wanted to mention there may be no better way to learn analog electronics than to use a simulator like TI's Tina. One needs to know the basics first like ohm's law and to have a general knowledge of how devices work, but thereafter, the analysis tools a simulator offers will up your knowledge by decades.
I've been a circuit designer by profession for years, even well before the existence of simulation and now I don't know how I could be efficient without it.
I've been a circuit designer by profession for years, even well before the existence of simulation and now I don't know how I could be efficient without it.
I still agree with the fundamental message of the original post: A simulation tool is a great way to further your knowledge of electronics. I couldn't do my job without it either.
TINA-TI is being phased out, so it wouldn't be my first choice if I was wanting to learn simulation from scratch. TI's current favourite is PSpice for TI, which is available as a free download from TI. PSpice is a solid too.
NGspice is another option: https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/ I think it requires you to work from a text file netlist just as we used to do with SPICE3. It's my understanding that it's been integrated into KiCAD, so that could be interesting to look at.
And finally there's QSpice: https://www.qorvo.com/design-hub/design-tools/interactive/qspice It's written by the same guy, Mike Engelhardt, who wrote LTspice. The UI has been updated significantly (thankfully!!). It's not as user-friendly as TINA-TI, but those who remember the SPICE directives will feel at home. That said, the copy-n-paste model import absolutely blew my mind.
I wouldn't put my eggs in the LTspice basket, especially now that Engelhardt is no longer with LT/ADI.
Tom
TINA-TI is being phased out, so it wouldn't be my first choice if I was wanting to learn simulation from scratch. TI's current favourite is PSpice for TI, which is available as a free download from TI. PSpice is a solid too.
NGspice is another option: https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/ I think it requires you to work from a text file netlist just as we used to do with SPICE3. It's my understanding that it's been integrated into KiCAD, so that could be interesting to look at.
And finally there's QSpice: https://www.qorvo.com/design-hub/design-tools/interactive/qspice It's written by the same guy, Mike Engelhardt, who wrote LTspice. The UI has been updated significantly (thankfully!!). It's not as user-friendly as TINA-TI, but those who remember the SPICE directives will feel at home. That said, the copy-n-paste model import absolutely blew my mind.
I wouldn't put my eggs in the LTspice basket, especially now that Engelhardt is no longer with LT/ADI.
Tom