Electronics Workbench is billed as the electronics lab in a computer by its creators, Interactive Image Technologies, LTD, 700 King Street W, Suite 815, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2Y6.
It comes in three main versions, an MSDOS version, a Windows version, and a Mac version. The windows version reguires an IBM AT or PS/2 or compatible computer with an 80386 CPU or higher. A math coprocessor is optional. The machine must have Windows version 3.1 or higher and Windows compatible system hardware. It must have a least 2 megabytes of random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, and Microsoft compatible mouse and installed mouse driver.
The program comes on three 3.5″ compressed disks so there must be several megabytes of free space available on the hard disk. The installation itself is quite easy, just put in the disks when asked for them and let the install program run. However, if you want to take it off or move it to a different directory, you must use the uninstall program included.
Electronics Workbench is an electronics lab in a computer. You can easily build an analog or digital circuit schematic, attach simulated test instruments, and turn on the power to see how it works. Circuit behavior is simulated realistically, and the results are quickly displayed on: the multimeter, oscilloscope, Bode plotter, logic analyzer, or whatever instruments you have attached to the circuit.
Electronics Workbench has two modules, one for analog circuits and one for digital The modules are separate but similar – once you have become accustomed to one, you will quickly feel comfortable using the other. As its name implies, Electronics Workbench is modeled on a real electronics workbench. The large central workspace is like the breadboard, the parts bin, runs along the right side, and the test instruments are stored in a shelf along the top. Your build and test circuits entirely on the workspace using the mouse and menus. Everything you need is readily at hand.
Defective parts, limited access to instruments and the possibility of accidents are part of life in a real electronics lab. Electronics Workbench not only removes these disadvantages, it provides powerful computational tools which go beyond what is found in a real lab.
It is cost effective. Equipping an electronics workbench or laboratory can be expensive. Electronics Workbench simulates a lab at a fraction of the cost. And the endless supply of unbreakable components reduces the ongoing cost of materiais.
It is a time saver. Building and testing circuits using Electronics Workbench is amazingly fast. If you have limited access to a real electronics lab, you can make the most of it be designing and testing circuits first with Electronics Workbench.
It is powerful Since circuit behavior can be represented by mathematical models, and computers are good at math, using computers to simulate the activity of circuits makes a lot of sense. You can get accurate results quickly for most circuits. Plus, you will be able to use a Bode plotter (for frequency response plotting) and a logic converter (for conversion of truth tables and Boolean functions) which go beyond the capabilities of real test instrument.
It is accurate. Real components often do not have the values they are supposed to have. For example, a 10K resistor is not exactly 10K and two “identical” transistors may not be exactly the same. In Electronics Workbench, components are ideal, (if you want them to be) so the simulated values are the same as your calculated values.
If you are mainly interested in electronics theory, or if you do not have access to an electronics laboratory, Electronics Workbench can replace a real electronics workbench. But for hands-on experience, you will want to use it in conjunction with a real lab.
Even if all you want to do is prepare circuit schematics, you can save time bv creating them with Electronics Workbench. You can then copy the screen onto the Windows clipboard, and use it in another application, such as on ihe next page of this review.
Unfortunately there just is not a program which will even come close to doing all these things on our computers.