Precision Analogue Electronics Consulting
Electronics at the edge of what's measurable.
45+ years designing precision instrumentation, including femtoamp electrometers and photon-counting systems. Full design-through-prototype capability from my UK laboratory. You get tested, characterised hardware — not just schematics.
Expertise
Rare skills for demanding applications
Specialising in the analogue design challenges that most engineers never encounter — and that AI cannot replicate.
Mass Spectrometry Front-Ends
Femtoamp-level electrometers, precision high-voltage power supplies, and low-noise amplifiers for quadrupole and TOF systems.
Photon Counting & PMT Electronics
High-voltage supplies, signal conditioning, and discriminator circuits for photomultiplier tubes and single-photon detection.
Ultra-Low-Noise Design
Sub-microvolt noise floors for sensitive measurement systems. Novel LNA architectures.
High Voltage & High Stability
Multi-kilovolt power supplies with <10ppm stability for detectors, ion optics, and scientific instrumentation.
Hi-Fi & High-End Audio Design
Award winning phonostages, amplifiers, CD players, tuners, headphone amps, DA converters, Stereophile Class-A and Class-C recommended designs.
Full Product Lifecycle
100+ designs from concept through to volume production. Not just prototypes — production-proven, manufacturable products.
Example Work
The kinds of problems I solve
A sample of recent and representative project classes. Most of this work is confidential — client names, dates, and a full engagement history are available on request.
Mass spectrometry detector front-end
Novel ultra-low-noise amplifier for a mass spectrometer detector chain, for a scientific-instruments research laboratory. Designed and SPICE-simulated, then built and characterised on the bench — delivered with a comparative measurement report against the incumbent design.
NIR spectroscopy analogue front-end
High-performance front-end and auxiliary electronics for an NIR spectroscopy application, including a very-low-power 250 V source and precision amplifier. Multiple evaluation units built and characterised; taken from concept through to pre-production prototype.
Quadrupole mass-spec production electronics
Production electronics across the full signal chain for quadrupole mass spectrometers: femtoamp-class electrometer signal chains, high-stability supplies for ion optics, and HV RF drive circuits — including design-for-manufacture, troubleshooting, and yield improvement.
Photomultiplier power & readout
High-stability miniature HV supplies and readout chains for PMT-based detector modules, computer-controlled calibration light sources, and multi-channel data acquisition for X-ray and IR scanning equipment.
Precision voltage & resistance references
Low-drift voltage and resistance reference designs at the ppm level — temperature coefficient and long-term stability characterised in-house against 7.5-digit instrumentation and 10 ppm working standards.
Award-winning audio
50+ audio products taken from concept to volume production as chief engineer, plus the Kora 3T phono stage — Hi-Fi World Product of the Year 2009, and the product this consultancy is named after.
Client names, dates, and a full engagement history are available on request.
The Lab
Design, build, and characterise — under one roof
I deliver tested, characterised prototypes with measured data from my well-equipped UK laboratory. This is the key differentiator for remote work — you get hardware that's been proven on the bench, not just simulated in SPICE.
Capabilities
- ✓ Femtoampere electrometry — Keithley 617 electrometer with Keithley 263 calibrator/source; currents to single-digit fA, resistances to petaohms
- ✓ 7.5-digit measurements (Hioki DM7275) with in-house 10 ppm voltage and resistance standards
- ✓ Several 6.5-digit instruments combined into GPIB automated measurement system
- ✓ Signal, noise and distortion analysis — HP 3563A control systems analyser; two specialist audio analysers
- ✓ GPS-disciplined frequency standard; various oscilloscopes, signal generators, power supplies
- ✓ Prototype construction and rework by hand — evaluation units built, modified, and characterised in-house
- ✓ SPICE simulation with measured correlation
Industries
Where this expertise matters
Mass Spectrometry
Electrometers, ion optics PSUs, detector front-ends
Photon Detection
PMT systems, single-photon counting, optical sensors
Scientific Instruments
NIR spectroscopy, analytical, environmental, and medical diagnostics
Pro Audio & Hi-Fi
Phono stages, amplifiers, low-noise preamps
Get in touch
Let's discuss your project
Whether you need a precision front-end designed, a prototype characterised, or an expert review of an existing design — I'm available for remote consulting engagements from my Cheshire, UK laboratory.
Send a project inquiry
Available on request
Cheshire, United Kingdom
Remote consulting — currently accepting new projects