23 Sep
2010
23 Sep
'10
11:01 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-
bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Chuck Guzis
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 10:24 AM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: DIP packages & the 555
On 9/23/10 12:26 AM, Brent Hilpert wrote:
My favorite story about the 555 has nothing to do with its function, but rather its form.
I was working at an electronics store and a customer came in with a desperate need for a
555 (a radio station was off the air until the part was replaced in some critical circuit
that should probably have been redundant in the first place). I fetched our *last* 555
from the warehouse and noted that, in addition to the four legs coming out of each side,
there was one coming out the end! Of course, the jokes immediately started about the male
version of the chip, and we were actually reluctant to sell our 'breeding stock'
555 and speculated on how it had escaped from the 555 ranch. But alas, the customer
really REALLY needed the part, and off it went.... I've never seen another like it -
although to be honest, I haven't expended much (any) energy in looking for one. --
Ian
While looking around for a little about the 8-pin
DIP package, I
checked into the 555, as it was introduced about the same time as
the 8-pin DIP appeared. This site (albeit a 2nd-source, not direct
ref) says the 555 in 8-pin DIP was introduced in 1971 (page 2):
http://semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/Camenzind/Cam
enzind_Index.htm
But what I was surprised about was the statement about the 555 still
selling a billion units in 2003. I thought it had faded from
popularity since the '70/'80's as I can't recall seeing one in a new
product in many years. Apparently I'm not looking hard enough. Where
are all these 555's going?
8 pin DIPs were around in the 60s for linear products. Motorola
referred to them as their "Case 626" and used them for a lot of
consumer products such as the MC1350 IF amplifier. There was even a
4-pin DIP (Case 629) for the MFC4000 series of transistor arrays.
The NE555 for analog-minded folks is a hugely useful IC. Every
couple of months it seems that there's a circuit in EDN or Electronic
Design using one.
I've lately seen one used as a switching boost regulator. I've often
wondered if the NE555 (and 556) isn't the single most popular IC in
history.
--Chuck