US Sources for old ICs

Joe> The small surface mount only packages are a BIG problem for Joe> individuals that want to build a single circuit. A friend of Joe> mine designs and builds a lot of circuits commercailly and he's Joe> always raising hell with the IC manufacturers and trying to get Joe> them to produce chips in DIP packages. I keep telling him that Joe> it's hopeless. There's at least one company that builds SMT to DIP adapters, so you can plug SMT packaged chips into DIP prototyping systems and the like. Of course manufacturers don't want to use DIPs. They are electrically inferior. For that matter, they are also obsolete -- if they made DIP packaged chips they would certainly be very low volume products. I understand the preference for DIPs in amateur work, though SMT isn't really all that hard. But I can't imagine any reason for wanting DIPs in new commercial designs. They are bigger, slower, not RoHS compliant, ... paul