
555 timer teardown: inside the most popular IC (2016) - isleofvoid
http://www.righto.com/2016/02/555-timer-teardown-inside-worlds-most.html
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andrewwharton
There’s also some fantastic videos explaining the inner workings of the 555
timer (from a practical perspective) in this series on building a clock module
for a breadboard computer -
[https://eater.net/8bit/clock](https://eater.net/8bit/clock)

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garaetjjte
Is there source for 'most popular IC', or this is just another urban legend? I
don't know many products that would require timing, but don't have some
microcontroller. I would rather bet that eg. 7805 regulator is used much more.

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areoform
Yes!

> Since the introduction of the 555 by Signetics in 1972, this integrated
> circuit has outsold all other IC types by a wide margin, with over 1 billion
> units sold worldwide in 2003 alone.

[http://www.semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/C...](http://www.semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/Camenzind/Camenzind_Index.htm)

It’s what we used as a starting point in 2005. It's the "Hello World" of
electronics, and seemingly a commonality across the world. I love this IC
because it is so simple, predictable, and understandable; the perfect jumping
off point to learn electronics.

~~~
panpanna
I would like to challenge that!

Consider something like the 741. In fact, let's consider the single opamp IC
family against the 555 family (including 556 and the rest).

I bet you 55x is nowhere as popular as those.

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JKCalhoun
Honestly, if it's between the 741 and 555, let's just call it a draw and have
a drink together. Shall we?

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kjs3
Skol!

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JKCalhoun
Takes me back...

As a hobbyist, I loved Forrest Mim's mini-notebooks you could purchase from
Rat Shack:

[https://archive.org/details/electronics_-_Forrest_Mims-
engin...](https://archive.org/details/electronics_-_Forrest_Mims-
engineers_mini-notebook_555_timer_circuits_radio_sha)

~~~
kjs3
I learned so much from those Mim's books. When I was a EE undergrad I could
take the theory and look at how a real engineer did things and often go
"oh...I see".

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timonoko
I do remember time when 555 was too expensive and exotic for everyday use.
There was standard way to implement same functionality with NANDs using all
the gates in SN7400, but cannot find it now in the Interwebbs. Especially when
Russians started to make 7400 look-a-likes with 2 millimeter pin spacing.

~~~
kjs3
You could implement some types of multivibrators with NANDs, and oscillators
with pretty loose specs, but I'm not sure you could do everything that a 555
could do. The 555 definitely had more precision. But people do forget what
could be done with a couple of very simple gates.

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dekhn
Recently I was using an arduino to generate a PWM signal to dim a light in
response to a potentiometer. I was looking to reduce the complexity of the
circuit (removing the unnecessary microprocessor). My first thought was "hmm,
I wonder if this is why the 555 exists?"

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dang
Discussed at the time:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11140981](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11140981)

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jstanley
This is an excellent article. I learnt more about IC design/implementation
from this article than from any other I have seen.

It even has an interactive tool where you can click on a component on either
the die shot or the schematic and it shows which parts correspond to each
other.

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abhgh
This was part of an educational kit I played with, as a kid: Chip-Chap [1].
Was too young to understand the "how", but getting things to work by following
the manual was an absolute delight!

[1]
[http://hopesprogramkits.tripod.com/products/products_electro...](http://hopesprogramkits.tripod.com/products/products_electronicskit.html)

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ncmncm
To me the biggest surprise was the designer's embarrassment, and the failure
of a re-designed successor.

