Now what I’d like to see is, lets say I just got my first PIC/Atmel whatever and want to put it to a breadboard. What’s the tidiest way of implementing all these ESD protections and possible terminations for incoming data? I heard there’s technology to build the chips so they don’t have these ESD issues, why aren’t Microchip etc using that technology? Or if they are, well let me know!

I haven’t even got started with the micros I got in my deskdrawer because I’m afraid just taking them out of the bag will kill them! (Another note: I notice some shops don’t ship their chips etc in the static shielding bags!)

On the topic of CMOS latch-up I enjoyed your explanation on the whiteboard but think you may have overlooked one vital point, unless of course I wasn’t paying enough attention (which is quite possible!). The key point is this – even when a short-lived initial stimulus is removed, the latch-up *continues* to short-circuit the device because Q1 turns-on Q2 and vice-versa, forming an everlasting closed-loop, and it is this internal state which disables device operation and can lead to permanent damage to the device.

I don’t know if you want ideas for future episodes, but what about covering signals with fast rising & falling edges, ground-bounce, and the need for controlled impedances & terminations? Regards and best wishes.

i have some nice imformation…

http://dev.emcelettronica.com/latch-protection-mosfet-drivers

and…

http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00763c.pdf?from=rss

<3 eevblog <3

Also built a simple 555 circuit and played with it.

Thanks for all the help guys,

And Dave, the website you linked was very helpfull, Thanks again.

Eric

So yeah, read some stuff – find out what timebase is, find out what a trigger is, etc. Then after that the only way forwards is to use it on some real life applications.

Brian

So my advice is that you grap a couple of transistors, OpAmps, 555th, MCUs, or whatever you like, and build a few signal generators. The web is full of schematics for building simple sawtooth, rectangular, and sine wave generators, with a couple of the aforementioned components.

Dave, I received my oscilloscope (DS1052E), do you have any good advise as far as how I can learn to properly use this thing? a course or a book perhaps?

You seem to know your stuff (possible understatement), any advise would be great!

First time scope owner, and I’m a cheapskate too.

Thanks! Eric