General > General Technical Chat

Is the 555 still a viable IC?

<< < (7/14) > >>

Zero999:
I find myself being drawn more towards other jellybean ICs, for simple timing/oscillator functions, when it's not critical: the LM393, LM311, 74HC123 and CD4060 spring to mind.

tooki:

--- Quote from: xrunner on February 18, 2024, 12:27:11 am ---
--- Quote from: schmitt trigger on February 17, 2024, 06:14:18 pm ---
Yet, they still sell..... Who would be the potential customers?

As previously mentioned, this is only curiosity.

--- End quote ---

My guess is learners and classes are buying many of them. One hobbyist after another, one learner after another, year after year. Each person learns using one or two, burns a few by mistake, and moves on. Look at all the tutorials for 555 timers that are out there.

I wonder what the quantity of new or good 555 timers are just sitting in parts drawers never to be used again. Nothing wrong with them. If we could only get these to new learners they'd never have to make any more ever again.  :-DD

--- End quote ---
There is no way the “newbies” market can consume a billion 555s a year. Heck, I doubt it could consume 1% of that. Nor are people squirreling them away at that pace, there’s no logic in that, now that basically everyone has access to distributors that can get us common parts in a day or two. They have to be going into products. I know we occasionally see them pop up in teardown videos.

tszaboo:
Viable? Did I miss it, when did it become NRND?

It has quite a bit up it's sleeves, works from 12V, it can drive a relay without any external transistor, and you don't need a firmware engineer (big plus).

--- Quote from: Bud on February 18, 2024, 08:40:06 pm ---I am wondering why noone yet said "Just use an FPGA!", as it typically happens.  :palm:

--- End quote ---
No, use an Arduino.

coppice:

--- Quote from: ebastler on February 19, 2024, 08:07:12 am ---That "1 billion" number may be outdated. It seems to go back to a 2004 interview with the designer, Hans Camenzind. He mentions that number, and that the 555 was mostly produced by Samsung in Korea back then -- surprising to me, and maybe a hint that the information actually predates 2004?

http://semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/LectureHall/Camenzind/Camenzind_Index.htm
Click the link to "page 2" for the relevant section of the interview.

No idea whether production numbers have gone down due to obsolescence since then, or even up due to various lower cost manufacturers?

--- End quote ---
He might be referring to the original 555. There are huge volumes in the various derivatives made by a variety of companies in the small linear and logic IC business.

ftg:
Echoing what others have said, good availability, predictable and well known behaviour.
No production programming needed is definitely a plus for me.
And this "no production progamming, no FW development" was the reason why some 555's recently got designed into a product by me. Managment not wanting any firmware in the loop also helped. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod