| Favorite sources for vintage IC chips [message #9871] |
Mon, 25 April 2022 14:43  |
curbie
Messages: 55
Registered: June 2021
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My vintage computer is going though another repair cycle, haven't gotten there yet, but any favorite sources for vintage IC chips, it's an early 80's computer with lots of LS chips.
Curbie
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| Are we past restoration era using vintage chips? Should we start synthesizing replacement DIPs? [message #9901 is a reply to message #9874] |
Thu, 05 May 2022 17:24  |
jayindallas
Messages: 110
Registered: June 2021
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Senior Member |
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I'm curious about the desire to keep vintage system restored with original TTL IC in the DIP packages.
Is the decision to pay the premium cost and accept the questionable quality based upon one of these decisions???
(Decision 1) With an identical part, odds are better that it will replace the original and work fine with less risk.
(Decision 2) A vintage system should look original to be authentic; it maintains its collector-value.
(Decision 3) Alternatives options tend to get complicated and feels more risky.
Maybe there are other valid decisions I didn't think of in my list above?
It seems to me that a practical approach would be to look for chips that are still being manufactured, though usually not in DIP packages, and convert a surface mount package such as a SOIC or TSSOP into a DIP socket with a simple, adaptor printed circuit board. Even if you take +5Vdc/GND off the socket pins to power a small 3.3Vdc regulator just for that chip on the socket, you can get SMT chips that are compatible with vintage TTL voltage signal levels. The chips tend to be faster and could create some race-conditions.
Maybe what is needed is a list of DIP chips that are becoming problematic to replace, and we accumulate some simple pcb designs as a library of SMT-to-DIP socket replacements? Use the snap-off pcb construct to do one pcb that is actually an array of snap-off SMT-to-DIP replacement inventory. Anyone need one... just snap a socket sized pcb off and mail it.
Of course replacing Large Scale Integration (LSI) chips isn't going to be that easy, but it is actually quite possible. And when you synthesize a replacement LSI chip, you can break a lot of the rules and add some interesting features.
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