LM386 alternative?

[lightningfingers]

i ordered a LM386 a while back, it just came this morning, exept it wasnt a LM386 it was this wierd chip with

12C508A
04/PODF
0211

written on it, well anyway i plugged it into the little gem circuit id made in advance, nothing. Not even splatty misbiased transistor fuzz. Absolute silence.

anyone know anything about this chip and its pinout/suitability for a 386 replacement?

[djmartins2]

Hi,

That's a PIC chip!
Won't do a damn thing unless you program it.

DJ

[Hal]

oh man. Who'd you order from?  

Mouser will prob. send the right chips...

[lightningfingers]

i ordered it from maplin.....they never @#$%ed up this bad on me before.
this is kinda cool tho..............how do you program these things? and what can they do when they are programmed right?

[Hal]

you program them with assembly code and a computer, with a device that plugs from the computer (usually paralell port) into the chip.  

They can do just about anything.  Commonly used in Radio Control cicuits (robots), clocks, "games," and other simple DIY electronics.  Never seen em in effects.

[Benny]

what can they do when they are programmed right?

They can do many things, see R.G.'s article at GEO for some ideas:

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/ASMOP/ASMOP.htm

PIC's are cheap and relatively easy to program, but the downside is that they don't have much horsepower and are generally more suited to control applications like LFO's or switching than purely digital effects.  I've used one to control the LFO for a phaser, hopefully when I get some time I can post a complete build report along with the source code.  If you're interested in giving the programming a try, you can download the development software for free from www.microchip.com.  Unfortunately the programmers aren't cheap (~$80 and up) but here are some DIY programmers around, though personally I'd rather buy one that I know will work.

Benny

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Never seen em in effects.

Then you havn't looked inside the Frostwave Sonic Alienator  

[Ge_Whiz]

i ordered it from maplin.....they never f       d up this bad on me before.

Obviously, you've not been trying to deal with them as long as I have.  :cry:

The good news is, if you ring or e-mail them, they'll probably send you your '386 AND let you keep the PIC chip. In future, order from Rapid Electronics - //www.rapidelectronics.co.uk.

[lightningfingers]

yeah i mailed them annd i just got their reply, with "a thousand apologies" they said the real 386 is on its way.

[Ge_Whiz]

I always found that the one thing that Maplin are good at delivering is apologies.

Sad - I used to shop at their first establishment in Westcliff-on-Sea in the early 70s. The guys there really knew their stuff and were tremendously helpful. It was only after the original owners retired and sold out, and the new proprietors tried to go Dixons that it all went pear-shaped. Their prices are outrageous, too.

[lightningfingers]

i noticed that too,

i went over to the nearest one this morning to egt a resistor, and the two store clerks were playing with a remote control tank :evil:

and i had to tell them the colour code for a 22k resistor.

[Hal]

Then you havn't looked inside the Frostwave Sonic Alienator  

you're right!  Can you link me to a schematic?

i went over to the nearest one this morning to egt a resistor, and the two store clerks were playing with a remote control tank  

and i had to tell them the colour code for a 22k resistor.

sounds almost like radio shack.  Do they try to sell you cell phones, too? :evil:  :evil:  :evil:

[lightningfingers]

they never tried to sell me a phone (yet)

but heres something as (if not more :shock: ) outrageous

"im sorry sir we dont have any 1M resistors in stock at the moment, but if you buy this 6000 resistor kit, at only £11.99, well theres one in there"

:evil: