Unusual Clear DIP Package - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Forced Perfect
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2014, 11:05:52 pm
content: I found this interesting clear 8 pin DIP package when taking apart a Kensington Turbo Mouse ADB (it's an old Apple Desktop Bus trackball).It appears to be a dual photo diode or possibly a quad one based on the bond wires. Pins 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 are connected in the design. There are two of them in the design (one for X and one for Y tracking) and both labeled as diodes on the silkscreen.I can't find any information on it online. In fact the only thing I found was someone trying to sell them for like, $2.50 each on eBay.The chip is labeled:SD3493PHILIPPINES17190

author: Whales
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 10:45:48 am
content: These things are armok-slayingly beautiful. Attached is a (QFP?) I found in the last mouse I pulled apart.Convert an Optical Mouse into a low-res camera

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 11:39:08 am
content: Coincidentally you're not the first one on this forum to find one of these:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what's-this-please-(component-advice)/360/

author: Forced Perfect
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 02:22:26 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on January 28, 2014, 11:39:08 amAhh, I did a quick search and didn't see that one (maybe it was the title I skipped over). Looks like the people on eBay were just guessing as they had only the part. Sure isn't an optoisolator. I made a video of its operation and I'll stick it on YouTube (hopefully today, but I get easily distracted haha).As for the optical sensor, I happen to have had ripped apart a SteelSeries gaming mouse and took a pic of its rather... involved piece of silicon used as the sensor. Pretty impressive. It seems only a small part of the chip is the actual sensor (square at the bottom left of the image?) and the rest is all processing or buffering.

author: MLXXXp
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 05:02:57 pm
content: I have an IC in a clear plastic 14 pin DIP package, made by Sprague Electric in the late 1970's, for use in a toy. It's intended to run on batteries, between 3 and 4.5V. It uses IIL and bipolar technology and contains a photodiode, a lamp driver and a speaker driver.It has a "search" mode that repeatedly plays a simple robotic sounding melody and flashes the lamp slowly. When it detects a change in light intensity, it switches to an alarm sound. After a few seconds, it goes back to playing the melody and slowly flashing the lamp.It also has a "guard" mode, where it remains silent until it detects a light intensity change, then sounds the alarm for a few seconds.I can imagine it being used in a toy robot that would react when you "shot" it with a gun that emitted a light beam, or guard your room by detecting changes in the light.

author: Forced Perfect
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 05:06:45 pm
content: Quote from: MLXXXp on January 28, 2014, 05:02:57 pmVery cool. I have always found unique looking ICs fascinating. I've been buying the odd IC off eBay whenever I see something interesting.This is one I picked up a few months ago, it seems to have had a clear cover on it although it came opened up.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 06:12:37 pm
content: I picked up some Royce Thompson street lighting photocontrols which have a clear sensor assembly, with a photodiode and some electronics inside it.

author: timelessbeing
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 06:52:16 pm
content: I came across this one in a laser printer.

author: scientist
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 07:01:03 pm
content: EEPROM erase maybe? Beautiful chips.

author: Forced Perfect
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 07:03:12 pm
content: Quote from: scientist on January 28, 2014, 07:01:03 pmI think all of the examples here have been clear because they're a sensor of some sort (usually a photo diode it seems). The last one posted is interesting because it seems to also have some logic on it as well (you can see silkscreen even refers to it as an IC).

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 07:11:15 pm
content: That is the laser power meter. Used along with the integrated opamp to set a constant light output to get even density.

author: MLXXXp
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2014, 08:55:36 pm
content: Quote from: scientist on January 28, 2014, 07:01:03 pmYou mean EPROM. EEPROM meansElectricallyErasable, which doesn't require a transparent case.EPROM uses a quartz lid to pass the UV light that does the erasing. I don't think the plastic cases of these devices would pass UV.

author: scientist
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2014, 01:28:14 am
content: Well, Mike uses glass/plastic as a faceplate for developing PCBs with UV light, so it must pass some kind of UV.

author: echen1024
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2014, 02:33:46 am
content: Those are quite beautiful.... I would like a clear BGA package...

author: MLXXXp
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2021, 05:31:21 pm
content: Quote from: MLXXXp on January 28, 2014, 05:02:57 pmA week ago, I received an email alert saying that there had been a new post in this topic. I followed the link in the email to read the post. It was someone saying they had this chip and asking if there was any documentation available for it.I didn't note the user who posted, and only briefly read the contents, thinking I'd read it again more thoroughly later, during my normal review of the forum. However, when I later logged in to the forum, I couldn't find any sign of this new post. I then read that the forum data had been restored from a backup, resulting in the loss of some posts, so it's possible this new post was one of the ones lost.Anyway, I figured it couldn't hurt to provide a scan of the documentation I received with the chip, so here it is (what little there was):https://www.mlxxxp.ca/electronics/clear_ic/Sprague_clear_toy_IC.pdfNote: The document came with the chip number and manufacturer information redacted. It wasn't me who did it.

author: Skashkash
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2021, 06:28:31 pm
content: What an odd thread to resurrect.But if anyone is interested in procuring said vintage chips, Electronic goldmine has them still soldered onto the original board.https://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G24774I think I may still have a couple of those same toy pcbs laying around from when I bought them surplus on Canal St in NYC 40+ years ago.