Inventor of the 555 passes away - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: kfitch42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 11:24:47 pm
content: A very sad moment for everyone involved in electronicshttp://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4394166/Hans-Camenzind-dies

author: FenderBender
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 11:31:34 pm
content: Well atleast he knew he had created one of the most versatile and long running chips ever.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 16, 2012, 11:45:11 pm
content: No matter how bad the chip is today comparably it's the only chip in history that can stay in a system forever ...R.I.P Hans Camenzind1934-2012

author: firewalker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 05:55:33 am
content: R.I.P.Alexander.

author: Christe4nM
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 11:48:19 am
content: His own pulsewave generator stopped; a great mind gone. R.I.P.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 11:53:15 am
content: Hans R. Camenzind, the father of the well known NE555, passed away at the age of 78 on August 15, 2012.

author: Short Circuit
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 12:22:40 pm
content: One of the oldest IC's that still gets into commercial designs every now and then.Probably the most popular device for beginners' first circuit for many years to come.And presumably the only device that ever got it's functional diagram onto aT-shirt

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 03:32:42 pm
content: I was reading the book when I saw the news.

author: T4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 03:42:45 pm
content: I was discussing ways to improve the 555 when this came up ... oh the irony

author: chickenHeadKnob
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 17, 2012, 11:03:23 pm
content: I have a confession to make: I never liked, still don't like the 555/556. Over the years I have come across so many badly designed, marginal, glitchy 555 example circuits that I came to believe that if a designer was reaching for a 555 he was wrong. Does my animus for the 555 make me a bad person?No disrespect for Camenzind intended, reading his biography only induces Respect - with a capitol R!

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 06:05:52 am
content: Nothing wrong with the design, it is well documented as to the limitations and why they are there. Application is often wrong.

author: AntiProtonBoy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 07:16:27 am
content: The 555 is great toy, imo.

author: 6502nop
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 09:34:29 am
content: QuoteI assure you, it's not the chip, but the people using/designing with it. If you need a 1MHz clock,don'tuse the 555 (the CMOS version might run that fast, but don't count on it). If you need more than 150mA of source/sink current, use a transistor or relay. If you needprecisewaveforms or timings, use chips dedicated to that task.For everything else, there's Camenzind's creation, the 555...As a tribute, I suggesteveryonebuild and utilize the attached design:nop

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 01:06:08 pm
content: Correct. The best use other than as an oscillator is as a level shifter to drive a mosfet at low frequency. The 150mA drive and the active pulldown, along with being able to control the threshold voltage, the uncommitted low on pin7 to use as a faster pulldown, the cheapness and reasonably fast switching.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2012, 08:23:03 pm
content: The first use of the 555 that I ever came across the 555 was in the early 1980's in a BOC mig welder. It had two of them one to control gas post flow time the other to control spot and stitch weld time. I have had others which have had far more sophisticated control circuits one even managed to put 32 chips on 2 boards but none were as reliable or as simple to use. The circuit diagram is attached.