When did integrated circuits first enter your life? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Connecteur
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2020, 06:53:28 pm
content: For me it was 1975, when the first affordable electronic calculators began to appear. For several years before that, I had read a considerable amount about the coming revolution in microelectronics, but it was like a future dream, not unlike the way hydrogen power is today. In 1976 I pulled the cover off a machine monitor and I was amazed to see rows of IC chips on the board. It all happened much quicker than I expected.

author: srb1954
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 03:34:17 am
content: My first experience in using ICs was in 1974 for my final year project at university. I used two 741 op amps in a control circuit.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 03:46:20 am
content: On a cold and snowy walk back to my log cabin, Christmas Eve 1671.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 05:21:54 am
content: Late 1974 I built a small audio amplifier using an LM380 to drive a speaker from a crystal set. Had a battery that was actually two 9V batteries in a single cardboard package for the split supply. Built it rats nest fashion. Up until then had done mostly vacuum tube stuff. September 1974 I also bought my first calculator, a Texas Instruments TI-251010 that I still have. Still works just fine.https://www.ithistory.org/db/hardware/texas-instruments/texas-instruments-ti-2510

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 06:11:33 am
content: The 1st IC I owned and used, 555.

author: greenpossum
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 06:44:31 am
content: I think it was a MM5314 clock chip that bit me in the mid-70s. Either that or one of those integrated power amps in the SGS TBA series. I still have a MM5316 running right now in my bedside radio clock that used to have a flip digits mechanism which failed so I ripped it out.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 11:37:34 am
content: Would be around 1974 when my mum brought me a calculator in Singapore when she was on the way back from a holiday in Pommyland. They were far too expensive in Australia. I was the first kid in class to own a calculator and I aced a one hour Chemistry test in 10 minutes and walked out. The teacher gave me a mark of 19.5 out of 20. He took the half mark off for being a smart arse and answering with too many digits. Within 3 months almost all the students had a calculator. They would have pestered their parents to no end.My introduction to discrete IC's was at Tandy Electronics in Niddrie, Victoria, in 1975. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I saw a shopper ask for an IC cookbook. I was in awe with this obvious genius. I realised my gross inadequacies and I had a lot to learn.Mt first IC circuit was probably using the LM380 audio amplifier. The National Semiconductor Databook was probably one of the best databooks around.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 12:04:13 pm
content: I'm not sure if I had an ultrasound before I was born, but even if not something in the hospital then probably the TV at home or something.Not a very interesting question for a large fraction of the population, I think you'll find.Tim

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 01:41:36 pm
content: Being born in the 70s, by the time I realized I was a person, Integrated Circuits were already all around us - although our TV was still mixed technology (vaccuum tube and solid state), which was the only piece of electronics we actually used as kids.Starting the hobby in the 1980s, my dad had already a wide variety of parts including CD4000, SN7400 and the regular linear parts (555, 741, 386, etc.) - I still have most of them inherited from my dad.I don't recall what was the exactly first thing I assembled using an IC, but something I really loved and vividly recall were the typical counters: 555, 7490, 9368 or 7447 (depending if anode/cathode), etc. Also the CMOS variant using 555/4510/4511.Later I moved on to audio mixers (741) and amplifiers (TBA820, LM380, TDA2012) but, without much knowledge about noise, ground loops, gain, etc. it was an exercise in frustration - the hum/noise/distortion sources were very mysterious to me.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 02:53:03 pm
content: I forget the year - but I remember the first chips I ordered: 7400 series TTL. I also remember sending off to the USA to get them, having to include a bank cheque made out on the Chemical Bank New York, New York. Australian stock was as rare as it was expensive.CMOS wasn't even a glint in a fab's father's eye. Though RTL and DTL were around, TTL was the new kid on the block.

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 03:17:43 pm
content: I've got you all beat (except for eti): In the early 1970's I was playing with RTL and DTL logic, hermetic can, probably a Fairchild 903 and similar devices. I didn't know what I was doing, really, I was in my late teens and experimenting at home. But I was born in 1953 and had started in electronics in early grade-school by converting war-surplus radios and radar sets into ham gear, so I was already well on my way to learning how to be an tech, and later an engineer.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 05:38:17 pm
content: I was six years old when it surprised the hell out of me that there is no electronics inside a piano. You know, the mechanical sort they used to have in the 19th century.

author: grouchobyte
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 06:08:19 pm
content: 1963. I was living in Montreal Quebec and i remember these puppies were just released and so I bought a bunch and made some cool circuits. Those were the days.....http://semiconductormuseum.com/MuseumStore/MuseumStore_Fairchild_923_Index.htm@grouchobyte

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 06:59:51 pm
content: Wow that was 50 years ago. First IC I ever used was probably Fairchild uA709 in a RTTY demodulator together with 88mH toroids, remember them ?. Ferranti ZN414 came later on, it worked much better than the Silnclair crap. First proper DIL IC project built on Veroboard was a dual slope voltmeter using a GI AY-3-3570, not sure who made the tiny 4 digit 7-seg display, might have been TI. I remember ordering Fairchild 4000 series CMOS from an American distributor because there were no UK distributors, awesome, no standby current. First microcontroller project MC6805E, MCS48 was too expensive.

author: glentek
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 10:19:18 pm
content: Around 1975 when I built a nixie tube clock using 74 series TTL. It cost several weeks pay in parts.

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2020, 10:34:57 pm
content: Quote from: blueskull on September 17, 2020, 06:05:36 amSpot on.

author: ozcar
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 08:52:04 am
content: Over 50 years ago, in the form of RTL ICs – as mentioned here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/my-new-projects/

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 10:46:29 am
content: Forget ICs... BC108 (and 107)... that's where it started for me.oh... ok 741... 555... and then a proper IC... 1802 and 74-series.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 11:00:49 am
content: bc107 here too. First transistor I got my hands on ever. And of course I blew it up!

author: JohnPen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 11:10:01 am
content: How about the Red spot and Green/yellow spot transistors courtesy of Henry's radio back in the late 50s. First ICs I used were some Plessey Rf ICs SL610/612 SL621 etc. building a HAM radio RX Manhattan style with discrete components. Later moved on to Z80 home built computer with bigger ICs and hand drawn ink PCBs.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 11:36:54 am
content: Somewhere around '66-67, my neighbor had a fully equipped ham radio shed, he worked / designed for Radio Rentals I think. I learned a lot from him. Nearly everything was valves with a few transistors thrown in. We had one of these "modern" weller soldering irons - Wasn't too bad on transistors, because you could bend each lead - then one day, a transmitter radio came in with an 8pin IC - something like an LM741. WTF was it ?? Anyway it was dead. So, ran the Weller round and round the pins trying to remove it - flooded them with solder - everything. One side would always cool down too quick. Tried a small screw-driver to pry it off - NOTHING !! Possibly 15-20 mins on it !Then I made my most famous statement ... funny how vividly I still recall it ... " I don't know what these fookers are, but they'll NEVER EVER take off !!! Ahh memories

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 11:59:51 am
content: An IC first entered my life in the late 60s, when I stepped on an early upturned DIL package.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:05:06 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on September 18, 2020, 11:00:49 amYour first encounter with semiconductors was with a silicon part? How very modern. All the cool people worked their way up to silicon through copper oxide rectifiers and germanium transistors.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:08:06 pm
content: Yeah I’m not over half way to 100 yetTo be fair I spent a good amount of time in my early years playing with valve radios. Way before I got my hands on a transistor.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:10:34 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on September 18, 2020, 12:08:06 pmThen surely your first encounter with semiconductors was copper oxide rectifiers. They were very common in later valve radios.

author: NivagSwerdna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:37:42 pm
content: Quote from: JohnPen on September 18, 2020, 11:10:01 amI lived in a rural location the SW but once a year would have a family trip to London.... I remember the trips to Henry's on the Edgeware road... in fact... I remember a particular trip where we went clutching a copy of ETI read to get the parts for the Metal Detector project.... ah nostalgia!

author: JohnPen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:48:05 pm
content: Valve day memories included Selenium rectifiers rather bulky

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 12:54:32 pm
content: Too young to have seen the transition, so taken literally, at the age of 6 when I stood on an upside down dip package for some 74 series logic IC that my neighbor was using in a project,

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 01:15:31 pm
content: First one I have seen was the RAM upgrade (a mere 4MB!) for the family computer, first one I experimented with was a 4011 in a digital logic education kit.

author: Mecanix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 03:00:51 pm
content: First ever IC Love Story for me was an Arduino roughly 10 years ago (given to me by someone who've had no idea what it was). It had me loading up its IDE and blinking its onboard LED at 1Hz. I nearly past out of boredom learning that and watching it blinking I've never touched it ever again. It was instantly sent on to the Great Rubbish Bin.Fast fw in time; I now have an inventory of roughly 60~70 different kind of ICs that were recently brought in to prototype with :/

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 03:52:48 pm
content: For me it was 1970, my first job after serving in the USAF as a teletype repairmen. The job was as a field engineer supporting stock brokerage quote machines. The various aged equipment ranged from transistor logic, RTL, DTL, and TTL chips. I bought a copy of one of Don Lancaster's cookbook to bone up and was off and running in no time.Good memories

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 18, 2020, 06:11:45 pm
content: In my case, I still have the very IC that entered my life (how dramatic). Back then we used to socket ICs and bend the unused pins under the case.

author: gbaddeley
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2020, 12:02:34 pm
content: I’m a bit over 1/2 way. Played a lot with valves radios too in my teens, & fixed TVs for pocket money. First transistors : OC71 & OC72 germanium. First IC : OM802 (?) similar to 555, and UA709 (older than 741). ca. 1973

author: JohnPen
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 05:46:26 pm
content: First Phototransistor OC71 with black paint scraped away. Semi equivalent to an OCP71. Those were the days