Repair aids idea

[russ lavergne]

I would think that this is available but I haven't seen it yet. I use a lot
of the AGE Fuses and I wish I had a little fuse that would fit in the
standard metal brackets that the AGE Fuses fit into but one that is
resetable. Like a little portable circuit breaker that you can pop into the
fuse that keeps blowing to help with troubleshooting. Has anyone seen this
and if so could you point me to it. The main thing is that it has to fit
into the bracket and can be removed easily. Also,

Another thing I would like is a 14 pin or 24 pin or what ever size IC chip
that you can program to be any chip you need. Lets say I need a 74LS174. I
get the blank 74 chip and pop it in my programmer and make it a 74LS174. Is
this already out there?

Thanks
Russ

 

[mc]

Another thing I would like is a 14 pin or 24 pin or what ever size IC chip

that you can program to be any chip you need. Lets say I need a 74LS174.
I get the blank 74 chip and pop it in my programmer and make it a 74LS174.
Is this already out there?

Not possible, I don't think. One crucial parameter of a 74LS174 is its
speed. Trying to make it out of a programmable gate array or something
would result in a slower chip, not a true substitute. Those logic chips are
simple in order to make them fast.

Then there's the problem that different logic chips have different pins for
power.

And beyond that, not all ICs are logic chips.

Programming is not how chips are made. Some chips have programmable memory
areas that make them very versatile, but they achieve this by already
containing *all* the circuitry for *all* their functions; the memory just
contains instructions for it. Mostly, chips are made by "wiring" the
silicon by means of a series of tiny layers of added material.

 

[James Sweet]

Not possible, I don't think. One crucial parameter of a 74LS174 is its
speed. Trying to make it out of a programmable gate array or something
would result in a slower chip, not a true substitute. Those logic chips are
simple in order to make them fast.

Then there's the problem that different logic chips have different pins for
power.

And beyond that, not all ICs are logic chips.

Programming is not how chips are made. Some chips have programmable memory
areas that make them very versatile, but they achieve this by already
containing *all* the circuitry for *all* their functions; the memory just
contains instructions for it. Mostly, chips are made by "wiring" the
silicon by means of a series of tiny layers of added material.

People recreate entire TTL circuits in FPGAs, someone did this with the
original PacMan arcade hardware, Asteroids, and many custom chips used
in other classic games have been reproduced in this same way. It's not
cost effective to do so for a single TTL chip though.

 

[James Sweet]

I would think that this is available but I haven't seen it yet. I use a lot
of the AGE Fuses and I wish I had a little fuse that would fit in the
standard metal brackets that the AGE Fuses fit into but one that is
resetable. Like a little portable circuit breaker that you can pop into the
fuse that keeps blowing to help with troubleshooting. Has anyone seen this
and if so could you point me to it. The main thing is that it has to fit
into the bracket and can be removed easily. Also,

There's numerous projects out there for an electronic fuse. The ones
I've seen fit in a project box and use aligator clip leads to connect to
the fuse holder.

 

[Ron(UK)]

I would think that this is available but I haven't seen it yet. I use a lot
of the AGE Fuses and I wish I had a little fuse that would fit in the
standard metal brackets that the AGE Fuses fit into but one that is
resetable. Like a little portable circuit breaker that you can pop into the
fuse that keeps blowing to help with troubleshooting. Has anyone seen this
and if so could you point me to it. The main thing is that it has to fit
into the bracket and can be removed easily.

I have a selection of miniature resettable circuit breakers in the most
common tripping currents, each fitted with a pair of insulated wires and
miniature croc clips.
You have to be aware that in general, mcb`s take a lot longer to trip
than a fuse does to blow, so it pays to start with a lower value and work up

Ron(UK)