
T HE INCREASING
use of digital IC's
in
many
experimenters'
projects has
created
a need for
a low -cost
in- or out
-
of- circuit
tester for
these
complex
semi-
conductor
devices.
Up to now, most
ex-
perimenters
have
done
their best using a
conventional
voltmeter
to
trace the on-
off signal
on
a circuit
board. This is
a
difficult
process
at best. Making
contact
with
a narrow foil
strip
and
looking
at a
meter
at the same
time is trouble
enough,
but
most
of the
time
the pulses
are
so short
that they don't
even
register
on the meter.
It is
even
more
difficult to
test IC's
that
are
not
connected into
known
operating
circuits.
The
"IC Telltale"
described here
was
designed
to
solve many
of these
testing
problems. It
will test, in
or out
of the
circuit, the
RTL
(resistor-
transistor -log-
ic)
IC's such
as the MDtoropa
MC700P
IC
Telltale
Zwv-waff
system
to check
digital
circuits
BY
C.
P.
TROEMEL
series
and the
Fairchild 1í.L900
series
that are
used
in
a
number
of
POPULAR
ELECTRONICS
projects.
The
IC Telltale
consists
of two as-
semblies: a
10,000
-ohm
input- impedance
probe for checking
IC's
mounted on a
circuit board; and a test set with a built
-
in
2-
and
10
-Hz trigger
pulse
generator
with
14 -pin in -line
and 8 -pin round IC
sockets for out -of- circuit
tests.
The oscil-
lator circuit in the
test
set can
also be
used as a trigger source for finished IC
boards, if desired.
The readout is
built in the probe
and
consists of a small pilot lamp
that is on
when
the logic is
at, or
near, ground
level
and goes "off" when
the
logic is
at,
or
near, +3.6
volts. The probe
can be
used to trace
a
digital
signal through
foil
patterns
and
integrated
circuit con-
nections.
April, 1969 69
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